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Military service is woven into the Lozano family culture. Gracie Lozano’s father served as a Marine in the Vietnam War. Her husband served for six years in the Navy. Now, Lozano reinforces her family’s commitment to the armed forces through her work as senior HR business partner at USAA.
“I’m honored to work for a company that serves our military and their families because in reality, I’m serving my own family,” Lozano says.
Lozano supports multiple areas at USAA, to include insurance, strategy, digital, brand, human resources, and transformation, all of which comprise roughly half of USAA’s 37,000 employees. Her team is “the face to the business,” she says, and brings forward a range of talent strategies that serve USAA’s thirteen million members.
As a servant leader, Lozano builds strong relationships with her team members and demonstrates a positive attitude.
“One thing you can control is your attitude, so I came to every situation with a humble and caring approach with a positive attitude…My goal is to support the team and surround myself with amazing people who are way smarter than me most of the time,” Lozano says. “I try to leverage their skills and help them grow and succeed.”
A Thirty-Year Journey
Lozano’s thirty-year journey at USAA started in San Antonio, Texas, in a contact center entry-level position, rising to the ranks of an executive leader on USAA’s corporate ladder. “I served our members by providing service and advice on USAA’s products, merchandise, and benefits,” she says.
When her husband joined the Navy and was stationed at a base in Virginia, Lozano transferred to a USAA office there, taking a position in the claims department. “USAA was great. They understand deployments and permanent change of stations,” Lozano says.
She transitioned to an administrative assistant role, supporting staff functions like HR, IT, and facilities. When her husband parted from the Navy, the plan was for the family to move back to San Antonio. But Lozano, who by then had enrolled in Old Dominion University and was immersed in earning a BS in business administration, halted those plans.
“I shared, ‘I’m not going to move back until I finish my degree, and I get into a role back in San Antonio, one that I’m aspiring to be in,’ which was a role in HR,” Lozano says. Lozano and her husband delayed the move back home to San Antonio long enough for Lozano to earn her degree and find an HR position supporting employee relations.
From the moment she stepped onto USAA’s San Antonio campus, Lozano was enamored with the organization. “It was a very special place and had some really strong leaders,” she says. “I jumped into learning data and analytics, and I started to take on extra special projects.” She eventually moved into a workforce planner role where she used analytics to forecast business requirements for talent.
Her experience in HR and the quantitative skills she acquired as a workforce planner were perfectly matched to an HR business partner, supporting life insurance, health insurance, property and casualty, investments, and staff functions. Eventually, she achieved a leadership rank and moved through leadership roles including executive director, assistant vice president, and is currently serving as a vice president.
Staying True to Her Hispanic Roots
Lozano, a first-generation college graduate, is proud of her Hispanic roots and intends to pass Hispanic traditions down to her two sons. “As a Latina, it’s important to stay true to who I am and to my culture and continue to instill that in my boys,” Lozano says.
One of her HR roles is promoting inclusion and fostering belonging for all USAA employees. She’s also the executive sponsor for Elevate, one of eight diversity business groups at USAA.
“The intent of these groups is to foster a workplace that values, embraces and fosters different perspectives, skills and backgrounds and to help employees learn about and celebrate each other and their cultures and strengthen employee engagement,” Lozano says.
Occasionally, Lozano addresses employees at USAA through speaking engagements presented by Adelante, another one of the eight diversity groups at the company. She shares her story and offers advice on career growth. Following these engagements it’s not unusual for her to receive emails and texts thanking her.
“As a Latina, it’s important to stay true to who I am and to my culture and continue to instill that in my boys.”
Gracie Lozano
“It’s inspiring to see someone who looks like me at your level,” Lozano says of the messages she receives following the speaking engagements. “It’s motivating. Someone who has my background and experience because it helps me know that there are possibilities available to me.”
Lozano also speaks about her tenure, discussing the obstacles she faced and offering advice on enjoying a long tenure at an organization. Her advice to those who are striving for a long tenure is to do a really good job at the job they’re in and position themself for the job they want. And to remain persistent and not lose faith in themself if they don’t land their dream job the first time they try.
“Don’t limit yourself and expand the scope of what you think is possible for your career,” she says. “Understand what’s available and take advantage of the benefits and development opportunities the company offers.”
Commitment to US Armed Forces runs deep in the Lozano family. “Service is really important to me, and I know that the work that I’m doing at USAA has a direct impact on our military members and our employees who are also serving in the military,” Lozano says “I feel absolutely blessed to work for USAA. It is the only company I’ve worked at my entire life and that’s a blessing in and of itself.”
