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Charese Fruge (@MCMediaonline) Talks With Sabrina Ruiz
August 1, 2023
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Sabrina Ruiz is currently the Midday host and Music Director for the Inland Empire’s KHTI (Hot 103.9)/Riverside in Southern California. Her career began as a programming intern at KPWR (Power 106)/Los Angeles in 2013 while in college studying radio broadcasting at the University of La Verne. She was an on-air personality for her campus radio station, 107.9 LeoFM. She also served as an Assistant Music Director and Promotions Director for LeoFM.
During her junior year in college, she got the internship at Power 106, where she was later hired on to the street team and covered front desk reception from time to time. “I graduated in 2015 and almost a year after graduating I got my big break at KVGQ (Q1069) in Las Vegas in 2016 and did afternoons full-time,” explains Ruiz. “After my first year of being on-air I made the move back home to SoCal and landed at KHTI/ Riverside- San Bernardino. I started off doing middays and production. Then in December 2019 I got promoted to Music Director, so now I do that and middays!”
In addition to radio, Ruiz has a side hustle. “I have such a passion for radio that last year I actually started teaching a radio class at my alma mater University Of La Verne,” she explains. “I teach my students how to be on-air personalities and how to produce their own audio projects. Each student has a two-hour airshift every week on the campus radio station LeoFM, which is run like a real commercial station. Teaching has been so rewarding. If that wasn’t enough, I’m also a realtor and do that on the side with my family. You can say I stay busy.”
Busy is an understatement! But for Ruiz, it’s very rewarding. “I’ve experienced so many great things so far. Being a part of a ‘Make- A -Wish’ reveal to my listener Emily in Vegas is forever a highlight for me. I would also say attending my first ‘Live in The Vineyard’ last year! Live acoustic music from artists that I play on my station, surrounded by other programmers and wine?! A DREAM,” she says. “Another big accomplishment was being asked to come back to my alma mater, but this time to teach a class that I took when I was going there!”
As with everything, careers come with their challenges. “This ever-changing radio industry is a challenge in itself,” says Ruiz. “I would say for me personally one of the biggest was sacrificing time with loved ones. I moved away from my family and my boyfriend at the time (who’s now my husband) to get my start in radio. There were so many moments that I missed out on because I was working. Now it's balancing my work life with my personal life. There’s a lot of understanding and patience that comes with being in a relationship with someone that’s working in radio. Luckily, my husband is very supportive!”
“I would say another challenge is working at a small independent minority owned company with a smaller signal than others in the market. We do what we can with what we have and try our best to compete with the big corporate companies,” says Ruiz. “I’m very competitive, so I give it my all and the majority of the time that can lead to stress. So, the first step to solving that is realizing that a lot of what I stress about is out of my hands and I really shouldn’t worry since my bosses are loving my work and let me know that the station is the best it's ever sounded.”
“I’m very lucky when it comes to the biggest challenge in the radio industry: capturing and growing a younger audience,” says Ruiz. “I’m learning more about Gen Z with the classes I’ve been teaching at ULV. A lot of them aren’t aware of the radio and how it works because they didn’t grow up with it. As for Millennials, it's more nostalgic for them, so they need that reminder that radio is still here and it's FREE.
What I’ve learned so far is to be authentic and vulnerable to those to gain trust and don’t be afraid of not following the crowd. Utilize social media and promote giveaways, yourself, and the station to reach Millennials and Gen Z and tell them about radio and what the rewards are,” says Ruiz. “Recently I’ve noticed that videos and posts are reaching new people and I've had more first time Gen Z winners. I even had a first-time winner tell me they didn’t think the radio was real and thought the contests were fake. So, we have to educate this generation. We need to create programming and experiences that they actually want. Radio was the OG social media and we captured people’s attention by doing cool things and having experiences they couldn’t get anywhere else. The same thing still applies today.”
As far as diversity, equity and Inclusion, Ruiz says we’re not there yet. “There's room for improvement. More female programmers in radio!!” she says. “We’re the demo we’re targeting in most formats…it only makes sense to have it coming from our perspective. I’m heard and trusted at my company. I like that I’m given free rein over what to do with the sound and promotions.”
We come to the part in the interview where I ask about the use of AI in radio. I can just feel Ruiz cringing. “Hate is a strong word…. But I hate the use or thought of AI in radio,” she says. “We’re already in an industry that is shrinking, and this will only escalate that even more. I think it will impact business by allowing companies to condense jobs and use AI in place of actual talent. I didn’t put years of work to perfect my craft just for me to lend my voice over to AI to take over.
Radio is an emotional medium to connect with people and that is definitely something AI doesn’t have.”
As for what keeps Ruiz up at night: “My thoughts…replaying situations in my head… and radio. I can be lying there in bed and thinking ‘what can I do to make the station sound better? What about music and promotions?’ Also, when I started teaching, I would replay a lot of conversations I had with my students in my head and overthink if I did a good job handling the situation and hoping the student received it well. But I am working on finding balance,” says Ruiz. “I’m setting more boundaries for myself to make sure that I’m not constantly overextending myself or running myself until my battery is low. When I’m on vacation I make sure to unplug and be on vacation! I’ve started doing Pilates too, and that has really helped me unwind and take time for myself.”
As far as work balance goes, that’s important too and Ruiz has her passion projects. The ones I have been working on for the station are artist lounges – ‘Hot 1039’s Intimate Summer Sessions’. So far, we’ve had Shinedown, JP Saxe, and coming up next is Phillip Phillips. This is giving our listeners an opportunity to attend our invite-only events to see artists up close and personal in a space they wouldn’t get anywhere else. Being in the I.E. (Inland Empire; Riverside -San Bernardino market) is special because we still compete with the LA market. We share a lot of concerts that are in LA and those are a drive for our listeners, so to have intimate shows that are local makes it special in itself and also easier for those that don’t get the opportunity to attend concerts due to the travel distance or Southern California traffic. These events put a smile on my face because our listeners are so grateful for the opportunity. What more could I ask for?”
Follow Sabrina Ruiz on Instagram @Sabrinaruizonair and TikTok @sabrinaonair
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