We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan Andrews and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As a working mom of 3 little ones (6 year old, 2 year old, and 3 month old), balancing work and life is a perpetual juggling act. Life always goes through seasons where your priorities and abilities shift. Starting out in my career without kids, I was able to take risks, dedicate long hours, and put my all into my career. I’m sure as my children get older and more self sufficient, the balance will shift again. Right now life looks a little more chaotic, but it helps to recognize what the needs are in both my professional and personal life, and where I can find the flexibility to get it done. I can’t say enough about the importance of finding an equal partner in raising children who you can lean on when you don’t have the flexibility in your career. This is especially true for me during the legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly each year, where meetings start early, run late, and are held without much time to secure other arrangements for my children. Having a partner you can lean on to pick up the inevitable slack, who rolls with the punches is the only way to get it all done. Equally important is finding an organization where leadership and your colleagues understand and appreciate the importance of family. What a blessing it is to have both.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I grew up wanting to be an international journalist, working in war zones and telling stories from abroad. After obtaining my undergraduate degrees at the University of Central Florida in Television & Political Science, I decided to pursue a law degree specializing in international law. During law school, I pursued as many internships as I could to gain experience. Shortly after my mom passed away, I was selected for an internship with the United Nations in New York City. I quit my full time job as a paralegal at large law firm, to take the opportunity of a lifetime and work (for free) at the United Nations. I was lucky to have the support of my family and at-the-time boyfriend (and future husband) to take that risk. I had a wonderful experience learning all the in’s-and-out’s of the operations of the UN, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. As I was wrapping up law school, I was on the job hunt. I was offered a job running a satellite office of a personal injury firm, but I knew that wasn’t my passion. I turned it down without a backup, praying for something that felt right to come up. Luckily I was soon connected with State Senator Phil Boyle in New York who was looking for an attorney to join his team. Although I didn’t know much about legislative development, I quickly accepted knowing that it was something I was interested in, where I felt like I could make a difference.

After passing the bar exam, getting married, and working for a few years in the New York Senate, I recognized that New York was not the place that we wanted to stay long-term. My career development would require we move to the capital, Albany, in order to progress further which didn’t feel like the right fit for us. We wanted to live in a city we enjoyed, with a more reasonable cost of living so we could raise a family. By this time I had fallen in love with the legislative process and state politics. So we pulled up a map and looked at all the state capital cities and where we would like living. I started applying for jobs in Atlanta and Austin, TX. I got a call to interview with the Georgia Senate to work as a Senate Aide for their upcoming legislative session and was offered the position. I recall getting instructions to walk over to the Senate Research Office to meet their team, and standing on Mitchell Street between the Capitol and Coverdell Legislative Office Building debating whether I should continue with the interview process. The offer was for a temporary position during legislative session, at a very significant pay cut from my current job as General Counsel at the New York Senate. I called my husband to help me navigate what to do. He told me I needed to take a leap of faith if this is what I wanted, it was the only way to build relationships to turn this into a permanent, full-time job. So I took the leap, he transferred to the Marietta office with his company and we lived out of a hotel and a few suitcases during the 2017 legislative session. At the end of the legislative session, a vacancy became available in the Senate Research Office and I quickly asked to be considered for the position. I got the job and my temporary position became a permanent one. My leap of faith had paid off.

After working in the Senate doing Health and Education Policy for a few years, I was pregnant with my first child and received a call from the Government Relations Director at the Department of Public Health, David Bayne. We had worked together on a few policy issues over the years, and he was impressed with my work. I interviewed for the job of his deputy on my due date, and shortly after went on maternity leave. While I was on maternity leave, David had taken a job out of state. The 2019 legislative session was a doozy. It was my first session working in government relations, under the leadership of a new Governor, a Commissioner transition in the middle of session, and I also had a 6 month old baby at home. I learned at the time that I quickly had to find people I trusted to show me the ropes. There were several private lobbyists that I leaned on to help coach me, including Cathalene Teahan, Andy Lord, Emily Jones, Emily Yona, Anna Adams, Josh, Mackey, and many others. Knowing when I needed to ask for help became an important lesson during that season.

I suppose the 2019 session was just preparation for what was to come during the 2020 session. After getting settled into a my new job, and building good relationships with the staff at my organization, the Governor’s team, and legislators, I went into the 2020 session more confident and prepared for what was to come. Little did I know it was about to be one of the most challenging times of my professional career. As COVID-19 emerged, priorities quickly shifted from legislative session to pandemic response. My daily review of bills turned into preparing for daily press conferences with the Governor’s team. I learned the importance of being flexible, recognizing the needs of the organization, and fulfilling those needs. In addition to the professional challenges I was facing, personally, my husband and I had just bought our project-dream-home, and were in the middle of living through renovations with our 1.5 year old daughter. Our entire first floor was torn down to the studs, my husband was required to work from home, and my daughter’s daycare closed. We lived out of 2 rooms upstairs washing our dishes in a bathtub, and cooking our meals out of a microwave or crockpot. It was truly a time unlike any other.

I have a lot of core memories from that time period, but one of my personal favorites was my daughter accidentally FaceTiming many of my professional contacts, including several legislators, when she was supposed to be talking to her grandparents on my phone. Don’t worry, after that she quickly got her own dedicated iPad with an approved FaceTime contact list. I spoke about work/life balance, and this was a time period when it was put on full display. Everyone was just trying to balance it all, and there was a lot of grace that came from that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I like taking visitors to the Battery when they come to town. We usually eat at Superica, and then relax on the green space while the kids run wild. Another personal favorite is shootin’ the ‘hooch (although I have yet to brave it with children). We also love getting out to other parts of Georgia and camping at state parks to show off the natural beauty of our state. Some personal favorites are McKinney campground on Lake Alatoona, Vogel State Park, and Cloudland Canyon. We usually hike, and swim with plenty of outdoor exploration time.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I couldn’t be where I am without the support of my husband, Daniel Andrews who pushes me to take risks, picks up the slack at home, and helps me walk through all of life’s challenges. My organization’s leader and personal mentor, Dr. Kathleen Toomey has been an integral part in my career development (and honorary godmother to my children).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megankandrews?igsh=aDBpcGozanRhM2Rk&utm_source=qr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganandrewsesq?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits
Witt Pics, Andrew Wittman

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