PRactically Speaking Houston with Mike O'Neill

Welcome Mike O’Neill, to PRactically Speaking Houston – the official podcast of the Houston PRSA Chapter.

Mike O’Neill is a corporate communications and public relations leader who blends nearly a decade of strategic messaging experience with a 25-year foundation in broadcast journalism. He combines the instincts of a newsroom veteran with the discipline of a corporate communicator, crafting stories that inform, influence, and build trust.

Mike began his career in 1993 as a news photographer in Great Falls, Montana, before moving to Colorado Springs, Austin, and Houston. In Houston, he served as a producer at KTRK and later as Executive Producer at KHOU, leading newsroom teams and overseeing major market coverage.

He later transitioned into corporate communications at MetroNational, the real estate company that owns and operates all of Memorial City, before joining TDECU in 2022 to lead its external communications and media relations efforts. Mike is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Strategic Communication and Innovation at Texas Tech University and serves as Treasurer for PRSA Houston.

Connect with Mike O'Neill at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneill2348/

Connect with Veronica V. Sopher at:
Website: https://www.veronicavsopher.com/
Social:@VeronicaVSopher

Learn more about the PRSA Houston Chapter, our events and opportunities at www.prsahouston.org.

PRactically Speaking Houston is brought to you by Veronica V. Sopher, Public Relations.

