Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Heather Froglear is the Brand Manager and midday host at Audacy’s K-FROG 95.1 in San Bernadino, CA. She also hosts PM Drive at 100.7 The Wolf in Seattle and Audacy’s Sunday syndicated “90s Country With Heather.”
Heather is a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame and has won numerous industry awards.
She has been with K-FROG for 31 years, and her start with the station in the 1990s led to her unique name.
“Back in 1993, K-FROG was owned by Key Markets Communications, and they were putting up frog stations all over the country, and every person on the air had to have a frog name. So, at that time, Melrose Place was a really popular TV show, and Heather Locklear was a popular actress, so we came up with the name Heather Froglear.”
She attributes her station longevity to her passion for the business and working for good people.
“Well, for me, it’s just in the blood, and I know a lot of other radio people say it’s in your blood, and the companies that I’ve worked for here have been very good to me. I am passionate about what I do on the air and at outside events. I put in the work every day, and some days are longer than others, but I feel like I’ve done the work over the last 31 years, and I just love our community. I’m so attached to our community, but it’s really not even a job. It’s fun for me.”
Giving back and community service is important to Heather and, in her case, has a personal element.
“I sit on the board of directors for Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, and we started a radiothon about, oh goodness, 20 years or so ago, and I knew of the amazing work that the hospital did by working, putting together our radiothon every year and in 2007, I was approached by a teenage couple to adopt a little girl born missing pretty much the left side of her heart and she would probably need a heart transplant.”
“Well, immediately, I took a chance on this adoption because I knew that she would receive incredible care at Loma Linda and because of the work that we had done with them and we met the birth parents in the lobby of the hospital on a Sunday and on Thursday, she was born, and I got to be in the room, and we did an emergency adoption of her so we could make the medical decisions and the pioneer of pediatric infant heart transplant, Dr. Leonard Bailey, did my daughter’s open heart surgery and he, in the early 80s, did the baby Faye Baboon heart transplant.”
“So, without that research, kids today born with congenital heart defects would not be here, and so I promised from that moment on that I would do whatever I could to repay the hospital that saved my daughter, and that leads out into other things as well, it’s all about giving back because I’ve been given so much so. She’s 17 now and a senior in high school.”
Heather’s efforts have been recognized with awards and honors, including induction into the Country Radio Hall of Fame and the Country Radio Seminar’s Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award.
“The Country Radio Hall of Fame thing was completely unexpected, Heather said. “I don’t purposely seek out kudos for what we do here every day, but that was an honor beyond all honors, and to receive that was obviously the highlight of these last 31 years. To be recognized by people that I grew up looking up to in radio was just huge, and I still have to pinch myself because I don’t know what they call it, imposter syndrome, but there are days I don’t feel I deserve it just for doing what God has asked me to do every day.”
“The Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award was ultra special too because I forget how the saying goes, but to whom much is given, much is expected, and that one was sort of a poignant one because it’s like a stamp of approval saying you put your heart out there and you’ve been using your career for good and that there’s no bigger compliment than for somebody to say you have a beautiful heart whether it’s on the air or at outside events. I get to be the voice for the voiceless in our community, and that is a big responsibility, but it’s so very special. So, both of those accolades, I’m still mind blown over it, to be honest with you.”
One change over 31 years that Heather has seen is more opportunities for women in leadership roles.
“30 years ago, you really didn’t see any female brand managers or even women in management. We were sometimes the traffic reporter or the giggle girl, and how far, my how far we’ve come because you are seeing more and more female brand managers and the ladies that work here for me are absolutely incredible, and they are doing the exact right things to further their career by putting in the hard work, creating the amazing content that they do and having a positive attitude about it. I never walked around here thinking, well, you owe me because I’m a woman. I just did the work. You know, you can’t outwork me.”
And what advice does she have for young talent coming into the business.
“I would say do all that you can with all that you have. If it means starting out in the promotions department or starting out in copywriting or goodness, a board op if they still even have those positions. Get your feet wet in every area of the business. We are doing so much more with so fewer people. Don’t be surprised if you are asked to wear a lot of hats, but that’s where your passion comes in. You got to want to do this. You got to it’s a 24-7 job.”
“You’re constantly thinking about, at least for the on-air talent, about how can I take this story or this instance that happened to me tonight at the grocery store or whatever and make that relatable to my audience, be real, be authentic, but be ready to work.”
Heather sees one of the industry’s biggest challenges as simply being enough hours in the day.
“For me, I think the biggest challenge right now is our use of time because we are wearing a lot of hats, and I’m on the air in multiple markets and programming a radio station and doing a syndicated show on Sunday, and it’s time management. You have to be good at list-making. Your number one goal should be put up the best content on the air at all times. And sometimes, when you don’t have a ton of time, something will suffer. It’s just managing the time. I’ll get it done. And I always want to do the best I can, whatever hat I’m wearing at that time.
And how does she prepare and manage to be relevant in San Bernadino, Seattle, and a nationally syndicated show?
At Audacy, we have the most amazing country group and I am in contact every day with my morning show in Seattle. I have an aunt and a cousin who live in Seattle. And we are in constant communication. And, of course, I do my homework on the web and look for local events. I am familiar with the Seattle area. My home state of Montana is not that far from there. So, we maintain excellent communication, and you absolutely have to do that. Otherwise, people will call you out on your bullshit. And the same thing for Riverside.”
“For the 90s country show, it’s really all about the music and it’s just all about creating that picture of what Country was when it was the era of big hair and big belt buckles. So, I don’t have to get local on that show. I am just there to hopefully trigger some really cool memories for the people that listen to an incredible era in country music.”
Listen to Heather on K-FROG here. Connect via email here.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
