April 2, 2025 • 29 mins
Mariam Chtchyan never planned to enter the tech world. With a linguistics degree and plans to become a teacher, she accidentally found herself in an interview for a tech company when she thought she was applying for a translator position. Today, she's the COO of HackTech, an Armenian software development company that partners with clients across the United States and Europe.
This unexpected journey forms the backdrop of our fascinating conversation about navigating career transitions, building confidence, and the changing landscape of global tech development. Mariam shares her early struggles of learning technical terminology – keeping a notebook during meetings to write down unfamiliar words she would research at night. This determination to learn, coupled with transferable skills from her linguistics background, propelled her from project manager to executive leadership.
What makes HackTech stand out is not just their global client base but their commitment to diversity. With women making up 51% of their workforce, they're challenging tech industry norms. Mariam discusses how maintaining an in-office environment (rather than remote work) creates stronger team dynamics and communication channels, particularly valuable for complex software engineering projects. She also reveals how they've mastered working across time zones with their exclusively international client base, some relationships spanning nearly nine years.
Beyond her executive role, Mariam hosts the "Digital Shifts" podcast, coaches aspiring project managers, and balances being a mother to her young son. Her perspective on continuous learning, embracing AI tools as productivity enhancers, and building confidence as a woman in tech offers valuable insights for anyone considering a career pivot or looking to advance in the digital space.
Subscribe to Mediascape for more conversations with digital changemakers who are transforming industries and breaking barriers across the global technology landscape.
This podcast is proudly sponsored by USC Annenberg’s Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) program. An online master’s designed to prepare practitioners to understand the evolving media landscape, make data-driven and ethical decisions, and build a more equitable future by leading diverse teams with the technical, artistic, analytical, and production skills needed to create engaging content and technologies for the global marketplace. Learn more or apply today at https://dmm.usc.edu.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Mediascape insights from digital
changemakers, a speaker seriesand podcast brought to you by
USC Annenberg's Digital MediaManagement Program.
Join us as we unlock thesecrets to success in an
increasingly digital world.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
From 12 hours away so many time zones.
I am excited to welcome MariamChuchan of HackTech.
Thank you so much for beinghere and taking your late
evening to be with me.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yes, it's my pleasure .
Thank you for having me on thepodcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Of course, and I don't know that I've ever had a
guest on from Armenia who'sactually physically there as
well.
So this is really exciting, andI'd love to hear a little bit
more about your background andhow you found your way into
development, into technology.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Sure.
So I think it is interesting tostart from the beginning, when
I was not in Armenia.
I grew up in Czech Republic, Iwas living there for almost 12
years and then we decided tomove back to our motherland
Armenia, so I started hereuniversity and then I
(01:19):
accidentally appeared in ITSphere.
I thought I was sending CV fortranslator and tutor for English
, and then it appeared theywanted someone that will be able
to communicate in English withtheir customers.
And after seeing me and knowingbetter my skills, yeah, the
previous company where I wasworking before HackTech, decided
(01:42):
to set me up as a projectmanager, and after a year
working there, I decided that Ineed something more interesting
and more challenging and Iaccepted the invitation to work
with HackTech, and I'm therealready for eight years, if not
nine.
So, yeah, pretty interestingstory.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Amazing.
And HackTech.
What exactly do you do there?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
story, amazing and HackTech.
What exactly do you do there?
So currently I'm as a COO.
I started as a project managerand I grew up to be in the CRI
position where I am right now.
So, yeah, I'm helping withoperations.
I'm responsible for projectmanagers and QA department in
our company, managers and QAdepartment in our company,
supporting with all theprocesses that there are for
managing projects or ourproducts properly and helping to
(02:31):
have high customer satisfactionWonderful.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Let's go back to that job, because you went to a
linguistic university, youthought you were applying for a
translation job.
You still had to possess theskills to become a project
manager, but in it, what wasthat like for you?
Did you have to take extracoursework or extra
certifications, or did it alljust naturally to you?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
no, I think it was really hard to weigh, and the
days that passed during thatlearning process were really
difficult.
I remember I had this notebookalways with me and every time
when I had discussion withdevelopers, I was just taking
notes from the words that Idon't know and I was like, okay,
(03:20):
I'll look later.
Okay, I will look later.
And I really sit during nightsand searching for those words,
to understand what they werespeaking about, for me to be
able to communicate with themproperly and feeling comfortable
understanding them, and,specifically, as I was also
communicating with customers, itwas really important for me to
(03:40):
sound professional.
So that's why, yeah, it took mea while to have that technical
knowledge, but now I think I'mmore than yeah, more confident
than I was before.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, clearly you're COO now, so that shows a lot of
trust in the organization.
What does HackTech do forclients?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
So we are positioning ourselves as partners
engineering partners fordifferent companies that want to
have it dedicated teams andthey don't have this experience
of having engineering teams ontheir side.
So we are helping with havingthis kind of auditing process
when we are going throughprocesses that they have and
(04:22):
having suggestions and, ofcourse, if they have any
engineering like the productideas that they want to give a
live to.
So that's where we are helpingthem with having dedicated
engineering teams withdevelopers, qas, product project
managers, designers andeveryone that is needed
basically for going live withyour idea of the website or,
(04:45):
like the application, any ideathat is like software touching
world.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We do live in a global economy, right, a global
world.
We can hire people from allover, so I'd love to hear about
that part of the business.
Did it start out as primarilyworking with people in Armenia
or in your region and thenexpand?
Do you work with companiesthroughout Europe, throughout
the United States and Asia?
What does the day-to-day looklike for you?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, that's a very good question.
So one major kind of feature ofour company is having everyone
in one place.
