This article was originally published in Austin Women.
Million-dollar lobbyist Andrea McWilliams is known for her tireless pursuit on behalf of her clients’ issues. Diagnosed with cancer in January 2006, she was just as aggressive in overcoming the disease. Learning she was pregnant days after her diagnosis, the indomitable McWilliams combined her inner strength, her faith and the support of close friends and advisors to beat the illness on her own terms.
Be Fierce!
Andrea McWilliams
From her humble start above a burger joint on Congress Avenue, to being a Capitol chief of staffer in her early twenties, blazing a trail in lobby circles and going on to become a top donor to the Bush campaign and the highest- grossing female lobbyist in Texas, Andrea McWilliams has unflinchingly met and overcome challenges.
Yet the last 18 months have been the ultimate test for this quick-witted Austin native, and through it all, her strength has been unfailing. Clients, friends and family say McWil- liams has not missed a beat – despite the premature birth of her son Max, and his NICU stay; despite the death of her beloved father; and despite a surprise third pregnancy.
However, McWilliams displayed her greatest strength in overcoming breast cancer – diagnosed just days before she learned of that third pregnancy.
The good news? A healthy – although premature – Marcus was safely delivered in late August 2006. And McWilliams has overcome her cancer, even while maintaining her always- on lifestyle throughout her treatment.
Strength through breast cancer – that’s McWilliams’ unique yet compelling message, which she is unswerving in deliver- ing. “Breast cancer has made me a better person,” she ex- plained. She appreciates her children and her husband more, and savors every minute of every day. “It’s been hard work, and I wouldn’t ever want anyone to get breast cancer again, but you can find strength in it.”
In telling her story, now that she’s disease-free, McWilliams hopes to provide support and inspiration to other young wom- en. “I want people to realize that cancer can be a part of every- day life. People live, work, have babies – all with cancer.”
A key role model for McWilliams was Dallas Mayor Laura Miller – the “perfect example” of a woman who can continue to be a wife, woman and leader while beating breast cancer. Lying on a hospital gurney, pregnant and waiting for her first chemo session, an email arrived on McWilliams’ ever-present Blackberry. “Be Fierce!” wrote Miller. Those words have be- come McWilliams’ mantra. “With Andrea, I had no doubt that she should tackle it head-on, no-holds-barred, and go into full attack mode against the disease,” said Mayor Miller, explain- ing her pivotal email. In the same way Miller inspired her, Mc- Williams hopes her experience will provide hope to others.
After the birth of daughter Madison in 2001, McWilliams received infertility treatments from her ObGyn, Dr. Jeffrey Youngkin, before finally becoming pregnant with Maxwell. His birth and week-long neonatal intensive care unit stay in October 2005 began a series of personal challenges which tested McWilliams’ fortitude and resilience as never before.
A stickler for self exams, while breast-feeding Max she’d taken a break. Two months after she de- livered, she quit breastfeeding and immediately did a breast exam. She found a lump. Cancer.
The day following the news, she had the lump re- moved – and received what she describes as “the gold standard” from surgeon Dr. Ames Smith, namely clear margins around the tumor. One week later, in January 2006, and still recovering from her lumpec- tomy, McWilliams happened to be at Nau’s Drugstore in Old Enfield. In line, she happened to spot the preg- nancy tests. During her two previous pregnancies, McWilliams had lower back pain. And on this day – yes, you guessed it – she happened to have lower back pain. She purchased a pregnancy test. For two years she had stared at them, hoping to get pregnant. “Now, I had two red lines,” recalled McWilliams. “I’m pregnant and I’ve got to do chemo,” the rarely rattled McWilliams kept thinking.
Although it was Saturday, Dr. Youngkin opened his office to discuss her options. McWilliams soon learned that with the correct medical care, both she and her baby would survive. She was treated by two specialists from Texas Oncology – Austin-based Dr. Michael Kasper, who administered all her chemo- therapy and oversaw her day-to-day treatment; and Dallas-based Dr. Joyce O’Shaughnessy.
