October 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Today, we dive deep into the journey of being unstoppable, featuring the dynamic Alex Love, VP of Marketing and Communications at Riva Solutions. As a new mom who took on this significant leadership role just weeks before her daughter was born, Alex shares her unique experiences of balancing motherhood and a thriving career. We discuss the importance of having a supportive work culture, especially during life’s major transitions. Alex emphasizes how empathy and open communication are vital in the workplace, particularly for those navigating parenthood alongside their professional responsibilities. Tune in for insights on leadership, resilience, and the beauty of raising strong individuals while striving for success in your career.
Today, we dive into the inspiring journey of Alex Love, a VP of Marketing and Communications at Riva Solutions, who has mastered the art of being unstoppable while juggling her new role and motherhood. She shares her experience of stepping into a leadership position just weeks before welcoming her daughter, illustrating how she balances career ambitions with the demands of parenthood. Alex emphasizes the importance of supportive workplace culture and the need for open communication, especially when managing the challenges of being a working mom. Our conversation touches on how empathy has deepened her leadership style and the significance of fostering a strong team dynamic where everyone lifts each other up. Join us as we explore how to thrive in both personal and professional realms, and discover some valuable lessons on resilience and adaptability along the way!
Takeaways:
- Alex Love shares her journey of balancing a demanding career as a VP while being a new mom.
- The importance of a supportive workplace culture is highlighted as essential for growth and success.
- Empathy in leadership has become more pronounced for Alex since becoming a mother, influencing her approach to team dynamics.
- Identifying gaps in the workplace and stepping up to fill them can pave the way for career advancement.
- Communication and trust within a team are crucial for navigating both personal and professional challenges effectively.
- Alex emphasizes that motherhood has taught her to appreciate the complexities of balancing work and life responsibilities.
Jaclyn Strominger hosts an engaging conversation with Alex Love, a multifaceted professional and VP of Marketing and Communications at Riva Solutions, who shares her journey of becoming a new mom while stepping into a leadership role. Alex discusses the whirlwind of emotions that came with taking on the VP position just before the birth of her daughter, highlighting the unique challenges of balancing a high-pressure job with the demands of motherhood. She candidly addresses the steep learning curve of parenting, especially during the 'toddler phase', and reflects on how both experiences shaped her into a more resilient and empathetic leader.
Throughout the episode, Alex underscores the significance of having a supportive work environment that values flexibility and understanding, especially during major life transitions. She elaborates on her leadership team’s commitment to her growth, which enabled her to navigate the complexities of her new role alongside her responsibilities as a mother. By sharing her story, Alex offers listeners a glimpse into the realities many working parents face and how the right support can empower them to thrive in both areas of their lives.
The discussion also touches upon the importance of building a community among parents and how sharing experiences can alleviate the feelings of isolation that often accompany new parenthood. Alex encourages open communication within her team, fostering an atmosphere where personal challenges can be discussed without fear of judgment. Her insights provide valuable...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:40):
Well, hello, everybody, andwelcome to our amazing podcast. And
today, I actually should alsointroduce myself. I am your host,
Jaclyn Strominger , and todayI have the absolute pleasure of introducing
to you Alex Love. Let me tellyou a little bit about Alex. So Alex
is a dynamic and multifacetedprofessional, and she is currently
serving as the VP of Marketingand communications at Riva Solutions,
(01:03):
which is. We'll talk a littlebit about what she's doing there.
But she brings a wealth ofexpertise and unique perspective
to the table. She's also a newmom, and she has her own podcast,
which is Mastering the Art ofFailing. So Alex's journey is marked
by versatility, and sheunderstands how to make a big impact
with limited resources. So,Alex, let's talk about being unstoppable.
(01:29):
Do it.
So welcome to the show. So,okay, so seriously, new mom balancing
career leadership roles. Howare you being unstoppable?
