Shannon Drayer

She initially dismissed journalism as a career because when she was in college in the late 1980s, "pretty much the only women who were working in sportscasting were ex- beauty queens and basketball players.

"[2] When she was hired by KOMO, Drayer became one of the first American female sports journalists to travel with a team on their airplane.

[5][6] Drayer has said her gender was not an issue in the clubhouse and that as long as she did her job as a reporter professionally, she was treated the same as male colleagues.

[5] She credited Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus and players Jamie Moyer and Ichiro Suzuki as being particularly helpful in her career.

[8] After receiving a degree in drama from the University of Washington,[1] she spent a year in New York pursuing an acting career before moving back to Seattle.