Shannon Liao was born and raised in New York. A Taiwanese American, Shannon is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and in French, which she studied for twelve years. Finding an interest in writing from an early age, Shannon became a journalist when she was 15, and reported on City Hall, world news, China news and more.

Once she had dabbled in most beats, she narrowed her focus to business and tech reporting at The Verge, and later at CNN Business. After covering the advent of NFTs, Game of Thrones analysis, and the aftermath of Tumblr banning porn, Shannon found a real opportunity in covering MapleStory, Neopets, League of Legends, and all kinds of other video games for CNN and the Washington Post.