Steadfast in her determination to beat her cancer and avoid any recurrence, McWilliams requested the most aggressive treatment possible, given her preg- nancy. At the recommendation of Dr. O’Shaughnessy, who is co-chair of the breast cancer research commit- tee at Baylor-Sammons Cancer Center, Texas Oncol- ogy, P.A., US Oncology; McWilliams received standard Adriamycin-Cytoxan chemotherapy while pregnant, followed by Taxol after she delivered Marcus. (Like many cancer survivors, she continues to take Tamoxi- fen.) Both oncologists concur that her survival chanc- es are excellent. “The long-term chances of remaining disease-free are very high. In the range of 95% or even more,” said Joyce O’Shaughnessy. “She’s in the high- est category of breast cancer survivability.”
Throughout 2006, as her pregnancy and her chemotherapy progressed, McWilliams maintained her poise so effectively that only her closest confidants knew of her illness. It takes an “enormous amount of energy, discipline and confidence to pull that off,” comment- ed breast cancer survivor Mayor Laura Miller.
McWilliams exercised regularly throughout her pregnancy, and hired Stephanie Caillabet, a former- Hollywood wig maker, who custom-made a full- length human hair hand-tied wig to replace McWil- liams’ own hair. Yet it wasn’t only her appearance she maintained. It was also her work schedule. In or- der to maintain her long work days, she employs two live-in nannies. Dean McWilliams admires “the grace and pragmatism” with his wife balances her time, as she hurries home from the Capitol to tuck the kids in before returning for one of the many late- night meetings that stretch on into the early morning hours throughout the legislative session. (Actually, he said many more complimentary things about her – as did all her friends, clients and business associ- ates – however, space permits us only to say that the overwhelming consensus on her was “amazing.”)
To maximize their time at home, the McWilliams prefer to entertain clients and business colleagues in their lovingly restored historic Enfield house (She’s a board member of the Heritage Society of Austin and the immediate past president of its under-40s group, Inherit Austin). It not only gives them the opportunity to invite people into a relaxed environ- ment but also means that five-year-old Madison can join them for part of the evening.
Sitting in the drawing room of her French Cha- teau-inspired home, dressed in a cream-colored Ar- mani suit and sipping tea from a china cup, Andrea McWilliams appears the epitome of inherited wealth. Otherwise how would she and husband Dean, at ages 34 and 39, be able to afford their exquisite 1922 house? They’ve restored it to include a guest house, swimming pool and wine cellar, filled it with French antiques and even commissioned a mural-adorned ceiling, where one of the cherubs has the face of daughter Madison (To avoid any sibling rivalry, Max and Marcus will be added soon.)
Yet their financial success is thanks only to hard work, said McWilliams, using her 10-year wedding anniversary
__________
Wolens. “She has a [wide] breadth of knowledge and is the consummate multitasker… She’s always been a sort of tiger, with an independent mind and very certain of what she does… A tor- nado in Armani!”
“One of the signs of being on the bottom rung at the Capitol is having the furthest parking spot,” recalled Dean McWilliams. However, back in the early ‘90s that proved to be a ben- efit, as one day he spotted a “beauti- ful young woman” also headed to the Capitol. Her confidence, drive and intensity drew Dean to her and, de- spite initially rebuffing his request for a date, by February 1994 the couple were married.
Her ethos has always been to arrive early and stay late and be prepared to take on the smallest job, because you never know what it will lead to, or what you will learn from it. McWil- liams discovered that her husband shared her can-do attitude, and with both holding low-paying Capitol jobs, the enterprising couple began their own side business, printing so-called “slate cards” for state trade associa- tions. In 2000, with a stint at public af- fairs consulting company Public Strat- egies under her belt and after working with other independent lobbyists, An- drea merged her practice with Dean’s to form McWilliams & Associates, Inc. Combining their talents paid off. In 2005, The Dallas Morning News fea- tured the couple as two of the top three lobbyists in the state, and Texans for Public Justice recognized her as the top female lobbyist in Texas on their list of “Million-Dollar Lobbyists.” His wife has “a pattern of succeeding where people do not expect her to,” explained Dean. “She always goes that extra yard.”
Their fundraising for then-Gover- nor Bush catapulted the McWilliams to national prominence. In 2000, the couple was among the first to be- come “Pioneers” – which meant they raised at least $100,000 for the Bush presidential campaign. Today, they maintain their connections with the White House. Both serve on the Bush National Finance Committee, and were members of the Honorary Committee for the 54th Presidential Inauguration. Despite the collection of framed photographs and thank you notes adorning her swanky offices – the closest lobby- ist offices to the Capitol, she observed – disabuse yourself of any notion that the Bush fundraising gives them any kind of inside track, maintained McWilliams. “That’d be laughable. I get a letter that I can frame when each of my children is born. That’s it. For anyone to represent anything else is ridiculous.”
