Meet Allison O’Neill
5th Generation Houstonian
As a native Houstonian with ancestry dating back to the 1800s, Allison O’Neill has great pride in being a part of a city with immense opportunity, culture, and diversity. Allison was born and raised in Houston and is the 5th generation of her family to call Houston her home. Both of her parents grew up in the Heights, and her father was raised in an area of the Heights that was part of the original neighborhood in the 1920s and members of her family still maintain the original residence.
Allison was raised by parents who understood the meaning of hard work. Her parents worked their entire careers in Houston, with her father starting off as a truck driver and eventually working himself into leadership positions in various transportation companies. Allison’s mother worked for the Port of Houston for the majority of her career, overseeing the imports of various different goods from many different countries. It was their strong work ethic that Allison would later realize she too had inherited. Growing up in the Northshore and Sheldon towns in Houston, and graduating from Sheldon Independent School District, Allison has fond memories of both areas of Houston. From exploring near the banks of the San Jacinto River, enjoying her favorite BBQ at Brother in Laws BBQ, and attending San Jacinto Community College, Allison’s love for the diversity of the city started at an early age. Allison later attended University of Houston Clear Lake where she double majored with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2005 and earned an Executive MBA from Sam Houston State University in 2019.
While taking classes at the San Jacinto Community college, she found interest in a local community bank named Woodforest National Bank. She remembered her parents banking with Woodforest in the early 1980s and always aspired to work there. She started her journey with Woodforest in a branch location inside a Wal-Mart, working as a teller. After one year, she transferred to the bookkeeping department of Woodforest, located at 80 Uvalde in East Houston. Woodforest National Bank originated in East Houston, it’s first locations located at 80 Uvalde and 13301 East Freeway. At the time Allison started working for Woodforest, there were around 25 open branches, and only in the Houston and surrounding areas (Conroe, The Woodlands, Baytown). Over the next 10 years, the Bank would open over 600 branches, allowing Allison the fortunate experience to be a part of the bank’s rapid growth.
She had the opportunity to learn from great leaders, and to take on a wide range of responsibilities across Operations, during that time, and her love for the financial and banking industry was strengthened as she continued to evolve her career at Woodforest. “I look back on this and I am so thankful for the opportunities that were granted to me by the amazing leadership at Woodforest. I am truly blessed to have been able to be a part of the success and growth at Woodforest,” says Allison. Woodforest National Bank is now headquartered in The Woodlands, and as of 2021, has over 750 branches in 17 different states. Allison and her husband moved to Spring to raise their two sons, and still reside there today. She is a Senior Vice President at Woodforest and oversees several teams that are responsible for the essential day-to-day “behind-the-scenes” operations of the bank. Looking back to her own upbringing, it is no wonder that she carried on the strong work ethic that her parents modeled for her.
When asked what some of Allison’s favorite hotspots in Houston are, she suggests loading up your bike and riding it in the Downtown area, along the Buffalo Bayou, or on the Rice University campus. She has enjoyed many years of taking her family to the Houston Zoo, the various museums, Astros games, and Texans games. And let’s not forget the amazing restaurant scene - Allison can often be found trying new restaurants in Houston, especially dessert shops! She and two of her very close friends, both of whom she met at Woodforest, have a very long-standing tradition (at least 15 years) of meeting for dinner at Mai’s Vietnamese restaurant on Milam, and then dessert at The Chocolate Factory on Alabama. She loves driving around Houston and seeing all the architecture of old and new buildings. And the holiday season would not be complete without a trip to see the Christmas lights in River Oaks every year.