So we have this huge officethat we moved, I think, a year
ago and we have everyone there,which is one of the kind of like
good things because we havethis communication going on the
(05:36):
same time and everyone is ableto communicate and have these
meetings and understand eachother without any of this kind
of like atmosphere of remotework, which I think is a benefit
actually, and specifically forengineering teams, it's really
working good when you haveeveryone in the same room, both
the managers and developers andeveryone.
So, yeah, basically we almostlive in that office all together
(06:00):
from morning till late evenings.
And I think how it startedactually, our CEO was very young
when he decided to start abusiness and he decided why not
to do that in software?
He's actually two years youngerthan me, so it was quite
interesting when I was alreadymarried, when I got to HackTech
(06:24):
and I saw him and I was like, isit okay that I will work for a
person that is younger than me?
But then I realized he is sucha smart person and he's really
inspiring me even today and,yeah, he has great motivation,
skills and all that stuff.
So he decided to basically havethis company and have all
(06:45):
talented, very talented peopleworking with him on this, and we
have people that are with thiscompany for a whole 10 years
that Huck Tech actually exists.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I'm not very familiar with the tech industry in
Armenia specifically, so I'dlove to hear a little bit about
your experience.
Was it very open to you?
Are there a lot of women intech, or did you really have to
make a name for yourself?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
always during this podcast and interviews, always
saying about that.
We have 51% of women in ourcompany as employees and it's
something that is not very usual.
I wouldn't say that it's usualfor Armia to have this
percentage of women working inone company, but I think it's
still something that isgenuinely getting better and
better, like having these bothC-level positions being handled
(07:48):
by women and all this stuff, andalso having this trust that we
can do it and we are strongenough to be able to do that
stuff that previously was doneonly by men.
So I think that's quiteinteresting to see, and
specifically for Armenian women,when it was not very easy, like
(08:10):
in the past, and now seeingpeople specifically in IT sphere
, seeing women that are now CEOsand co-founders of very famous
companies.
It's making me very happy andfor us as HackTech, as I
mentioned, it's like 51%, whichis, I think, great, great number
, yeah fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
What about you mentioned?
You work really long hours.
You all work in one office.
You're married, right how is?
And I hate using the wordbalance, but I'm a mom, right as
well, and so I know that it canbe hard sometimes to get
everything done that you need toand also make sure you're
giving time to your family, andso I talk about this from the
(08:53):
American perspective.
But I'd like to hear you knoware there different expectations
of you in Armenia?
Are you able to find that timeto make sure that you can pour
into everything you want to?
And then I also know that youhave your own podcast cast.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You are into self-development.
Yes, well, I think no matter inwhich country you are living, as
a woman, you are expected to doa lot and manage a lot of stuff
.
So I wouldn't say it's specificto me or USA or any other
country, but it's the pressurethat we have to manage
everything, and I think it'scoming from ourselves as well.
(09:29):
So me myself, I'm pretty strictto myself on like, okay, I need
to manage this, this, this, andhaving the schedule of having
this time with my son, managingto I don't know do his lessons
with him, having this fun time,but also be a strong woman in my
working place and all thatstuff.
I think I wouldn't say it cameto me very early on this like
(09:53):
stage of being in IT sphere, butgradually I understood that
it's really about we are notyeah, as you mentioned, we are
not using this word butbalancing stuff, because it's
really, I think it's being awoman.
It's exactly about this balancebeing able to do what you love
(10:14):
and be a proper mom, be a goodco-worker and doing your dream
work and doing your hobbies andall that stuff.
So, yeah, I wouldn't say it'seasy, but I think it's just a
matter of a person beingconcentrated on what they really
want to do matter of a personbeing concentrated on what they
really want to do, and I wouldlove to hear a little bit about
(10:34):
your podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
When did you decide to start a podcast?
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Is it your own?
Is it related to yourorganization?
Sure, so my podcast was kind ofidea that I had in my mind for
a very long time I started it, Ithink almost a year ago now,
and I discussed this with my CEOthat I would love to share my
experience in digitaltransformation sphere with
people.
But I don't want to do it alone.
So in order not to be alone inthese videos and speaking just
(11:06):
about the digital transformationfor myself, I decided to do
this podcast where I'm sharingthis experience with discussing
the questions with other gueststhat have the same experience or
like in different spheres, butthey have this digital
transformation knowledge.
I think it came quiteinteresting and, yeah, there are
people that are always givingme feedback about the podcast
(11:29):
and so far, so good.
So, yeah, it's all aboutdigital transformation in
different spheres with differentpeople, and they're sharing
their experience on stuff howthey imagine.
Because there's a lot of thisquestion when I'm starting the
podcast, isn't it too broad likea topic, digital transformation
and I'm always saying it's notjust because this place that
(11:52):
it's allowing us to discusseverything.
It's so such a big part that wecan actually kind of discuss
anything we want under thattopic.
So that's why, yeah, I decidedto share my experience and have
interesting people in my podcasttoo.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, and it's such a wonderful mechanism for meeting
new people and networking withothers in the space, I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yes, yeah, definitely .
I love exploring and I lovecommunicating with people,
having new friends and listeningto their stories and experience
.
It's like you're gaining newknowledge again and again with
each podcast, so that's coolyeah, let's go back to.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You talked about starting this industry.
You have a book and you startedwriting words that you wanted
to research more.
Yes, what are some of the otherthings that you've done to make
sure that you're staying at thetop of your field, that you
know the concepts, the terms,especially now we have
generative AI and systems andprocesses that we didn't have
even a couple of years ago?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, well, I wish I had GPT, at least like at the
beginning of my career, becauseit would help me for sure,
because, like again, maybe Iwouldn't keep that notebook For
sure, because, like again, maybeI wouldn't keep that notebook,
like that on the paper,everything if I would have GPT.
But right now I think, yeah,besides having that notebook, I
(13:22):
was speaking with a lot ofpeople, as I mentioned, like
having this podcast with peoplethat have this experience.
