JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — When Lillian Williams moved from Atascadero, Calif., to Boonville, Mo., for college, she knew she wanted a future involving law.
After meeting her husband Shane, another want-to-be lawyer, taking the LSAT and transferring from now-closed Kemper Military School to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Williams and her husband decided that the time wasn’t right for law school. But that certainly never kept Williams away from the legal process.
Williams began her college years with a basketball scholarship — which was what brought her cross-country — but also spent some time involved in the ROTC program. She said she almost went into commission for the U.S. Army, but always wanted to pursue a career in her major: political science.
“I wasn’t planning on going into politics,” she said. “I was going to be the next Supreme Court justice and be the next President. But things change and I’m more than happy with the way things panned out.”
With nearly 15 years working in the Capitol under her belt, Williams — the director of legislative affairs for Sen. Scott Sifton, D-St. Louis County — loves her job.
“Everyone loves the work, but it’s the relationships that make it what it is,” she said about her time with the Senate. “The constituent work is my favorite. I love working with people in the district to get things done.”
For her first three years in the Capitol, Williams worked as an intern in the House. Since then, she said she has worked in the Senate, which she prefers because of the size and general closeness. Prior to her currently job with Sifton, she worked for Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and others who are no longer serving. Her time in her current office, she said, has been more than enjoyable.
“[Sen. Sifton] is involved and is very interested in helping his constituents,” she said. “People think we do the work, but actually we go to him most of the time and he’s contacting people. He’s really active in his seat and he’s up there for the people, not himself, which is great.”
She said everyone in the office gets along really well and has become family-like.
When she’s not with her work-family, the majority of her time is consumed with her family at home, she said. With a four-year-old and twin 20-month-olds, Williams describes her free time as nonexistent.
“My world right now is them,” she said, matter-of-factly.
During what vacation time she said she can squeeze in, Williams and her family enjoys visiting her parents in California, or vice-versa. She said one way or another, the family meets as a whole at least every sixth months.
Williams jokes about not knowing what’s down the road, though it will undoubtedly involve spending time with her children and husband — the Jefferson City High School foreign language department chair. Down the road, however, she said she hasn’t ruled out the possibility of wanting to run for office.
“I’d love to continue to work in the Senate and one day be a senator,” she said, adding that she can’t put a timetable to when she would like to run for office just yet because of her family obligations, but it is definitely on her mind.
To contact Ashley Jost, email ashley@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @ajost.
Ashley Jost is no longer with The Missouri Times. She worked as the executive editor for several months, and a reporter before that.