Abby Ryan has been a recognized voice on Chicago radio for over 20 years.

How it all began…

If we start from the beginning, Abby Ryan’s career began at Thornridge High School in the South Suburbs. “My mom wanted me to take fun classes in high school, so I took Woodshop I & II; Industrial Arts and Radio & TV I & II. After changing my major 4 times in college, I finally graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Electronic Media from the Moody Bible Institute.”

Abby spent her internship days at Shadow Traffic in the summer of ’95 and swore she’d “NEVER do that again!” She also said she’d never be a news reporter or work for Moody. “It’s not that I didn’t like Moody; I just wanted to get my own job. I didn’t want to get the job just because I was a Moody grad.” Never say never! Her first job was at Moody Radio. A week later she became a news reporter, and we all know she’s now a traffic reporter!

Abby’s first official radio gig began at AM 1110 WMBI in the winter of 1996 with their after-school program, Just For Kids. Two weeks later she got a call from AM 1230 WJOB in Hammond, Indiana. They had an opening for a news reporter. It didn’t take long before she was juggling her kids’ show and her news reporting duties. Then two stations turned into five when those stations needed help on their “sister stations”. Abby was there to do it all. She couldn’t get enough.

“It made my life interesting! Each day I was doing something different, and it was a challenge.” All of these assignments ended up being the perfect training for a traffic reporter. So from the start, Abby has been on five stations each day, if not more!

Abby will be the first to tell you, “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘If you want God to laugh, make plans.’ Well, God has been laughing at me my ENTIRE career!!! The funny thing is I have enjoyed each of these crazy jobs, and now I have a nice, fat, well-rounded resume.”

Proverbs 16:9 says it all: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

Funny ironies by dear Abby:

In college, my mother and I had a home delivery route for the Chicago Tribune. We drove around Thornton & South Holland in the wee hours of the morning. We would listen to AM 780 WBBM to keep us company and to keep us awake during our shift. “Traffic and weather on the 8’s” and the overnight news in between… My first assignment at Shadow Traffic was the weekend overnight gig on WBBM. As I hit a wall around 3am each morning, I often wondered what other third-shifters were doing and what their jobs entailed. You can still catch me on WBBM Newsradio 780 and 105.9FM!

In 8th grade, my favorite radio station was 106.7 FM. They played Christian music and I loved it. Then it changed to all talk, so I stopped listening. Years later it was turned into another Christian music station. You may have heard of it — it was called “The Fish.” It’s funny how I ended up working on some of the stations I used to listen to!

Abby has been heard on these radio stations and media outlets:

• 94.7 FM WLS The Greatest Hits
• WBBM Newsradio 780 & 105.9FM
• 890 AM WLS (as Abby Rae)
• 720 AM WGN (as Abby Rhiner)
• 91.5 FM WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
• 90.1 FM WMBI Moody Radio Chicago
• AM 1110 WMBI Just for Kids and Urban Praise
• 97.1 FM WDRV The Drive
• 106.7 FM WZFS The Fish
• 107.1 FM WZVN Z107
• 103.9 FM WXRD X-ROCK
• AM 560 WIND News Talk 560
• AM 1510 WWHN The Gospel Station
• 105.5 FM WLJE Indiana 105
• AM 1220 WKRS The Voice of Lake County
• SIRIUS Satellite Radio – Chicago, Houston, Phoenix
• AM1570 WBEE
• AM 1230 WJOB
• 102.3 FM WYCA
• WKIF FM
• WSRB

Abby has also filled in on:

• WTMX-FM 101.9 The Mix
• 97.9 FM The Loop
• 95.9 The RIver
• WUSN-FM 99.5 US99
• WGN AM 720