McWilliams is proud, however, of her firm’s emphasis on working both sides of the aisle. “She has clients across the political spectrum,” concurs Steve Wolens. That’s unusual in lobby- ing circles, particularly in Austin, she explained, and is a unique advantage. Although she works with clients from both parties, she has the Democratic roots, whereas A&M alum Dean has the Republican background. They gain strength as a team from their differenc- es. He is the quieter, less effusive of the two. And he prefers to delve down into the details of a client’s case, where she is all about strategy. Her mind works on a three-dimensional level as she rapidly weighs all the factors influencing a situation. And she’s not slow to share her laser-sharp and pinpoint-accurate analysis, talking with a confidence and ease that is part a natural talent, and part thanks to the long hours she spends working a client’s case. “She’s a master strategist,” said Wolens.
And what of lobbying’s reputation? She is articulate, informed and direct in discussing her profession. Lobbying has changed significantly over the last 10 years and is no longer backroom and backslapping, she said. Today it’s a technology-driven and informa- tion-based job. “We involve our clients every step of the way,” she said. “The only thing you have when you lobby is your reputation.” Once sullied, a lob- byist’s effectiveness is gone, she add- ed. “So it only makes sense for us to have the cleanest reputation that we can, because that allows us to effec- tively communicate for our clients.”
McWilliams learned her hard workethic from her father. Frank Beynon owned the Burger Bank at 8th and Con- gress, and she and older sister An- nette grew up in the family apartment above the café. Beynon went on to run the cafeteria in the Texas Employment Commission building, becoming a leg- end for his unfailing good spirits. Her father taught her that through hard work you can achieve anything. “When I think about my dad leaving at 4:00 a.m. every day to open the cafeteria, I’m so proud… I can only work hard – or strive to make something of my- self. It was born in me.”
Beynon battled ill health for many years, passing away in September 2006. She is grateful that they were able to share some of his final days. The day he was scheduled to fly home from Stanford (where McWilliams had sent him in a last attempt to arrest his brain tumor), her water broke – and Beynon arrived just in time for the birth of his grandson Marcus. All three ended up in St. David’s – which gave Andrea the opportunity not only to place her newly-born son in her father’s arms, but also to steal some late-night visit- ing time with the man who had been her lifelong role model. “It was really special,” said McWilliams. “In my robe and house shoes, with no makeup and my hat, I’d go through the basement so no one would see me.”
Friends – and she counts husband Dean as her closest friend – sustained her during the months of her own treatment. Erika Herndon volunteered to attend chemo sessions with McWil- liams, and says she “seemed so posi- tive and knowledgeable, and to be in a partnership with her physician…She’s been steadfast throughout.”
Like Herndon, Kristin Armstrong of- fered to share McWilliams’ chemo ses- sions. Armstrong has firsthand experi- ence of living with a cancer survivor, as her ex-husband is Austin icon Lance Armstrong, who overcame cancer to go on to a record-breaking cycling career. It was Kristin Armstrong who handed McWilliams a small mirror designed to lift her spirits during chemo treat- ments. That mirror became a cherished gift. Like Herndon, Armstrong shares McWilliams’ strong faith. “I wrote mes- sages all over the mirror in permanent pen – words about beauty, and how precious she was is to God.. It was simply a reminder of who she really is.”
Today, McWilliams says, “Be fierce about your family, about your treat- ment and your faith.” How has she coped over the past 18 months? “I thought I was strong, but this was hard, and it took me a while to realize I had to let go and let God carry me through this. That’s when I found the strength I never thought I had.” Fierce. A tiger. A tornado. The descriptions of Andrea McWilliams’ strength may vary, but the theme is constant. Dr. Joyce O’Shaughnessy summed up the “silver lining” of breast cancer, and its impact on this remarkable woman who scheduled her cancer treatments in the same way she schedules the many other calls on her time. “Once you come through something like this, you’ve learned a lot about your ability to handle and overcome adversity,” said the distinguished breast cancer clinician. “In Andrea’s case, it has only strengthened an already very strong woman.”