From 1988 until 1992, Terry hosted the weekly "Home Show" on KGO AM Radio, featuring interviews with guest experts on the home, garden, and food. In 1993 she hosted KGO Radio's "California Cookin" and co-hosted "The Dirt Gardener" with Buzz Bertolero.

Terry currently hosts Silicon Valley Profiles on KICU Television in San Jose. Since 1980 she has also been Vice-President of LaCosse Productions Inc., which produces corporate videos, conducts communication training seminars and provides talent services. She also freelances on local and syndicated television and as an on-camera narrator for many industrial video presentations.

Terry was born in Oakland and attended Edwin Markham Elementary School. In 1958 her family moved to San Francisco where she attended A.P. Giannini Junior High School and Abraham Lincoln High School. She graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State College with a major in Spanish, minor in International Relations and a Secondary Teaching Credential. As a full-time teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District, she headed the Spanish Bilingual Department at James Lick Junior High School in the Noe Valley district. The eldest of three children, Terry was raised in a bilingual home and speaks Spanish fluently. Her father is of Irish and Swedish descent. Her mother is from Durango, Mexico. Terry lives in San Francisco with her husband, television personality Fred LaCosse.

Terry has given generously of her time to many community groups such as the Salvation Army, S.F. Girls Chorus, Easter Seal Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, United Cerebral Palsy, Leukemia Society, S.F. Education Fund, S.F. School Volunteers, Laguna Honda Hospital, Mexican-American Civic-Patriotic Committee, Interplast, Recreation Center for the Handicapped, St. Lukes Hospital, Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, San Francisco Save School Sports, and NFL Alumni Charities.

Her awards for public service include: League of United Latin American Citizens, 1981 Woman of the Year; American Women in Radio & Television, 1984 Outstanding Broadcaster; Easter Seal Society of S.F., 1986 Public Service Award; Laguna Honda Hospital, 1987 Outstanding Service Award; San Francisco State University, 1988 Distinguished Alumnus; Comite Mexicano Civico Patriotico, 1991 Community Service Award; Abraham Lincoln High School Alumni Association, 1992 "Wall of Fame" Distinguished Alumnus; National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Northern California), 1996 Silver Circle Inductee; National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Northern California), 1999 Board of Governors Award.

She serves on the Board of Governors - Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, American Women in Radio & Television, Radio & Television News Directors Association, Bay Area Broadcast Legends, San Francisco State University Alumni Association, Abraham Lincoln High School Alumni Association, and the Salvation Army San Francisco Harbor Light Advisory Council.