For Kelli Green, a career in radio wasn’t a lifelong plan; it was a happy accident. While finishing her general education at the University of La Verne, she flipped through the course catalog looking for a major that “sounded fun” and landed on TV Broadcasting.
“Part of the curriculum required me to be on the college radio station,” she recalls. “My professor suggested I apply for K-FROG’s Street team. I did, and I got the job.”
From there, Green juggled classes, restaurant shifts, and weekend remotes for K-FROG. After graduation, she moved from Promotions Assistant to Promotions Manager, working just steps from station legend Lee Douglas. “One day, he called me in and asked if I’d like to work on air. I never turn down an opportunity,” she says. Her first liner, “95-1 K-Frog, I’m Kelli and I work cheap,” set the tone for a career built on hustle and humor. She voice-tracked the night show, then produced the “Frogmen in the Morning” with Scott and Tommy. Fourteen years later, she’s now anchoring the morning show she grew up listening to.
Today, Green hosts mornings on Audacy’s K-FROG (KFRG) in Riverside and voice-tracks afternoons for 99.5 The Wolf in Portland, Oregon. Off the air, her focus is her family: two sons who keep her busy with baseball practices and games.
Show prep for Green is a mix of online research and personal journaling. “Every night I check five or six websites for interesting or trending topics and email myself and my co-host,” she explains. “I’ve also been keeping a journal of big and small moments. I’ve noticed conversations from personal experience get the best listener interaction and sound more authentic.”
That authenticity carries over to how she handles breaking news and major events on her show. After the Route 91 tragedy in Las Vegas, she went on air with then-partner Scott Ward to share what she’d witnessed and how it felt. On September 11th of this year, in the wake of multiple national tragedies (Charlie Kirk and the Colorado shooting) and the remembrance of the anniversary, she and her co-host asked listeners what they needed from the show.
“We played more patriotic songs, shared how we were talking about things at home, and I even aired a clip of my conversation with my 10-year-old son,” she says. “That’s where radio can really win and make those personal connections.”
Green believes Riverside’s proximity to Los Angeles, although distinctly different vibes, makes her market unique. “Depending on where you are in the Inland Empire, you can get to the beach or the mountains within an hour and a half,” she says. That community focus inspired one of her proudest accomplishments: the inaugural “Kelli and Anthony’s Dog Days of Summer” campaign.
Partnering with her co-host Anthony, they raised more than $26,000 for police K9s through on-air promotions, brewery “Pup Crawls,” and limited-edition T-shirts. “We’re already planning for 2026,” she adds.
Balancing early-morning radio with home life is her biggest challenge. “Being a working mom with crazy hours, I want to be as present for my husband and kids as I can,” she says. “I’m lucky to have an amazing support system.”
For women hoping to break into radio, Green’s advice is simple but firm: be ready to put in the work. “It’s not just showing up and talking,” she says. “There’s so much prep, idea building, and social planning that it feels like you’re working all the time. Sadly, I do believe women have to work harder to get noticed and rewarded. It took a long time before someone took a chance on me to lead the morning show. The idea that ‘women don’t want to hear women’ is bogus. Who better to relate to a female listener than a woman on the radio who’s living the same challenges?”
As for the industry’s future, Green sees a clear need. “Locality. I am a huge proponent of local radio. Building trust and connections makes a difference. Since we’re live, we can relay local emergency information, talk about things specific to our area, and physically take part in concerts and charitable events. It’s our opportunity to literally shake hands with our listeners and communities. An opportunity that syndication and/or national shows can’t compete with.”
We need independent local media and voices to be heard now more than ever! Congrats to Kelli for her successful career and being the voice of the community.
Comments are closed.