You know what? Some days itfeels like I am stoppable, but, yeah,
(01:49):
you know, stepping into. So mydaughter is just about 17 months
old, so we're, you know, wellpast newborn. We're now in the let's
figure out toddler phase, andbig feelings and big opinions, as
I definitely see mypersonality mirrored back in this
time, which, you know, was thephase I knew was coming, but just
welcoming it with open arms.But, yeah, I took the VP role four
(02:13):
weeks before my daughter wasborn. So it was one of those things
where it was two huge lifeshifts happening all simultaneously
with big expectations on bothsides of the house for things that
I'd never done before. So Iwas very, very thankful for the supportive
culture that I had from myleadership team, you know, who not
only followed through with thepromises for promotions, even knowing,
(02:35):
you know, impending maternityleave and things were changing on
my world, but gave me thegrace to sort of figure that out,
because when you welcome achild to the world, you're a whole
new person. So I came backwith new priorities, new limitations,
you know, healing while you'retrying to balance, you know, low
(02:57):
sleep, just low everythingwith this tiny creature that you
now have, like, fullresponsibility for. You know, you
don't get a lot of training onit. They're just like, here she is.
Right, Right. I mean, youknow, with all the books that are
out there on momhood, therereally is not a book about how. Because
it's so personal, like, on howto deal with, you know, sleep deprivation.
(03:21):
Because everybody deals withthat differently. Everybody deals
with being a mom differentlyand all those responsibilities and
how, you know, not to throw inyour partner, but like your, your
partner really in this case,like, or maybe you're a single mom.
Right. Depending upon whatyour role is. Really is so individual.
(03:42):
Yeah. And it's good to havefriends who are like in different
phases of momhood too. So, youknow, we started our family, so I'm
previously married, remarried,so you know, my husband and met in
our 30s. So we started ourfamily a little bit later than some
of my friends who hadmarriages and children sort of in
their 20s. But it's always funto have those people that you can
(04:02):
point back to and say like, isthis normal? Is this real? Is this
what we're really doing? Howare you dealing with it? And I've
loved being able to pay itforward for some of my friends who
are a couple months or maybe ayear behind me in sort of motherhood
that are like in the trenchesof having a 4 month old, 5 month
old and being able to passdown that wisdom. To say like, this
(04:25):
is hard because you're puttingyour whole heart into it and you
care and if you didn't, then,you know, you'd be kind of breezing
through this. But becauseyou're giving it your all, not only
in your career but also toyour family, like you're very, you're
stretched very thin. But Ilike, is a phase that everything
is temporary, that the newbornstage, eventually they start sleeping,
(04:47):
you know, eventually you getto a different milestone. You know,
now, now my daughter iswalking, running, you know, throwing
things. We're dealing with newchalleng but it's really fun to see
her evolve and to see myselfevolve too as we're dealing with
new challenges and trying tofigure out again, my concern when
I found out I was having agirl was how do I actually parent
(05:08):
a mini version of myself?Because I know I have a strong personality,
lots of opinions and I knowthat's going to be served right back
to me. And I'm absolutelyloving raising strong women, but
it's a lot.
It is a lot. So something thatyou said, I, I, I actually really
kind of want to touch onbecause you, you have, you entered
(05:31):
into momhood, you know, as yousaid, you just took on a new role
as, as VP and, and your, youknow, the team at Reva obviously
supported obviously your rolelike the, the pregnancy obviously,
and have becoming a new momand giving you the promotion. So
(05:54):
I'm really curious as to, youknow, the strength of the leadership
and how that has made such agreat impact for you because I think
that's really Important tohelp us be unstoppable. You know,
again, as you said, even as amom, even as a new mom, having that
surrounding. But thecorporate, the corporate family.
(06:17):
Yeah, it would definitely nothave been possible without the support.