I was doing the same, justwithout a podcast.
So I was discussing and Iwasn't always trying to look for
people that have the knowledgein project management, in
software engineering, and I wasalways asking them questions and
I was always saying, sorry,maybe I will annoy you with my
(13:42):
questions, but I think it willhelp me to understand better.
And, yeah, I really lovediscussing everything with our
customers too, because I thinkwhen you are getting this
knowledge of what kind ofproduct you're developing, it's
helping too, both on technicalside and also on like your soft
skills and so on.
So, yeah, I think I wasspeaking a lot with people that
(14:05):
helped me.
And also reading as you can see,I have a lot of books and there
are also the technical onesthere.
So I think it's about readingand self-development.
That is helping a lot.
And till nowadays, I'm learningand continuously looking for
some new courses in differentplatforms that will help me to
(14:28):
develop my skills, because it'snever ending.
So you can't say, okay, I havethis certificate and that's it.
I have a lot of them, but I'mstill going for new ones because
not for certificates, of coursebecause of the courses and the
knowledge that I can gain fromthose lessons.
So, yeah, I think it'sself-development and
(14:48):
communication for now?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
And what about AI in your workstreams?
What is it helping make easierwhen it comes to the work that
you do for clients?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well, I think it's helping a lot.
First of all, it's saving somuch time, as I mentioned, like
if I was writing everything onthe paper or like I was doing
research on what kind of words Ican use.
Now I'm just clicking on abutton and it's just moving my
like editing my email to such agood text, which is great.
(15:23):
And plus, of course, on theresearch side, as I mentioned,
about self-development andlooking for stuff Right now,
having this platform where youcan search and giving this very
specific answers to yourquestions is really helping.
And, of course, it's saving thetime.
So I think it's about the timethat it's saving a lot and you
can do more stuff.
(15:43):
I think being able to properlythat I think that's the key word
properly using these tools,because during my podcast, I'm
always mentioning about thisthat it's not the fear of AI,
it's not having the knowledgehow to use it.
So I think that if you areproperly using these tools, they
are really good help and theycan really help you to develop
(16:07):
and make everything that you doa bit more professional.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
They're tools to be used, notinvestments.
Exactly, yeah, and Miriam, youwere mentioning how your office
everybody works in the sameoffice.
It's not remote work.
Like you know, there's thatpush-pull all over the world if
it's better to have remote workor in-person and some industries
it works better.
When it comes to your clients,are you mostly working with
(16:35):
clients in Armenia or in yourregion, or have you expanded,
you know?
I'd love to hear a little bitmore about that, and who is your
ideal client?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Well, it's funny that we don't have any client from
Armenia.
Every client that we have isactually from USA or from Europe
, and it's interesting, duringthese almost 10 years that we
are working with the Americanclients.
We never had this issue of timezone.
Just because, first of all, wealready have that experience of
(17:07):
working with different timezones and we always find these
windows, I will say that we havebasically the space where we
are meeting each other.
Maybe, like it will be, I don'tknow, 8 pm for us, 8 am for
them.
We are finding these slots thatare working with both sides.
Plus, we have really dedicatedpeople that are enjoying their
(17:30):
work and sometimes they're like,okay, I will just come a bit
later to work and I can staylike one hour more in that, yeah
, and having this call withcustomers, because what we love
about the work that we do is therelationship that we are
creating with customer, and it'sone thing that we cherish a lot
.
We have customers with whom wework.
(17:51):
We are working already for nineyears.
They are always bringing to us,like other people, other
companies that are interested insoftware development, teams,
and I mean, I think that's onething that I'm really proud of
the relationship that we havewith our customers and the trust
that we are gaining by showingthe results.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's funny because I know when we
think software development, alot of times people, the default
is India.
Yeah, so I'm interested to hearyou know, when you're looking
at new clients or they'relooking at you, how much do you
have to talk about advantages toworking with an Indian team
(18:33):
versus working with a team in adifferent country.
Does that come up?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, that's a great question.
I think the simple answer willbe two calls.
That's enough for us to consumepeople, that they can trust us.
Two calls are enough for us.
The first one is just like tounderstand their needs.
We are collecting all thatinformation.
Then we are saying, okay, we'lltake a week to understand
everything, to look like throughthe market, to understand what
(19:00):
is your product about, what arethe needs.
We have great product managersthat are doing market research,
like brilliantly, and we arecoming up with these like slides
or like the presentation thatis showing, okay, maybe this is
what you want or this is whatyou need.
And after that, I think afterthat second call, it's already
(19:23):
understandable that, okay, theseguys know what they do and this
is the quality that we want.
And, of course, like, on thepricing set as well, we are
negotiating.
It's not like, yeah, this isour rate and that's it.
So I think, because of thisflexibility and dedication and
understanding the market andhaving these experienced people
in our company, that's helpingus a lot to make these customers
(19:45):
wanting to work with us.
After the second call.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, yeah, fantastic .
Is there a favorite projectthat you've worked on that you
can tell us about?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Ah, sure, I think it will be my first project that I
started with.
The name was High Attendance.
It renamed a lot after that,but it was the product that we
worked for, I think, for almostfour or five years and I started
on that project.
So it was kind of like firstreal project for me where I was
(20:16):
working as a full-time projectmanager.
I had my team, my team.
That was the first time that Ihad this dedicated team with
whom I was able to work, and thecustomer was a great person.
I think we are even now likefriends outside of the work with
the family, and he knows my son, I know his sons and his wife.
(20:37):
So, yeah, it's, I mean, itbecame a part of me, the project
itself, because it taught me alot.
There were difficult times, butthere were so great ones too
when we already saw how it'sworking.
