It’s truly hard to believe I’ve spent more than half my life working as an Advertising Executive at the Santa Barbara Independent. This month celebrates my 30 year anniversary!
I was a 21-year-old, divorced single mother living in Santa Monica, working as a waitress at Norms, when I decided to take the scary leap and move to Santa Barbara. I was lucky to have the support of my grandparents in Carpinteria and a close aunt and uncle living in Santa Barbara. I was even luckier when my daughter and I found an incredible house on Shoreline Drive with a great roommate and we began to live the Santa Barbara dream.
I quickly got a sales job for a local company that manufactured imprinted sportswear and eventually was able to move over to selling radio advertising. It was there I met the love of my life, Gary Fruin, whom many of you know as the man on K-Lite’s morning drive show.
In 1990, I joined the Independent sales team, a job that turned into a tremendously rewarding career. My first Indy mentor and brother from another mother, Laszlo Hodosy, was among the many great friends I have been blessed to know and love during these years.
I’ve always felt that I work for my clients as much as I do for the Independent. I find great joy in helping them achieve success through our marketing channels. I am so proud to work with the outstanding theaters, restaurants, nonprofits, and institutions of learning, including SBCC and UCSB. They all contribute to make Santa Barbara the amazing community it is. I can honestly say that nothing feels better than hearing about the positive results our clients achieve through their Independent advertising.
As you have read in other letters from Indy staff members, it really does take an amazing team to produce a quality weekly paper along with daily updating on Independent.com. We have been there for our community for over 35 years, and now we ask for your help during this extremely difficult time. In any way that you can, please support the Independent so we can continue to provide Santa Barbara with the brilliant coverage of news, arts, and entertainment. Thank you for your continued support; we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you!
Camille Cimini Fruin
Advertising Executive
How to Give
- Give a one-time or recurring credit card contribution at independent.com/support
- Sign up for an annual digital subscription for $29.99 through our Indy+ service at independent.com/subscribe
- Make a tax-deductible donation, to support environmental and social-justice journalism, of $100 or more by sending checks payable to SBCAN (memo: Journalism Fund) mailed to:
SBCAN
PO Box 6174
Santa Maria, CA 93456
Or at sbcan.org/journalism_fund
Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose Tax ID is 73-1676916.
Subscriptions or contributions made directly to the Santa Barbara Independent are not tax-deductible. We can accept checks mailed to 12 E. Figueroa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101.