Transcript

Hello, hello, and welcome to Practically Speaking Houston. This is the official podcast of the Houston chapter of PRSA, and I'm your host, Veronica Sopher, and I come to you every couple of weeks, introducing some amazing members that we have here in our Houston chapter, and really start to have conversations that are meaningful to the work that we do. So if you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of Practically Speaking Houston. And if you are watching on one of our social media channels, be sure to drop some comments We would love to connect with you. So let's go ahead and get this episode started. I have the amazing Mike O'Neill joining us. Hello. Hello. Welcome. I was in the void. I was in a void until right now, but now I'm on camera. You're here. That was scary. And scene. There we go. How are you? I'm great. Thanks so much for joining us. It's been a couple of years since you've been on the podcast. Well, you were so nice to bring me on when I first joined PRSA. I started volunteering as the scholarship chair. And, you know, that's really a rewarding work, certainly for PRSA. And so now they've elected me to be the treasurer. And I'm happy to be here contributing in any way I can to support this amazing organization. I'm so excited. And you know, the things that we do here in Houston are not unique to what happens in other communities. But what is unique about what we do in Houston is that we've got folks from all sectors at all stages in their career. And you know, sometimes we're talking to folks that are doing the day-to-day hustle and grind of an agency. And then sometimes we're talking to folks who are in oil and gas and healthcare and Mike O'Neill today, you're coming to us from the finance space. So tell us a little bit about your journey, the things that you're up to and what you're seeing in the space, especially now that you're at a point in your career where you're learning and growing. yeah well right now i work as the senior communications and marketing specialist for td ecu texas down employee credit union we're actually the largest credit union in houston we're the fourth largest in texas we've seen an amazing amount of growth in the past year and a half uh right now we're we just Last year, we just completed our merger with Space City Credit Union, and we're actually working on finalizing a potential merger with Smart Financial Credit Union. so a lot of this stuff is happening we've seen an amazing growth and i'm actually coming to you from our new offices over here in the post soak area um and uh that's why i wanted to come up because we you know we have a beautiful view and so i wanted to set up for that just to show off a little bit but i'm very proud of the work that we do here at tdcu and um i know that we do a lot of things. We have a lot of sponsorships. We have our TDC U Cares group that actually is very actively involved in the community. And so for me, I'm happy to be able to not only share the good news and keep up with the credit union story, but also all of the work that we do as far as a Socially, what other words I'm thinking of a good community support organization that supports the community. That's right. I was going to say your community engagement is top notch, which is a big part of a communications plan, an engagement plan. We've got some folks who are heavily into the marketing perspective of their communications role, maybe not a traditional PR role. But for a lot of us, it all kind of merges together, whether it's advertising, marketing, community engagement. It all gets thrown under the other duties as assigned. And I know that that's a skill set that people grow and develop. But a lot of us also go to school specifically to learn that. And I know that you, speaking of school, have been on a very incredible journey. Tell us what you've been up to. Well, great segue. Because as we spoke about, so... Last time we spoke, I had just made the transition from moving over. I was maybe a couple of years into the transition. I worked in TV news, broadcast TV news as a news photographer, a photojournalist, a producer, executive producer. And I had done that for a little over twenty five, twenty seven years. And then I made the switch over to corporate communications because, you know, as they say in TV, if you want to move up, you have to move out. And I was at that point in my career and with my family where I was like, no, I need to stay put. I need to figure out what to do. And, you know, I had already worked at two of the four locations here in Houston. And so I was like, you know, it's like I could either continue with that or I would have to move or whatever. you know move over to corporate and it does open up and the op the possibilities uh certainly in a city the size of houston uh they're practically endless and so i was fortunate enough to um get this position i worked for three years at metro national going to marketing communications and public relations for memorial city area and so now i'm here with cdcu um but at the time that we spoke i was just talking about you know just you know the rush of knowledge that you have to flex when you're switching from TV to corporate communications. But since we spoke, I've now started taking classes, or that is to say, I'm pursuing a master's degree from Texas Tech in strategic communication and innovation. And I've only got one semester left. And I'm very excited. I'm going to finish it up over the summer. Oh, so exciting. Congrats. thank you and so what i've really found is um and and i hope that this will serve as encouragement for anyone who's considering on making that same with i was thirty years outside of my graduate from my bachelor degree and i went in and i was certainly nervous about what it would be like getting back into it but what i found is that not only is are the lessons that i'm learning the classes i'm taking they're filling in the blanks they're helping reaffirm a lot of what i instinctually was doing um that it really did help me in my classes i am a straight a student i'm I'm going to be so petty. I'm going to put that on all my resumes. I love it. I love it. You know, because of the fact that it's like a lot of the lessons I'm learning, I'm like, oh, yes, I've experienced that in real life. So it's not just like I'm learning all brand new things, but it's just a reaffirming some of the lessons that I've kind of personally experienced. And I'm able to translate that into what I'm putting out for school. So I'm very excited about it. Oh, that's so exciting. And I think it's important for us to always talk about lifelong learning. And some of us go to school. Some of us work