Rising Stars 2021: Judith Maribel Espino Gonzalez

Judith Maribel Espino Gonzalez, 34
Superintendent, international border operations
Kansas City Southern de Mexico

Nominator's quote: “As part of the transportation team, Judith’s role is superintendent of international border operations. She is the highest-ranking female in the transportation department and serves as the ‘cultural link’ between the U.S. and Mexico. Kansas City Southern is the cross-border railroad, so we would trust these key yards and the Laredo Bridge only to someone we trust to get the job done.” — Steve Truitt, Kansas City Southern

Education: Attended Universidad de Monterrey and received the following degrees: Bachelor’s degree in international marketing; graduate program in quality and innovation in services (one year); and Master’s of Business Administration.

Job responsibilities: Analyzes the Laredo International Bridge to identify improvement opportunities, including eliminating interchange windows to improve cross-border efficiency. Coordinates with customs agents on both sides of the border, as well as with operations, transportation and sales and marketing. Supervises and assists local managers in the planning and execution of the transportation service plan (TSP). Ensures maximized resource utilization of power, crews and train length. Helps achieve compliance of critical key performance indicators through the detection and addressing of opportunities and implementation of new processes that help reach expected goals.

Career path: Joined Kansas City Southern de Mexico’s (KCSM) customer solutions team in 2006 as a college intern. After six months, hired full time and remained in the department for three years, working directly with customers to address their needs.

Next, promoted to service design. Began as an analyst, then was promoted to supervisor and ultimately manager for the Mexico network. During that time, built good relationships with colleagues in operations, which opened the door to joining the transportation department in 2020.

How did you get into the railroad industry? As a marketing undergraduate major, I wasn’t necessarily thinking of a rail career. After being brought on as an intern while earning my bachelor’s degree, I have loved being part of this dynamic industry ever since. I never made it to the marketing department, but I have no regrets.

What is the best career advice you've received? It has to do with learning and adaptability. During our careers, we should always be open to learning new things, and be humble enough to admit we do not know it all — even though we may have many years in the industry. Every individual is on a continuous journey to increase knowledge and experiences and it is up to each to make the most out of it. Equally important is our ability to adapt to change. As we face new challenges and things evolve around us, we must be able to evolve along with them and give the best performance we can.

What advice would you give to a new railroader? Be patient with yourself, but also be dedicated to your learning. Getting into this industry can be very overwhelming if you try to learn or grow too fast. Allow yourself time to absorb and assimilate all new knowledge.

I also recommend that new railroaders build relationships with people in other departments. Have meaningful conversations with them, ask them questions and for advice, as well. The more experienced people can pass on very valuable insights that can help build up your career.

What was your very first job? My internship in KCSM was my very first job. I have worked only for KCSM.

Describe a fun fact about yourself: When I first joined the company, I considered myself to be a very introverted person. As time went by, I was able to make very good friends with some of my colleagues, which ultimately made me more comfortable when talking to new people. Something I thought would never happen turned out to be a much unexpected win.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I love to travel. I travel to new places whenever I can. I also enjoy reading and oil painting.

What is the rail industry's biggest challenge? From my experience, I think one of the biggest challenges is reducing variability in the execution of our operations. In our pursuit to achieve consistency, the different groups in charge of the operation have to deal with a whole variety of factors related to changes in demand and volumes, resource utilization and availability, safety incidents, crew behavior and even acts of God that may result in service outages.

There will always be a level of uncertainty, just like in any industry, but it is our responsibility to determine the best practices and standardize as much as possible.