I was invited to a singleproject to see the product in
real life, how people are usingit, and yeah, I mean, I think
(20:58):
that's the kind of partnershipthat we are always cherishing
and I'm happy to have thatexperience with this kind of
project.
That both taught me a lot on myhard skills as well as on the
soft skills on likecommunication and all that stuff
.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, oh, fantastic.
When your son hears about yourwork, does he aspire to follow
your footsteps?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
work.
Does he aspire to follow yourfootsteps?
I am not sure about aboutfollowing my footsteps, but he
definitely knows a lot likeabout the people that I'm
working with and he on those,even customers, because of the
calls that I'm doing, doing fromhome too, and it's so funny
that they know him too andthey're like, hi, our man, who
are you?
And he is like, hey, and yeah,I think his English skills
developed because of those callsthat I had actually, and I mean
(21:53):
, I'm sure he is proud of whatme and my husband are doing
because both of us are in ITsphere.
But I'm still not sure abouthim following my footsteps.
But he's always saying, oh, wow, you are going to office.
I like your office, but I thinkit's just because how colorful
it is right now.
So, yeah, we'll see.
(22:14):
He is now learning Chinese,which I'm really proud of, and
yeah, he's just on second gradeand doing great job.
I had a parents gathering todayand I got this great feedback.
I was a really proud mom todaywith the feedback that I got.
So, yeah, we will see how itwill go.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
But yeah, yeah, fantastic.
So if there is a womansomewhere in the world listening
to this who wants to move intoa new field, perhaps into the
world of IT and tech, but isintimidated, what's the first
piece of advice you would giveto that woman?
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I will say just be very confident in your skills,
no matter if you are a junior,if you are a senior, if you have
totally different experience inother sphere, just try to use
that experience in this spheretoo, because IT itself is very
flexible.
You can have so many skillsthat you can use in IT sphere
from other spheres.
(23:11):
Like I was planning to be ateacher and now I mean it's what
I was learning in university inthe pedagogy.
So, yeah, I just use my softskills that I learned during the
time working with kids, I don'tknow communicating, all this
stuff.
I just used it in IT.
And I would say to every womanthere just be very confident.
(23:34):
I think that this level ofconfidence is helping with even
going to interview being veryconfident.
Okay, this person knows whatshe wants, where she came, and I
mean it's all about thisconfidence that each of us
should have.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic advice.
I know we always hear thestatistic about women won't
apply for a job unless they feelconfident in 100% skills, but
men will apply even if they havemaybe 60.
I don't remember the exactnumber, but you talking about
the fact that your organizationis 51% women, that you've been
(24:13):
able to ramp up and become theCOO of your company, to have a
podcast, to really pave the wayfor other women in Armenia, but
also other women who areinterested in going this field.
I love that you're saying startwith the confidence.
Just feel confident that youknow the information, you know
where you want to go and if youdon't know it, you're going to
learn it and it's going to beokay.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
You don't have to come in knowing 100% of the
answers.
For sure.
I mean, we all are human beingsand we are not supposed to know
all answers.
It's just about the experienceand the knowledge that you
already have that you can sharewith people and I also partially
working as a coach for a jobproject managers, like the
future project managers andduring first lesson I'm always
(24:55):
saying you need to be confident.
That's the one thing that youneed to have.
Even being junior, you can goto the interview with such a
confidence that people willunderstand okay, this person at
least knows something.
Even if you don't have thisexperience, you know that you
have this knowledge and you canuse it.
You understand how it can beused, all the skills.
(25:17):
So why not to be confident andjust saying I know it and I can
use it and I know how?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
So yeah, yeah, fantastic.
And then I also noticed thatyou are a coach, so you're able
to fit in doing some agilecoaching on the side.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, right, so I started it.
A year ago, I got this proposalfrom one of the Armenian
companies that is basicallygiving these courses of
different professionals, and Iagreed to be an Agile project
manager coach.
So I'm teaching people how theycan be a good project managers
(25:55):
in Agile world specifically, andI really enjoy it because
that's the place where I'm ableto share the experience, besides
having podcast and havingpeople that are working with me.
So, yeah, it's one other partthat I'm really proud of to say
that I'm helping those people tobecome good managers too.
Yeah, Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Is there anything else that you'd want to share
with the audience today whenthey're thinking about their
journey into the world of tech,particularly today?
Speaker 3 (26:27):
As I mentioned about self-development, I think it
will be the last point that Iwould like to mention, with the
confidence I think it's allabout the self-development that
we always need to have.
Continuous self-development issuch an important point during
your work, during your life, andI think we should never forget
about learning and being open tonew knowledge.
(26:50):
And you mentioned AI, and a lotof people are afraid of it and
it's just because we don'tunderstand it yet fully.
But if we will learn about it,I'm sure we will be able to use
it on its maximum and it willjust make our days more
productive.
So I will say, continuousself-development is one other
piece that everyone needs tohave and have those habits that
(27:15):
will help them to grow asprofessionals.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, fantastic, and I know that, miriam, we're going
to have people go toGoHackTechcom to learn more
about the organization, and yourpodcast is called Digital
Shifts and is it available onall platforms.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Right now it's very active in YouTube, frankly
speaking, so I would suggesteveryone to go to YouTube to
check it out.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Okay, fantastic, we can add that link as well.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Fantastic, well, well thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I just so appreciate you staying late at work to do
this episode with me today, andnow you know it's coming up into
almost, you know, closer andcloser to the midnight hour for
you.
So, yeah, how wonderful istechnology that we can have
these conversations and learnabout other amazing women from
around the world who are doingthis work Very inspirational.
(28:12):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, it's been a pleasure.
And is there one last familymotto?
Words of wisdom, something thatinspires you every day to keep
on going.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I think it will be my son actually, for whom I'm kind
of like doing all this stuff.
And a role model that I have is, of course, my mom.
