Senior Vice President, Retail Market Manager
Ashley O'Neal's first job in banking was a turnaround.
She'd been hired into a management-trainee program at National City Bank in 2006, after she graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia, and then put in charge of a struggling branch.
The assignment came with a daunting list of problems for a new branch manager: "The branch had a huge employee issue. Employee morale, unethical behavior and turnover were all high at this branch," she recalled. "I went in with a lot of issues to correct."
First, O'Neal said, she had to get the branch's assistant manager on her side. The next step was convincing the team to trust her as well. Then she explained how they would all be accountable for meeting targets, an idea that didn't agree with everyone who worked in the branch. "I did have to assist some team members to the self-discovery that banking wasn't for them," she said.
But among those who stayed, a sense of camaraderie developed: "When I left the organization I started with, there were tears," O'Neal said.
O'Neal stayed at the bank, which was eventually acquired by PNC Financial, until 2018, when she joined Midwest BankCentre. Currently, she has two regional managers working for her, and a total of 77 retail employees in her organization. "I always say, retail is the heart of any financial institution," O'Neal said.
The challenges facing community bankers after this spring's bank failures have the industry on edge. In a retail branch, O'Neal's bankers hear directly from worried clients: "In the environment we're in today, customers ask, 'can I trust that my money is safe being on deposit in your institution?'"
While her division didn't have issues with customers moving deposits out, O'Neal said, her retail team has stepped up their outreach to allay fears. "We've done additional training around FDIC insurance to help ease customers' concerns around if their money is safe."
Her leadership philosophy emphasizes employee morale, which is why she lets team members know that she'll never ask them to do something she wouldn't do herself, such as running a teller drawer. "I tell our people: People bank here because of you. You being their go-to person, their trusted financial advisor, that's what causes people to bank with Midwest BankCentre," she said.
The bank's leaders have noticed her drive. "Ashley has taken her organization from thinking and acting as 'order takers' to serving their clients as trusted advisors. This represented a major shift in our organization," said her manager, Danny Pogue, president of commercial, retail and small-business banking. "Ashley was able to manage the resistance to this wholesale change effectively and in a span of just 12 months has laid a solid foundation which is already yielding positive business results."
A lifelong St. Louis resident, O'Neal is active in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. She served as chapter president during COVID, as well as sitting on the board of the group's local foundation, which funds economic security, financial literacy, health care and children's programs in the area. Having once worked as an intern at the food giant Sara Lee, she also enjoys mentoring young people. Her intern this year is enjoying her time at Midwest BankCentre, O'Neal said, and recently told her, "I like being with you because you just break it down and make it so easy to understand."
