Isabel Castro utilizes her diverse experience to drive our electrolyzer team forward
Read time: 4 minutes
“One of the most valuable things I’ve done is learn to fail,” says Isabel Castro. She believes finding a safe space to learn from mistakes transformed her career at Accelera™ by Cummins.
Isabel Castro is the Electrolyzer Marketing Director for the Americas at Accelera. With a diverse background in human resources, sales, marketing and analytics, she uses her valuable skill set to shape the electrolyzer strategies. She shares her path before joining team Accelera and why failure is the key to success.
I found Accelera because…
I worked for Cummins before I made the internal transition to the Accelera segment. I started my career journey in 2017 as a corporate strategy intern while getting my MBA at Purdue University. I progressed to manager after graduating and spent four years learning how to operate in a fast-paced environment with high visibility to leadership. There, I first worked on strategy projects directly related to hydrogen.
I formally joined Accelera in 2022 as an electrolyzer partnership manager. I spent over a year in that role, shaping our strategy, establishing key partnerships and contributing to overall business development.
The transition really made sense for me. Things at Accelera move quickly, and thanks to my prior corporate strategy experience, the work pace felt familiar. My brain constantly considers different factors simultaneously, allowing me to feel comfortable and deal with ambiguity that is very real regarding new markets and technologies.
My greatest learnings over the years…
Failing is unavoidable, so you need to learn to fail correctly. Before Accelera, I had the opportunity to work on corporate strategy in Beijing. I already knew how to run with strategy, but in Beijing – that’s where I learned to fly. My boss created a safe space that allowed me to fail while being held accountable for my business recommendations. Everyone fails at some point, so learn how to fail quickly and be ready to adapt to what comes after that failure.
My typical day involves…
My current role as an electrolyzer marketing director means I’m directly supporting the electrolyzer commercial team. I work with cross-functional teams at all different phases of the product journey. One moment, I’m working on technology research and development or service solutions, and the next, I’m diving deep into sales and customer engineering commissioning.
Because the teams I work with are spread across different functions and regions, it’s rare for me to have a day not filled with meetings. I constantly meet with key stakeholders and act on anything that requires urgency. As the head of electrolyzer marketing, I am responsible for analyzing market trends to develop our path-to-market strategies and monitoring and reporting on the success of our efforts against competitors.
It can get hectic, but I love working with so many people. Becoming a leader in the electrolyzer market is a team effort, and I love connecting the dots that allow Accelera to remain a leader in this industry. Thankfully, my brain is all about being busy and thinking about a million things at once!
In my role, it’s important to be…
Adaptable. Working in the hydrogen space means tackling the ever-changing hydrogen market and shaping strategies on the fly.
My family moved around Brazil when I was still a kid due to my father’s job. I was always starting fresh and experiencing different cultures. This upbringing taught me to roll with the punches and be open to change. Those skills paid off when I joined Accelera.
Being adaptable not only helped me succeed in my career but also allowed me to connect with diverse teams and thrive in fast-paced markets. It’s been the “secret sauce” that’s kept me moving forward and embracing every opportunity that comes my way. This is one reason the IDEAS Culture for Accelera resonated with me as an employee. Being adaptable is an important factor for our business success.
We’re pushing boundaries by…
Encouraging people to think of new ways to bring zero-emissions power to life and make it more accessible to our customers. We know things will never be “perfect,” but we keep moving forward. Innovation is one of our core values and we encourage each other to try out fresh ideas or perspectives.
My sister likes to say I’m “changing the world one hydrogen molecule at a time” with my work, which I think is sweet. I’ve always wanted to work on something that has a positive impact on the world, and we’re doing that at Accelera. I truly believe the world needs hydrogen to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors.
If you're looking to join Accelera, my advice to you would be…
We would love more people to come and have fun with us while we impact the world of energy! But before you do, check in with yourself on your ability to work in a fast-paced environment where your work matters in the big picture. If you have a “get things done” attitude, are comfortable with taking risks and learning from failure (because you will fail), you can thrive at Accelera.
Accelera gives me a great platform to build and accelerate my career. We have a great combination of different backgrounds within teams and actively work to make it as inclusive as possible.
When I’m not working on electrolyzer strategies, I’m…
My family is a key stakeholder. It can be difficult to balance work life with personal life due to the nature of a business that is a first mover for new technology entrants. So, just like I meet with my key stakeholders to keep me on track and set work expectations, my husband is a key stakeholder. We connect on where we are with work and help each other out to make sure we stay on the same page, or at least stay within the same chapter.
Our recent chapter includes a trip to the Smokey Mountains. We enjoy traveling to be closer to nature and taking our dog, Vanilla, on hikes. I also love playing sports and trying new things like surfing. When I was younger, I’d surf bigger, riskier waves in Costa Rica, but now I’m more than happy to surf calmer waves with my husband by my side.