She herself is an artist andit's such interesting that I
mean, she is from the world thatI think I will never be in,
like this artistic world, butshe is a strongest person that I
(28:49):
know.
Like we are four children andshe grew up every like each of
us with such a passion and I'malways amazed with the skills
that, yeah, she taught us duringthis time.
So I think think, as a rolemodel, I will say my mom is the
person that I'm really proud ofto say that like, yes, I'm her
(29:10):
daughter and yeah, andeverything that I do is
basically like just for my sonto say the same one day about
myself.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Oh, that's so beautiful.
Yes, thank you.
Well, thank you, miriam, forcoming on the show today.
Very much appreciate your timeand thank you to everybody who's
watching this episode orlistening to it on your favorite
podcast platform.
We'll be back again very soonwith another amazing guest to
share their journey into theworld of digital and inspire us
all us all.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
To learn more about the Master of Science in Digital
Media Management program, visitus on the web at dmmuscedu.
Welcome to Mediascape insights from digital
changemakers, a speaker seriesand podcast brought to you by
USC Annenberg's Digital MediaManagement Program.
Join us as we unlock thesecrets to success in an
increasingly digital world.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
From 12 hours away so many time zones.
I am excited to welcome MariamChuchan of HackTech.
Thank you so much for beinghere and taking your late
evening to be with me.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yes, it's my pleasure .
Thank you for having me on thepodcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Of course, and I don't know that I've ever had a
guest on from Armenia who'sactually physically there as
well.
So this is really exciting, andI'd love to hear a little bit
more about your background andhow you found your way into
development, into technology.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Sure.
So I think it is interesting tostart from the beginning, when
I was not in Armenia.
I grew up in Czech Republic, Iwas living there for almost 12
years and then we decided tomove back to our motherland
Armenia, so I started hereuniversity and then I
(01:19):
accidentally appeared in ITSphere.
I thought I was sending CV fortranslator and tutor for English
, and then it appeared theywanted someone that will be able
to communicate in English withtheir customers.
And after seeing me and knowingbetter my skills, yeah, the
previous company where I wasworking before HackTech, decided
(01:42):
to set me up as a projectmanager, and after a year
working there, I decided that Ineed something more interesting
and more challenging and Iaccepted the invitation to work
with HackTech, and I'm therealready for eight years, if not
nine.
So, yeah, pretty interestingstory.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Amazing.
And HackTech.
What exactly do you do there?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
story, amazing and HackTech.
What exactly do you do there?
So currently I'm as a COO.
I started as a project managerand I grew up to be in the CRI
position where I am right now.
So, yeah, I'm helping withoperations.
I'm responsible for projectmanagers and QA department in
our company, managers and QAdepartment in our company,
supporting with all theprocesses that there are for
managing projects or ourproducts properly and helping to
(02:31):
have high customer satisfactionWonderful.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Let's go back to that job, because you went to a
linguistic university, youthought you were applying for a
translation job.
You still had to possess theskills to become a project
manager, but in it, what wasthat like for you?
Did you have to take extracoursework or extra
certifications, or did it alljust naturally to you?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
no, I think it was really hard to weigh, and the
days that passed during thatlearning process were really
difficult.
I remember I had this notebookalways with me and every time
when I had discussion withdevelopers, I was just taking
notes from the words that Idon't know and I was like, okay,
(03:20):
I'll look later.
Okay, I will look later.
And I really sit during nightsand searching for those words,
to understand what they werespeaking about, for me to be
able to communicate with themproperly and feeling comfortable
understanding them, and,specifically, as I was also
communicating with customers, itwas really important for me to
(03:40):
sound professional.
So that's why, yeah, it took mea while to have that technical
knowledge, but now I think I'mmore than yeah, more confident
than I was before.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, clearly you're COO now, so that shows a lot of
trust in the organization.
What does HackTech do forclients?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
So we are positioning ourselves as partners
engineering partners fordifferent companies that want to
have it dedicated teams andthey don't have this experience
of having engineering teams ontheir side.
So we are helping with havingthis kind of auditing process
when we are going throughprocesses that they have and
(04:22):
having suggestions and, ofcourse, if they have any
engineering like the productideas that they want to give a
live to.
So that's where we are helpingthem with having dedicated
engineering teams withdevelopers, qas, product project
managers, designers andeveryone that is needed
basically for going live withyour idea of the website or,
(04:45):
like the application, any ideathat is like software touching
world.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We do live in a global economy, right, a global
world.
We can hire people from allover, so I'd love to hear about
that part of the business.
Did it start out as primarilyworking with people in Armenia
or in your region and thenexpand?
Do you work with companiesthroughout Europe, throughout
the United States and Asia?
What does the day-to-day looklike for you?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, that's a very good question.
So one major kind of feature ofour company is having everyone
in one place.
So we have this huge officethat we moved, I think, a year
ago and we have everyone there,which is one of the kind of like
good things because we havethis communication going on the
(05:36):
same time and everyone is ableto communicate and have these
meetings and understand eachother without any of this kind
of like atmosphere of remotework, which I think is a benefit
actually, and specifically forengineering teams, it's really
working good when you haveeveryone in the same room, both
the managers and developers andeveryone.
So, yeah, basically we almostlive in that office all together
(06:00):
from morning till late evenings.
And I think how it startedactually, our CEO was very young
when he decided to start abusiness and he decided why not
to do that in software?
He's actually two years youngerthan me, so it was quite
interesting when I was alreadymarried, when I got to HackTech
(06:24):
and I saw him and I was like, isit okay that I will work for a
person that is younger than me?
But then I realized he is sucha smart person and he's really
inspiring me even today and,yeah, he has great motivation,
skills and all that stuff.
