Shannon Brinias

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Twitter: @ShannonBrinias
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From her earliest years honing her public speaking skills as part of the high school debate team and working on the student newspaper, Shannon Brinias has been engaged in the stories that help define the human experience.

“I genuinely enjoy people, all varieties of personalities, who are driven by all types of goals and backgrounds,” she says. With 20 years of news gathering behind her, she has talked to people at their highest and lowest points, and everywhere in-between, and brings empathy and compassion to every interaction that she can.

Covering breaking news is her passion, because she believes that’s when the public turns to television and its journalists to deliver information that can be crucial to people in a vacuum. “Viewers can count on me and the people I work with to dedicate ourselves to bringing them direction or reassurance,” she says.

Shannon’s career accomplishments include being a 4-time recipient of the Colorado Broadcasters’ Association for Best Anchor Team, being named a 2011 Woman of Influence by the Colorado Springs Business Journal, and receiving honors as Best Emcee chosen by the Colorado Springs Gazette’s Best of the Springs. She’s also been nominated four times for a Regional Emmy, but still strives to bring home the gold!

Shannon comes to CBS13 Sacramento having co-anchored the evening news at the CBS-affiliated station in Colorado Springs, CO for the past 6 years. Prior to that, Shannon held anchor/reporter positions at stations in Seattle, Denver and Portland. Her early career included 5 years as a reporter in Reno, NV, which has given her some familiarity with the Gold Country and Sacramento Delta. She’s a proud graduate of Pacific Lutheran University.

As a master of ceremonies at non-profit fundraising functions, Brinias brings her unique personality to help a multitude of causes. She’s an enthusiastic supporter of the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes, and also served as a Board Member for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

She has donated her skills as an emcee to Special Kids Special Families, WWII Honor Flight, Peak Vista Community Health Centers, Blue Jeans and Brass Military Charities, and SET Family Medical Clinics. She says she got involved as a member of the Junior League, mentoring a teen mom of twins, with whom she’s still close. She and her family also enjoy volunteering as gardeners for the Sisters of St. Francis.

Shannon says her life focus changed greatly with the birth of her daughter, and family life now involves child-friendly activities. She and her husband enjoy travelling, gardening, golf and tennis. She enjoys cooking, while her husband is great at cleaning up, so they have an excellent arrangement. Their household is rounded out by Buddy, the world’s Craziest Dog.

She can’t imagine doing anything other than what she’s doing. Shannon says, “I just think it’s the greatest job in the world. Every day you do and learn something new and different. What other job can give you that?”

Getting Answers with Shannon Brinias

1) How long have you lived in Northern California?  Just celebrated my year anniversary here!

2) Where are you from originally? Scottsdale, AZ, but mostly grew up in Seattle

3) Do you have any siblings? A sister who’s a nurse

4) Do you have any pets? Our dog Buddy

5) iPhone or Android? iPhone

6) What’s your favorite app? Scrabble

7) What’s your favorite thing about working in news? Constant discovery

8) What’s your favorite book?  Ever? Hard to pick just one. Henry James’ Daisy Miller or The Ambassadors, Jane Austen’s Persuasion, or even The Hunger Games are all contenders.

9) What’s your favorite movie?  The Year of Living Dangerously

10) What’s your favorite TV show?  Shameless, British version

11) Who is your favorite band?  U2

12) What’s your favorite concert you’ve ever been to?  U2 at the Oakland Coliseum

13) What’s the one thing about you that would surprise us?  I once switched out the head gaskets on a race car.

14)  What’s your favorite past time? Boating — sailing or power boating.

15) If you could drive any car what would it be? Convertible BMW

16) Who’s the person you most admire? My late dad, for his bravery facing cancer.

17) What’s your favorite quote?  “Life’s not fair, it’s just fairer than death, that’s all.” (The Princess Bride)

18) What’s the one place you’d like to visit that you’ve never been to before? Dubrovnik, Croatia

19) What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited? Roche Harbor, WA; HearstCastle

20) Who’s your favorite actor/actress? Kevin Costner

21) What do you do for exercise?  Treadmill, yoga

22) What’s your favorite area restaurant?  Grange, Ten22, Sapporo, La Boheme

23) What food could you not live without? Bread

24) What’s your favorite Northern California attraction?  Lake Tahoe

25) Where’s the strangest/farthest place you’ve been recognized? Grand Canyon

26) At what age did you decide you were interested in news? I was 15.