on our APR. Some of us actually take additional continuous education opportunities and continuous learning. What do you think is one of the... Give me two or three tips you would give to somebody considering... a path like that, whether it's APR or a master's program or some other form of learning, what would some tips be for them? Well, first of all, just do it, right? You know, just right off the top. I mean, it's like, like I said, I had some hesitation because I'd been out of school for so long. I was like, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it. Am I going to be able to donate enough time or dedicate enough time for it? But, you know, it all comes out in the end. You never know until you get started. So that's number one. Number two is that, yeah, look for the opportunities because it's like, Here at TDCU, they actually reimburse my tuition. So it's like so look for if you work for a corporation, look for those tuition, you know, for the tuition reimbursement. That's that's a really big thing. And if not, again, for the for the old guys like me, after the age of fifty five and I didn't even realize this until I got my last bill. After the age of fifty five here in Texas, a lot of tuition fees are waived. Wow. Yeah, I know. I was surprised as you were. And so it's like, I went through and I had to look. I was like, their only charge, I think maybe I paid eight hundred and fifty dollars for this last semester. Wow. And, you know, it's almost to the point where I'm like, Maybe I'm not going to rely on my tuition reimbursement. I'd love for the company, you know, to support others. But yeah, because it's like it's just because of the fact that they, you know, there is a program here in Texas where they support for, you know, seniors. seniors who are, you know, getting back into education. So, yeah. So I think look for all those things. That's number one. So don't be afraid. Do it. Look for the opportunities that you can for tuition reimbursement to to support it and and look for something that is like I would say close to but not one hundred percent connected with what you're already doing. Yeah. You see, for me, like I said, this was me kind of plugging in a few holes of knowledge. But now I'm also thinking, what's next, you know, because it has gone super fast. Like I said, I only have one more class, which is, you know, basically, you know, the final project, big project that you have to get for the master's degree. That's going to happen over the summer. And then I'm thinking about what's next. And honestly, my next thought is like, well, maybe I'll try and get like a master's in business. So then that would help. So then that would help me if I ever had to go out and, you know, hang my own shingle, as they say, which again, And then this takes me back to the biggest reason as we talk about the reason for groups like PRSA and the networking opportunities that come from this. It is. You are going to meet some of the bravest people in the community, in your industry, when you talk with these people. Because there's a lot of people out there, probably a majority of the people who are going to be even listening to this podcast, who are working and striving and fighting on their own. They're out there. They're grinding. For me, I admit it's a little easier working for a corporation because I've got security here. only in security as much as they want to keep me around. But for the people, there are a lot of people out there who have to go out and they have to find their clients. They have to build their base. And I admire and I'm in awe of them every single day. And every time we have a meeting and I talk to the people who are out there, the ones who are successful getting clients or who are still working for them. And so that's why I want to support groups like this So I can help them get out there. And Davey, you know, so it's like I feel supported if, you know, if times change, you know, it's like the economy is crazy. So it's like if an opportunity comes, I want to I want to be able to support them in that way as well, because I know they're going to support me. I'm talking too much, I think. No, I love that. And that's so true. And it really is about the network because you never know. Sometimes we have transitions in life and transitions in economy. And when you can pick up the phone and talk to a colleague or someone you were networking with recently or volunteered on a committee with and tell them, hey, this is what happened. This is what I'm looking for. Keep your ear open. Nine times out of ten, they're going to be the folks that think of you first and connect with you. So that is such great advice. And I think that's probably one of the benefits of PRSA is we have in-person events. We have virtual events. We have a lot of different ways to get together and connect. And so it doesn't mean you have to be all in all the time, but it does mean that there's going to be opportunities for you to give back in any way that's appropriate for you in your career and your life. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And so that's why I'm and I enjoy the I just enjoy the camaraderie. I enjoy going places and feeling like I know people, you know, you know, Houston, you know, it's a very big little town. And, you know, so it's like, you know, going out and running into people that, you know, through PRSA, even at non PRSA events. That's great. Of course, you know, there are other groups that kind of, you know, dabble in the same industry and the same groups. And that was always nice. Now, I had been president of the Houston Press Club, which unfortunately has kind of gone by the wayside just because of the fact that there was just a a decline in uh memberships and sponsorships and and so right now it's dormant i still have this dream of someday passing on the torch because we had a really great program historic program it had formed in so you know so it's like it's one of those things i'd really love to see you revived and stuff like that if only to benefit the the media side the the media press club side um And so it's like, so I understand the importance of having groups like this and, you know, running into some of those same people left and right. Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. A hundred percent. And that's, and you know, we, I was actually just on another call and we were talking about what happens when an institution has to shift. And if we don't shift for the needs of our members, then we could be at risk for not being relevant anymore. And it was an analogy. And I think we got it from a Chip and Dan Heath book, something to the effect of at one point TV factories had carpenters as, you know, as, as a major part of TV manufacturing, because television, for those of you that don't know, televisions used to be inside furniture, like, yeah, Mike and I know, but we weren't, We were the remote controls before there was remote controls, right? Exactly. Yeah, and I think that's a big part of being involved in PRSA is that you can see the trends that are coming. You can attend trainings and get connected with folks and really stay connected. So I think PRSA – I'm biased, of course, but I think we have a very good – foundation for people in every season of their career, whether it's a student coming out of college, someone in their sophomore year, or someone looking to start working on an exit plan at some point. Can I just do a real quick aside? Absolutely. A cool story from my personal family history when you were talking about how TV itself as an industry had to evolve, right? Because right now, all the ideas like virtual reality sets, big screens and stuff like that. Well, back in the day, obviously, they had to have hand-painted sets in the background. And my grandfather, Paul O'Neill, he actually worked for the ABC station in Philadelphia, and he would do the hand-painted sets behind the scenes. And so this was one that was out there. I don't know if you can see. I'll try and get it up there. Anyway, so this was a bookstore background. I can. That's fabulous. And so back in the forties, you know, or I think maybe early fifties or I can't remember actually the era at that point. But what happened was that this was a background that was used for a guy who was, he would do a story time. It was a story time. He would talk about books and stuff like that. He ended up, there was a little bit of a scandal. They ended up kind of letting him go. So they came to my grandfather with this urgent request. We need you to change this because we're going to start like a new music based show. But we need to do this. And this was on a Thursday or Friday because we're going to start shooting on Monday. So my grandfather went over. And so he turned that into this background right here. And he turned it into a music shot, which is funny because it's like, you know, he has a really outsized trumpet. I've never seen a trumpet that looks like that. This was the original background to the first episodes of what became American Bandstand. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So they came up to him. They said, we have this new guy. His name is Dick Clark. He's going to be hosting this music show. We're going to have kids dancing. We just want it to look like a music shop background. So when they had a recent retrospective of American Bandstand, my grandfather's background was on display at the Smithsonian. Oh, my gosh. It's in the blood. I don't know how that happened. It is. That is amazing. I love that. And I love the connection, right? Like how fast he had to pivot. And then the legacy. I mean, it's in the Smithsonian. I mean, that's amazing. Yeah. It's really wonderful. And, you know, here, you know, fast forward, you know, forty, fifty years and I'm working in TV and I've seen, you know, major evolutions in it. And again, all the more reason to keep up with your education, keep up with, you know, with the latest trends and everything. And that's a advocacy for that, if ever. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Mike, I can't, I don't know how we're going to top this episode that that's, that's a great way to end and tying it all back together. You're a wonderful storyteller and I love the visuals. And lastly, Mike, how can people connect with you? How do you want people to reach out and keep that network going? Well, you know, it's like I'm on LinkedIn and I think LinkedIn is really great because no matter what, where you are in your career, you know, and you know, as, as quickly as things can change with where you're working, I think LinkedIn is definitely the way to go. I wish I knew off the top of my head by LinkedIn profile, but you know, well, we'll maybe we'll put in a link or whatever, but yeah, but that that's through that, you know, through PRSA, Mike O'Neill. I'm not shy. You'll find me. I love it. That's fantastic. Mike, great visiting with you. Thank you for all you do for our organization. And I can't wait to see you in person again. Yeah, I can't wait. We'll talk. Oh, you know what? Because yeah, PRSA, the next... networking event is over at our studios, at our offices rather, studios. Still thinking in mindset of news, right? So yeah, so it's over here. So, you know, we have a great speaker that she's going to be talking about AI and we didn't even get into AI. I'll let you save that for your next guest. because obviously ai is changing everything that we do but um she's going to be coming here she's going to be speaking about it we're going to be hosting it here two thousand post oak boulevard on the twenty first floor we have a you know beautiful offices so people will be able to come and check it out we have a whole floor dedicated to wellness there's rooms for for for new mothers or and uh there's floors and spaces where no cell phones are allowed i mean It really is a dynamic place and I want everyone to come see it. So sign up through PRSA Houston and we hope to see you. That's coming up in a couple of weeks. That's right. That's awesome. And folks, we will immediately dated this podcast after, after like two weeks, there's no reason to watch this. No, it's actually very timely and we will definitely have a link to buy tickets in the show notes. So if you want to attend, you're going to find Mike's LinkedIn in the show notes, but you're also going to find the link for the tickets because we definitely want more folks to come to our luncheons because this is the best way not only to stay connected, but to see the great things that are happening. And a great shout out to TDCU for being our sponsors and for helping us just stay relevant in this space. Thank you for anyone who's still watching. There's going to be a quiz next time you see me. So he's going to get a count. All right, Mike. Thanks so much. Appreciate you being on the show. I have a great day though. Thank you very much for your time. You bet. All right, everybody, make sure you get those tickets. We definitely want to see you at our next luncheon. Wonderful opportunity to connect with our PRSA Houston chapter members and stay networked with us. So make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of PRS, practically speaking, Houston, the official podcast for the PRSA chapter here in Houston. We look forward to connecting with you in person and online. We'll see you soon.