The millennial generation has a reputation for job-hopping.

That is, switching from job to job at a rapid pace – sometimes as frequently as every couple of years. But at Pacific Life, employees boast impressive tenures with rewarding career paths to boot.

Teresa Chavez, AVP Operations Service Solutions, is one of our tenured careerists who has planted her roots here, with no plans to leave anytime soon.

Teresa joined Pacific Life in 2006 in the customer service area of our Consumer Markets division, in what was then the Annuities division. She was a university hire, joining Pacific Life just days after graduating from University of California, Riverside.

Since 2006, she’s held several individual contributor and leadership roles within client-facing operations, moving from different specialized roles to eventually becoming Supervisor, Operations Advisor Management (OAM) in 2013. “That’s where I started my leadership journey,” she said.

After serving in several varying leadership roles from 2013 to 2020, Teresa was given the opportunity to lead the entire Annuities Customer Service team as Director in 2020. In this role, she was not only responsible for overseeing daily operations, but managing a team of leaders and focused professionals.

Coming into this new leadership role during the height of hybrid-remote work wasn’t without its challenges, but Teresa maintained that the strong team dynamic and rapport she built with peers over her tenure at Pacific Life was what enabled her and her team to continue to excel during this time.

Then in 2022, Teresa was promoted again to her current role as AVP Operations Service Solutions.

In her nearly 18 years of service at Pacific Life, Teresa has seen the company grow and evolve in many ways. But one thing that she said has remained the same is her incredible network of peers and leaders. She said that what encouraged her most to stay at Pacific Life all these years is the trust that her leaders have had in her abilities, and the opportunities that they’ve given her to do more.

One leadership quality she said she admires, and tries to emulate in her own leadership style, is coaching for potential in her employees. “The Customer Service team is known to be the pipeline of talent into the organization, and we take great pride in developing our staff for future careers within Pacific Life.” Teresa said.

She also noted Pacific Life’s culture of investing in its leaders’ professional development as a huge contributor to her success as a leader as evident through programs like “Leader as Coach” sessions and Pacific Life’s “Take the Helm” leadership training.

Teresa says her greatest achievement, however, is seeing her team of leaders grow and develop their own careers. She says that she is the proudest when she sees her team grow and succeed, earn accolades, or effectively lead teams of their own.

And so, what’s next for Teresa? Her long-term career goals include continuing to grow on her leadership journey at Pacific Life, and she hopes to continue to learn a new side of the business and make an impact.