All Roads Lead Through Avery Ranch

Avery Ranch is more than a neighborhood

When it comes to our lives, all roads lead through Avery Ranch. I’m Terri Broussard Williams, a seven-year resident of Avery Ranch’s Glenfield neighborhood. Before I tell you about my husband, Lemuel, I must tell you how I got to Austin.

One day, I received a phone call from Tod Marvin, a colleague at the American Heart Association (AHA). Tod was looking for a vice president of government relations to lead his newly expanded team in Texas. I was a lobbyist of the AHA in Louisiana and had no interest in moving to Texas. (I was the person who always thought Texas stole Louisiana’s brightest talent.) But after talking to Tod, I gave in and visited Austin. It was a cold, rainy, and extremely windy weekend in December, yet Austin intrigued me with her charm and fun places (like SoCo). When I met with Tod, he drew a map of the city and showed me where he lived. I remember it like it was yesterday. He lived between 183 and Parmer, not far from 620 or MoPac. It was a place that some people thought was far, but they had their own highway exit, and it was called Avery Ranch.

Leadership Austin Lovebirds

Fast forward six months to the day I met my husband, Lem. I joined the Leadership Austin Emerge Committee shortly after moving to Austin. A work colleague committed to attending an Emerge reception with me but later found out that she couldn’t attend. So she asked Lem, who also served on the Committee, if he would attend in her place. She wanted me to meet everyone and have a good time. Lem and I met at the event on a Thursday. The next day, Friday, he called and asked me out for Saturday. If you know Lem, this won’t be a surprise. He’s one of the most energetic people I know, and he’s not afraid to set a goal. We quickly became a couple and after we got engaged, my dear friend Erika Holland threw us an engagement party in Avery Ranch. The entire drive over, Lem complained about how far it was and said he would never live there. But when we turned off Parmer and onto Avery Ranch Boulevard, I told him this was the place I wanted to call home. The streets were clean and it looked like the sun was brighter on that side of the road. I’m serious! (A fun coincidence is that Maria and Jason Wright began dating after serving on the Emerge Committee with us, and now they also live in Avery Ranch with their two small children!)

Lemuel and I are committed to our community and are active volunteers. We have served on the boards of Leadership Austin, I Live Here I Give Here, the Urban League, Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, the Seton Forum, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library Future Forum. I’ve chaired many galas and events in Austin for organizations like Leadership Austin, American Red Cross, The Junior League of Austin, and I Live Here I Give Here. I’m also a fifteen-year member of the Junior League and have moved from The Junior League of Austin Board to The Association of Junior Leagues International. I love the mission of this organization, which began in 1901; I see how it shapes the community and the members who are part of its ranks.

Lemuel served on the City of Austin’s Telecommunications and Technology Committee for ten years and as chair for six. He’s worked on several key initiatives, like Smart City and the No Texting No Driving Commission. He’s a channel development manager for a cyber security company in Austin and loves every minute of it.

#MovementMakerTribe

Just recently, Lem cheered me on as I launched a new website and blog. I feel called upon to inspire people to start movements—big or small—and to give them the confidence and tools needed to build momentum. I believe leaders turn moments into movements, and I will tell their stories atwww.TerriBWilliams.com. I hope you join my newsletter and follow my journey to inspire others. After fifteen years of working as a lobbyist, it’s so nice to be able to share my gift with others, and I’m grateful that I can do it while still working at the AHA.

When Lem and I aren’t working, serving the community, or inspiring movements, you can catch us on the road. We love to travel and explore new places, and our favorite places to revisit are Napa, Las Vegas, and Canada. It’s when we travel for leisure that we feel at our best. It’s great to view the world from another vantage point and see the diversity of thought. That’s another reason we are proud to call Avery Ranch our home. There are no two families who are the same in Avery Ranch. We are a strong community of 10,000 people from all over the world. We hope to run into you at Summer Moon or Tony C’s, and if we do, don’t hesitate to say hello and tell us why you love living in Avery.

Author’s note: I was honored when my neighborhood magazine, Avery Ranch Living asked me to write a story about my experience. Their ask was accompanied by a fancy photo shoot. Lemuel and I laugh because we both had bad photo days…. I decided to cross post this story because it’s a glimpse into who I am and my life. I hope you enjoy it and you know everyone has a bad picture day. Thankfully, they picked one of the more decent ones. Le sigh…