You know, I have the privilegeof working directly for our CEO and
I've been at the company nowfor five years and started in a director
role and sort of, you know,continue to add on things to my purview,
different departments,overseeing a lot of things, and now
sort of sitting a little bitmore on the strategy side of the
(06:37):
house in terms of what's thevision for the company, how are we
going to continue to grow, howdo we pivot, change cultures on side
of my, you know, dailyoperations, management, managing
the marketing communicationsteam. But thankfully, everyone around
me is also parents too. And sowhile the senior execs, you know,
are a little bit, have olderchildren that are in high school,
approaching college, they'vebeen in the trenches. And as entrepreneurs
(07:02):
who started their business atthe same time when they were welcoming
and expanding their family,you know, they had that experience
that, you know, they've gonethrough it. Maybe they're, you know,
a little bit further reserved,but it's still in your mind when
you're like, oh, yeah, Iremember those nights trying to build
a company, a business, andalso sort of managing, you know,
my growing family too. So itwas just, it was really. I had a
(07:25):
moment actually when, youknow, I was. We were in Miami for
a leadership off site and Ihad already told the team I was pregnant.
So everyone had known forabout a month or so. And the VP conversation
had been something that we'dbeen talking about for a while and
the timeline was there, but Iwas really kind of nervous to sort
of bring that back up becauseit was, it was a handshake conversation.
(07:48):
It wasn't anything that I haddocumentation for. This was just
the path that we were workingtowards, an agreement. And so many
women get sidelined becausethey make these announcements and,
you know, you could be the topof your game. You step out for a
couple weeks, months, what,whatever, for your maternity leave
and come back and your role isgone or your something has shifted
(08:10):
or, you know, because yourpriority has changed. Someone in
the company thinks that you'reno longer the loyal employee because
now you have children to takecare of. So, you know, I was very
cautious, even with goodrelationships when I sort of made
that announcement. And ofcourse, everyone was happy for you.
But in the back of my mind,you know, for a while I had that
in my brain, is this gonnastill work out for me? You know,
(08:35):
and doing the best I can beingpregnant, trying to manage all of
this. But we had a momentwhen, you know, after sort of the,
with the, of strategicplanning went through, we were standing
at happy hour, you know,having dinner, and the CEO came up
to me and he said, are youexcited to be vp? And it just gave
(08:56):
me this like warm feelingwhere I'm like, I didn't bring it
up. He brought it up. We'restill months away from both of these
things happening, but hisperception of this hasn't changed.
And it was so soothing to meto be able to know, like, they accept,
they understand that this iswhere I am in life, that I'm going
to do my best to succeed onboth sides of the house. But my priorities
(09:19):
are going to changesignificantly with the welcoming
of my daughter. But it justgave me such a good feeling about,
wow, I am in the right place.Because I have been in some of those
cultures where you don't havethat you don't have to buy in from
the CEO. And especiallysitting formally in a marketing role,
you really do have to havethat good relationship and buy into
(09:39):
the vision and the culturebecause that's ultimately my job
is, is to market it right.But. And I've left, I've left roles
because I didn't have thatconnection and I didn't have that
buy in. So it's just a reallynice moment where I was like, oh,
I am in the right place. Andthis is a, this is a long term thing
for me that.
Okay, so I just absolutely,absolutely love that. Okay, so so
(10:04):
many great things. And Ialmost like have goose. Well, I do
have goosebumps from what yousaid because I think it's so important
that, you know, we, I can talkto him blue in the face to talk about
vision and mission and buyinginto that. And if you're, if you
haven't bought into it, ifyou're the leader and the people
on your team haven't boughtinto it, you know, that's not the
right fit. And, and so it's soimportant that I think, you know,
(10:24):
listeners as you hear, youknow what Alex just said, she bought
into it. She knew that. But sodid the leader, the CEO of the company
know that? But I want to goback to the before this conversation
happened. Okay. And that issomebody in this role before?
(10:45):
No.
And so I'm curious as to howdid this conversation even start
with you becoming the VP ofmarketing and Communications? Because
this is a It's a huge. I, Ithink this is so important because
it's a, as, as you said,you've had this conversation with
(11:08):
a path. So I'd like to hearabout that.
Yeah, absolutely. So I joinedthe company in a director function.
They had a loose department,if you will, and they didn't really
have anyone sort of in themanagement or the leadership for
it. They had an associate whowas sort of helping with things and
(11:28):
they certainly had a presenceand had started to put pieces together,
but they never had anybodyformally building up this department.
