Allison Burns grew up in Destrehan, LA, where she attended Destrehan High School before moving to Clinton, MS, for a Bachelor of Arts (that stemmed from a triple major) from Mississippi College. Upon graduation, she moved to Baton Rouge with the hopes of completing a Master’s in Textile, Apparel Design, and Merchandising at LSU. However, once Katrina hit, she knew she needed to move back to the city she grew up in and help rebuild. She was soon offered the position as Entergy’s Corporate Events Planner, allowing her to showcase the city to non-local clients and help generate revenue simultaneously. Knowing that she wanted a Master’s degree to have that competitive edge in the marketplace, she returned to Mississippi College several years later and completed a Master of Business Administration.
Upon returning to New Orleans, Ms. Burns embarked on a path of outside sales, and has been in the payments processing industry for several years. She is President & CEO of Precision Payment Systems with offices in New Orleans, Jackson, and Destin. When asked why she likes the payments processing industry, she replied, “It’s definitely not something that I aspired to in high school. I never thought ‘When I grow up, the business I run is going to process credit cards!’ But, I love that I never have the same day twice, and I love the merchants from all different walks of life in all different industries I get to problem solve for and serve every day. Yes, this is my gainful employment. But it’s also a ministry. And that is really cool.”
Alison is very active in her church, Redeemer Presbyterian. She also volunteers with Samaritan’s Feet, as well as actively networks the business communities around her offices.