So he decided to basically havethis company and have all
(06:45):
talented, very talented peopleworking with him on this, and we
have people that are with thiscompany for a whole 10 years
that Huck Tech actually exists.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I'm not very familiar with the tech industry in
Armenia specifically, so I'dlove to hear a little bit about
your experience.
Was it very open to you?
Are there a lot of women intech, or did you really have to
make a name for yourself?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
always during this podcast and interviews, always
saying about that.
We have 51% of women in ourcompany as employees and it's
something that is not very usual.
I wouldn't say that it's usualfor Armia to have this
percentage of women working inone company, but I think it's
still something that isgenuinely getting better and
better, like having these bothC-level positions being handled
(07:48):
by women and all this stuff, andalso having this trust that we
can do it and we are strongenough to be able to do that
stuff that previously was doneonly by men.
So I think that's quiteinteresting to see, and
specifically for Armenian women,when it was not very easy, like
(08:10):
in the past, and now seeingpeople specifically in IT sphere
, seeing women that are now CEOsand co-founders of very famous
companies.
It's making me very happy andfor us as HackTech, as I
mentioned, it's like 51%, whichis, I think, great, great number
, yeah fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
What about you mentioned?
You work really long hours.
You all work in one office.
You're married, right how is?
And I hate using the wordbalance, but I'm a mom, right as
well, and so I know that it canbe hard sometimes to get
everything done that you need toand also make sure you're
giving time to your family, andso I talk about this from the
(08:53):
American perspective.
But I'd like to hear you knoware there different expectations
of you in Armenia?
Are you able to find that timeto make sure that you can pour
into everything you want to?
And then I also know that youhave your own podcast cast.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You are into self-development.
Yes, well, I think no matter inwhich country you are living, as
a woman, you are expected to doa lot and manage a lot of stuff
.
So I wouldn't say it's specificto me or USA or any other
country, but it's the pressurethat we have to manage
everything, and I think it'scoming from ourselves as well.
(09:29):
So me myself, I'm pretty strictto myself on like, okay, I need
to manage this, this, this, andhaving the schedule of having
this time with my son, managingto I don't know do his lessons
with him, having this fun time,but also be a strong woman in my
working place and all thatstuff.
I think I wouldn't say it cameto me very early on this like
(09:53):
stage of being in IT sphere, butgradually I understood that
it's really about we are notyeah, as you mentioned, we are
not using this word butbalancing stuff, because it's
really, I think it's being awoman.
It's exactly about this balancebeing able to do what you love
(10:14):
and be a proper mom, be a goodco-worker and doing your dream
work and doing your hobbies andall that stuff.
So, yeah, I wouldn't say it'seasy, but I think it's just a
matter of a person beingconcentrated on what they really
want to do matter of a personbeing concentrated on what they
really want to do, and I wouldlove to hear a little bit about
(10:34):
your podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
When did you decide to start a podcast?
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Is it your own?
Is it related to yourorganization?
Sure, so my podcast was kind ofidea that I had in my mind for
a very long time I started it, Ithink almost a year ago now,
and I discussed this with my CEOthat I would love to share my
experience in digitaltransformation sphere with
people.
But I don't want to do it alone.
So in order not to be alone inthese videos and speaking just
(11:06):
about the digital transformationfor myself, I decided to do
this podcast where I'm sharingthis experience with discussing
the questions with other gueststhat have the same experience or
like in different spheres, butthey have this digital
transformation knowledge.
I think it came quiteinteresting and, yeah, there are
people that are always givingme feedback about the podcast
(11:29):
and so far, so good.
So, yeah, it's all aboutdigital transformation in
different spheres with differentpeople, and they're sharing
their experience on stuff howthey imagine.
Because there's a lot of thisquestion when I'm starting the
podcast, isn't it too broad likea topic, digital transformation
and I'm always saying it's notjust because this place that
(11:52):
it's allowing us to discusseverything.
It's so such a big part that wecan actually kind of discuss
anything we want under thattopic.
So that's why, yeah, I decidedto share my experience and have
interesting people in my podcasttoo.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, and it's such a wonderful mechanism for meeting
new people and networking withothers in the space, I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yes, yeah, definitely .
I love exploring and I lovecommunicating with people,
having new friends and listeningto their stories and experience
.
It's like you're gaining newknowledge again and again with
each podcast, so that's coolyeah, let's go back to.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You talked about starting this industry.
You have a book and you startedwriting words that you wanted
to research more.
Yes, what are some of the otherthings that you've done to make
sure that you're staying at thetop of your field, that you
know the concepts, the terms,especially now we have
generative AI and systems andprocesses that we didn't have
even a couple of years ago?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, well, I wish I had GPT, at least like at the
beginning of my career, becauseit would help me for sure,
because, like again, maybe Iwouldn't keep that notebook For
sure, because, like again, maybeI wouldn't keep that notebook,
like that on the paper,everything if I would have GPT.
But right now I think, yeah,besides having that notebook, I
(13:22):
was speaking with a lot ofpeople, as I mentioned, like
having this podcast with peoplethat have this experience.
I was doing the same, justwithout a podcast.
So I was discussing and Iwasn't always trying to look for
people that have the knowledgein project management, in
software engineering, and I wasalways asking them questions and
I was always saying, sorry,maybe I will annoy you with my
(13:42):
questions, but I think it willhelp me to understand better.
And, yeah, I really lovediscussing everything with our
customers too, because I thinkwhen you are getting this
knowledge of what kind ofproduct you're developing, it's
helping too, both on technicalside and also on like your soft
skills and so on.
So, yeah, I think I wasspeaking a lot with people that
(14:05):
helped me.
And also reading as you can see,I have a lot of books and there
are also the technical onesthere.
So I think it's about readingand self-development.
That is helping a lot.
And till nowadays, I'm learningand continuously looking for
some new courses in differentplatforms that will help me to
(14:28):
develop my skills, because it'snever ending.
