A Road That Always Called

Marlen is 27 years old and has lived her whole life in Mexico City, where she shares a home with her parents and her two daughters. Trucks have always been part of her world – her father, Juan Carlos, has spent almost 30 years behind the wheel, and her younger brother embraced the same path at 18. From a very young age, Marlen knew she wanted to be part of that legacy too.

Before Generation, Marlen worked as a nail technician and lash artist from home. She was good at it, but her mind kept drifting back to the road. As a single mother, she wanted to build something lasting and economically stable – not just for herself, but for her daughters. 

She had just enrolled in university to study Law and Criminology when she discovered Generation Mexico’s Professional Truck Driver (CPT) program. The recommendation came from someone she met while knocking on doors at companies looking for work – whose colleagues were Generation graduates. The idea of being trained, licensed, and job-ready felt almost too good to be true. 

A Transformative Program

She arrived barely knowing how to drive a car, but left with far more than a license. Alongside her technical training, what stayed with her was the human value of the experience: the bonds she built, the determination she witnessed in her cohort, and the encouragement that passed between classmates and teachers even on the harder days. Marlen graduated in November 2025 and secured a job ten days later in a transport company. 

Six months into her role as a professional truck driver, Marlen rotates across different vehicle types – from bulk trailers to dry van trucks – hauling grains like wheat and barley on routes of up to 300 kilometers. She loves the long hauls most; the open road and listening to her music.  “I feel like I can inspire people, especially women who think a goal is out of reach,” she reflected.

When other drivers see a woman at the wheel, reactions range from surprise to open admiration – a reminder that women can thrive in spaces they were never expected to integrate. “My girls see me as a superhero. They tell their teachers their mom is a truck driver. Knowing that feeds my soul.”

A Word of Advice

Marlen now earns five times her previous income, a shift she measures not only in numbers, but in her daughters’ education and the possibility of building a house of her own. Her daughters now take swimming, music, and english lessons, things that were out of reach before. 

On the road, her goals keep expanding: she has her sights set on hazardous materials transport and double-articulated trucks. “I truly cannot find the words to thank Generation enough, I could never have imagined the magnitude of that change in my life.”

To any woman standing at the edge of a choice that feels too big, her message is clear: “Wanting something is the beginning of being able to do it. Insist, persist, and never give up.”