American Electric Power (AEP) Texas serves around one million electric consumers across its 100,000 square miles of Lone Star State territory. Providing electricity and restoring power after outages is certainly no small feat; the tedious and often dangerous job requires significant manpower. As Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President of AEP Texas, Judith Talavera oversees all 1,600 of those employees, dedicated to providing electricity to our corner of the world. Not to mention, she’s the first woman and only the second Hispanic individual to hold the job in the company’s tenure.
When starting with AEP Texas 24 years ago, Talavera entered a heavily male-dominated industry as the Manager of Governmental Affairs. Eight years later, she became the Head of Regulatory Service and in 2016, she took on the role of President and COO where she now oversees the distribution operations for the company, all customer service work and the regulatory, finance, safety and performance departments. Her road to becoming an industry leader included a lot of hard work and bravery, but it wasn’t exactly linear.
As a first-generation Mexican-American, Talavera’s childhood was marked by unwavering support and the gentle nurturing of ambition. When Talavera was approached as a middle-schooler about attending a Vanguard school, her parents let her decide, and take ownership of her decision—despite the 6 a.m. commute and increased workload.
After an encounter with a news anchor for an interview in high school, Talavera set her sights on becoming, as she said, the “Hispanic Barbara Walters.” But her high school was a magnet school for business, landing her in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. She explored her career interests with two internships: one with a state representative and another with Telemundo, eventually resulting in a major change from business to journalism and government.
Her internship turned full-time job as a legislative assistant was the gateway to the government affairs position with AEP Texas. In reflecting on her 16 years in government affairs and regulatory service, Talavera recalled many a night on the capitol floor, sometimes at 1 a.m. and pregnant with her first child, advocating for interests that affected individuals working a dangerous job. One piece of legislation she’s most proud of helping to push through is integrating electrical service workers and vehicles into the “Move Over Law,” which requires drivers to put at least one lane between their cars and roadside workers when on a highway with two or more lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction. A common thread in Talavera’s career is safety, especially in her current role.
“It’s a dangerous industry even if people aren’t physically working out there in the field, touching electricity,” she emphasized. “We do a lot of driving and have a very strong safety culture; we want to make sure all our team members get home to their loved ones every day.”
Between severe weather threats increasing and the public’s general expectation for electricity to be restored after an outage, it’s Talavera’s directive to invest in the reliability and resiliency of the system. “It’s a balance to make the necessary investments we know we have to make, while also being very mindful to keep rates affordable for customers.”
She’s dedicated to keeping a pulse on the community, knowing how the needs change and how AEP Texas can meet them, including a willingness to adopt new technologies to address needs quicker.
From the start of her career, she’s forged her path as a female in the male-dominated industry without letting it serve as a crutch. “I’m proud to say that AEP has several women in leadership positions, but we still have a ways to go,” she said. “I always felt empowered and very capable of doing the job that I was hired to do. I have a certain background and expertise and skill set that I bring to the table that maybe the other candidates, male or female, didn’t have.”
Talavera reflects on her 19-year-old self approaching a man from the state rep’s office she recognized at the airport to ask for an internship: “I was terrified, but what if I had let fear win? Where would I be? Certainly not here.” Though this advice is easier to give as an executive at the top of her game, she’s had to live it repeatedly while climbing the corporate ladder. For young women just starting to realize their potential, this is undoubtedly the advice she would give.
Now, a poised and confident industry leader, Talavera walks the halls of AEP Texas’ headquarters as a powerful person, no doubt, but one who embodies servant leadership at its core. “I’m not going to ask [employees] to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself,” she said of her leadership style. “I very much believe in the power of team—I know I don’t have all the answers, so I want to make sure I have a diverse team of people around me who each bring their own unique skill sets.”
Talavera noted she wouldn’t be here without the support of mentors, colleagues and especially her parents, grandparents, husband and two children. She recalled her sons beaming with pride when learning she would be the company’s first female president, and attributed her success to the strong women in her life who provided gentle encouragement along the way.
At every turn in her career, Talavera has considered how she might be a piece of a larger puzzle, without diminishing the value she brings to the table. Her proudest moments range from being the first person in her family to graduate college to watching with pride as AEP workers lined the streets to restore power after Hurricane Harvey. Talavera’s 24-year career proves that leadership isn’t about dominance, but rather nurturing your talents for the betterment of the community at large.