So you can't say, okay, I havethis certificate and that's it.
I have a lot of them, but I'mstill going for new ones because
not for certificates, of coursebecause of the courses and the
knowledge that I can gain fromthose lessons.
So, yeah, I think it'sself-development and
(14:48):
communication for now?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
And what about AI in your workstreams?
What is it helping make easierwhen it comes to the work that
you do for clients?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well, I think it's helping a lot.
First of all, it's saving somuch time, as I mentioned, like
if I was writing everything onthe paper or like I was doing
research on what kind of words Ican use.
Now I'm just clicking on abutton and it's just moving my
like editing my email to such agood text, which is great.
(15:23):
And plus, of course, on theresearch side, as I mentioned,
about self-development andlooking for stuff Right now,
having this platform where youcan search and giving this very
specific answers to yourquestions is really helping.
And, of course, it's saving thetime.
So I think it's about the timethat it's saving a lot and you
can do more stuff.
(15:43):
I think being able to properlythat I think that's the key word
properly using these tools,because during my podcast, I'm
always mentioning about thisthat it's not the fear of AI,
it's not having the knowledgehow to use it.
So I think that if you areproperly using these tools, they
are really good help and theycan really help you to develop
(16:07):
and make everything that you doa bit more professional.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
They're tools to be used, notinvestments.
Exactly, yeah, and Miriam, youwere mentioning how your office
everybody works in the sameoffice.
It's not remote work.
Like you know, there's thatpush-pull all over the world if
it's better to have remote workor in-person and some industries
it works better.
When it comes to your clients,are you mostly working with
(16:35):
clients in Armenia or in yourregion, or have you expanded,
you know?
I'd love to hear a little bitmore about that, and who is your
ideal client?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Well, it's funny that we don't have any client from
Armenia.
Every client that we have isactually from USA or from Europe
, and it's interesting, duringthese almost 10 years that we
are working with the Americanclients.
We never had this issue of timezone.
Just because, first of all, wealready have that experience of
(17:07):
working with different timezones and we always find these
windows, I will say that we havebasically the space where we
are meeting each other.
Maybe, like it will be, I don'tknow, 8 pm for us, 8 am for
them.
We are finding these slots thatare working with both sides.
Plus, we have really dedicatedpeople that are enjoying their
(17:30):
work and sometimes they're like,okay, I will just come a bit
later to work and I can staylike one hour more in that, yeah
, and having this call withcustomers, because what we love
about the work that we do is therelationship that we are
creating with customer, and it'sone thing that we cherish a lot
.
We have customers with whom wework.
(17:51):
We are working already for nineyears.
They are always bringing to us,like other people, other
companies that are interested insoftware development, teams,
and I mean, I think that's onething that I'm really proud of
the relationship that we havewith our customers and the trust
that we are gaining by showingthe results.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's funny because I know when we
think software development, alot of times people, the default
is India.
Yeah, so I'm interested to hearyou know, when you're looking
at new clients or they'relooking at you, how much do you
have to talk about advantages toworking with an Indian team
(18:33):
versus working with a team in adifferent country.
Does that come up?
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, that's a great question.
I think the simple answer willbe two calls.
That's enough for us to consumepeople, that they can trust us.
Two calls are enough for us.
The first one is just like tounderstand their needs.
We are collecting all thatinformation.
Then we are saying, okay, we'lltake a week to understand
everything, to look like throughthe market, to understand what
(19:00):
is your product about, what arethe needs.
We have great product managersthat are doing market research,
like brilliantly, and we arecoming up with these like slides
or like the presentation thatis showing, okay, maybe this is
what you want or this is whatyou need.
And after that, I think afterthat second call, it's already
(19:23):
understandable that, okay, theseguys know what they do and this
is the quality that we want.
And, of course, like, on thepricing set as well, we are
negotiating.
It's not like, yeah, this isour rate and that's it.
So I think, because of thisflexibility and dedication and
understanding the market andhaving these experienced people
in our company, that's helpingus a lot to make these customers
(19:45):
wanting to work with us.
After the second call.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, yeah, fantastic .
Is there a favorite projectthat you've worked on that you
can tell us about?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Ah, sure, I think it will be my first project that I
started with.
The name was High Attendance.
It renamed a lot after that,but it was the product that we
worked for, I think, for almostfour or five years and I started
on that project.
So it was kind of like firstreal project for me where I was
(20:16):
working as a full-time projectmanager.
I had my team, my team.
That was the first time that Ihad this dedicated team with
whom I was able to work, and thecustomer was a great person.
I think we are even now likefriends outside of the work with
the family, and he knows my son, I know his sons and his wife.
(20:37):
So, yeah, it's, I mean, itbecame a part of me, the project
itself, because it taught me alot.
There were difficult times, butthere were so great ones too
when we already saw how it'sworking.
I was invited to a singleproject to see the product in
real life, how people are usingit, and yeah, I mean, I think
(20:58):
that's the kind of partnershipthat we are always cherishing
and I'm happy to have thatexperience with this kind of
project.
That both taught me a lot on myhard skills as well as on the
soft skills on likecommunication and all that stuff
.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, oh, fantastic.
When your son hears about yourwork, does he aspire to follow
your footsteps?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
work.
Does he aspire to follow yourfootsteps?
I am not sure about aboutfollowing my footsteps, but he
definitely knows a lot likeabout the people that I'm
working with and he on those,even customers, because of the
calls that I'm doing, doing fromhome too, and it's so funny
that they know him too andthey're like, hi, our man, who
are you?
And he is like, hey, and yeah,I think his English skills
developed because of those callsthat I had actually, and I mean
(21:53):
, I'm sure he is proud of whatme and my husband are doing
because both of us are in ITsphere.
But I'm still not sure abouthim following my footsteps.
But he's always saying, oh, wow, you are going to office.
I like your office, but I thinkit's just because how colorful
it is right now.
So, yeah, we'll see.
(22:14):
He is now learning Chinese,which I'm really proud of, and
yeah, he's just on second gradeand doing great job.
I had a parents gathering todayand I got this great feedback.
I was a really proud mom todaywith the feedback that I got.
So, yeah, we will see how itwill go.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
But yeah, yeah, fantastic.
So if there is a womansomewhere in the world listening
to this who wants to move intoa new field, perhaps into the
world of IT and tech, but isintimidated, what's the first
piece of advice you would giveto that woman?
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I will say just be very confident in your skills,
no matter if you are a junior,if you are a senior, if you have
totally different experience inother sphere, just try to use
that experience in this spheretoo, because IT itself is very
flexible.
You can have so many skillsthat you can use in IT sphere
from other spheres.
(23:11):
Like I was planning to be ateacher and now I mean it's what
I was learning in university inthe pedagogy.
So, yeah, I just use my softskills that I learned during the
time working with kids, I don'tknow communicating, all this
stuff.
I just used it in IT.
And I would say to every womanthere just be very confident.
(23:34):
I think that this level ofconfidence is helping with even
going to interview being veryconfident.
Okay, this person knows whatshe wants, where she came, and I
mean it's all about thisconfidence that each of us
should have.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic advice.
I know we always hear thestatistic about women won't
apply for a job unless they feelconfident in 100% skills, but
men will apply even if they havemaybe 60.
I don't remember the exactnumber, but you talking about
the fact that your organizationis 51% women, that you've been
(24:13):
able to ramp up and become theCOO of your company, to have a
podcast, to really pave the wayfor other women in Armenia, but
also other women who areinterested in going this field.
I love that you're saying startwith the confidence.
Just feel confident that youknow the information, you know
where you want to go and if youdon't know it, you're going to
learn it and it's going to beokay.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
You don't have to come in knowing 100% of the
answers.
For sure.
I mean, we all are human beingsand we are not supposed to know
all answers.
It's just about the experienceand the knowledge that you
already have that you can sharewith people and I also partially
working as a coach for a jobproject managers, like the
future project managers andduring first lesson I'm always
(24:55):
saying you need to be confident.
That's the one thing that youneed to have.
Even being junior, you can goto the interview with such a
confidence that people willunderstand okay, this person at
least knows something.
Even if you don't have thisexperience, you know that you
have this knowledge and you canuse it.
You understand how it can beused, all the skills.
(25:17):
So why not to be confident andjust saying I know it and I can
use it and I know how?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
So yeah, yeah, fantastic.
And then I also noticed thatyou are a coach, so you're able
to fit in doing some agilecoaching on the side.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, right, so I started it.
A year ago, I got this proposalfrom one of the Armenian
companies that is basicallygiving these courses of
different professionals, and Iagreed to be an Agile project
manager coach.
So I'm teaching people how theycan be a good project managers
(25:55):
in Agile world specifically, andI really enjoy it because
that's the place where I'm ableto share the experience, besides
having podcast and havingpeople that are working with me.
So, yeah, it's one other partthat I'm really proud of to say
that I'm helping those people tobecome good managers too.
Yeah, Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Is there anything else that you'd want to share
with the audience today whenthey're thinking about their
journey into the world of tech,particularly today?
Speaker 3 (26:27):
As I mentioned about self-development, I think it
will be the last point that Iwould like to mention, with the
confidence I think it's allabout the self-development that
we always need to have.
Continuous self-development issuch an important point during
your work, during your life, andI think we should never forget
about learning and being open tonew knowledge.
(26:50):
And you mentioned AI, and a lotof people are afraid of it and
it's just because we don'tunderstand it yet fully.
But if we will learn about it,I'm sure we will be able to use
it on its maximum and it willjust make our days more
productive.
So I will say, continuousself-development is one other
piece that everyone needs tohave and have those habits that
(27:15):
will help them to grow asprofessionals.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, fantastic, and I know that, miriam, we're going
to have people go toGoHackTechcom to learn more
about the organization, and yourpodcast is called Digital
Shifts and is it available onall platforms.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Right now it's very active in YouTube, frankly
speaking, so I would suggesteveryone to go to YouTube to
check it out.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Okay, fantastic, we can add that link as well.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Fantastic, well, well thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I just so appreciate you staying late at work to do
this episode with me today, andnow you know it's coming up into
almost, you know, closer andcloser to the midnight hour for
you.
So, yeah, how wonderful istechnology that we can have
these conversations and learnabout other amazing women from
around the world who are doingthis work Very inspirational.
(28:12):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, it's been a pleasure.
And is there one last familymotto?
Words of wisdom, something thatinspires you every day to keep
on going.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
I think it will be my son actually, for whom I'm kind
of like doing all this stuff.
And a role model that I have is, of course, my mom.
She herself is an artist andit's such interesting that I
mean, she is from the world thatI think I will never be in,
like this artistic world, butshe is a strongest person that I
(28:49):
know.
Like we are four children andshe grew up every like each of
us with such a passion and I'malways amazed with the skills
that, yeah, she taught us duringthis time.
So I think think, as a rolemodel, I will say my mom is the
person that I'm really proud ofto say that like, yes, I'm her
(29:10):
daughter and yeah, andeverything that I do is
basically like just for my sonto say the same one day about
myself.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Oh, that's so beautiful.
Yes, thank you.
Well, thank you, miriam, forcoming on the show today.
Very much appreciate your timeand thank you to everybody who's
watching this episode orlistening to it on your favorite
podcast platform.
We'll be back again very soonwith another amazing guest to
share their journey into theworld of digital and inspire us
all us all.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
To learn more about the Master of Science in Digital
Media Management program, visitus on the web at dmmuscedu.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.