So you know, at the time thecompany was in the small business
program, but they were on atrajectory to graduate the program
early. So in the governmentcontracting space we have certain
protected business classesthat help you get contracts with
(11:50):
the government. So they'repart of the eight, A small business,
small disadvantaged businessprogram. But there are size restrictions
to that. You either get nineyears or you can graduate early depending
on your revenue or youremployee size. So when I joined the
company in 2020, they were onthe trajectory to graduate the program
early based on size. And thatwas conversations that they were
having literally the first dayI walked in about, you know, how
(12:12):
do we set the company up forsuccess once we exit this program?
Because there is a pretty bigvoid in the government contracting
industry for companies whoexit this small business program
and then are able to succeed,you know, because you no longer have
these protected classes orcontracts that you're eligible for.
(12:33):
So you're immediateimmediately competing against Gdit,
Lockheed Martin, these massivebillion dollar companies. So there's
this void of companies in themiddle of these 80, 100, you know,
300 million dollar companies,they just don't exist. So it's very,
very difficult to besuccessful in that phase because
you just lose all of thecushions and all of your on ramp.
(12:55):
Right. They were having theseconversations about, you know, how
do we beat the, the, the cliffessentially is what we call it. How
do we beat this cliff? How areyou one of like the 2% of companies
that are successful at the endof this program? So investing in
the culture, investing inmarketing, communications was one
of the things that thankfullythe CEO, you know, was buying into
(13:18):
and said now is the time forus to formalize what works in the
8A small business class, sortof a jack of all trades, you know,
we'll do anything. Doesn'twork in this mid sized market because
you have to know who yourcustomers are. You have to have real
products, real services and beable to attack those opportunities
(13:38):
with laser precision to beable to continue to get bigger and
bigger contracts. So he hadthe forethought to bring on and say,
it's time to formalize thisdepartment. We need to bring somebody
in. So he is somebody that Ihad met in the industry years before.
I was looking for a newopportunity because I had hit that
threshold at my current rolewhere I no longer bought into the
vision of where the CEO wastrying to take the company. And I
(14:00):
needed the opportunity to bowout and say, I can't come on this
journey with you. I don't, I'mnot, you know, I'm not in alignment.
This is no longer not yourgirl any longer. Exactly, exactly.
So I joined the company likeblindly in 2020, like, like full
Covid, you know, no one's inthe office. I think I did one virtual
interview I had, you know,that was it. I got this job offer
(14:24):
and I said to my husband, nowat the time I was like, you know,
this feels really riskynormally, but in a Covid environment,
if this doesn't work out, Idon't think anyone's going to judge
me for making a jump. Right.You know, you just don't know. One
virtual interview. And I saidyes, right. Like it's either a great
(14:46):
opportunity or it's a terribleone and I'll have the opportunity
to reset if this doesn't workout. And so five years later, I'm
still here and still good,good opportunity. But in terms of
the growth trajectory, to yourpoint, there was no one formally
in this role. So even though Icame in as a director, I was doing
a lot of the functions thatyou would see at that higher level
strategy, because there was noone there a long time to be able
(15:08):
to build up the relationshipsand, you know, be able to move the
needle in some of these areas.Because we were maturing so fast
as a company, we're growingvery fast. You know, our, our clients
are changing, our customersare changing, our employee base is
changing. All while we'retrying to figure out like, who are
we and what do we do and whatare we really good at so that we
(15:28):
can narrow down our focus tobe successful in this mid sized market
which we knew was coming. Somy background outside of marketing,
I've come in and out ofmarketing before. You know, I have
an mba, I was a consultantright before I joined Riva. And so
I've got, you know, clientexperience, I did a lot of strategic
planning, a lot of changemanagement, communications, things
(15:49):
like that. So I, I enjoy thatside of the house in terms of Growing
businesses too. So I think itwas easier for me to sort of build
my pathway from just managingmarketing by able to identify gaps
that were in the company andthen helping to solve them. So one
of the first things that cameunder my purview was internal communications.
(16:11):
At the time, the HR departmenthad like a massive turnover and basically
everyone left. And so thatleft us in a drudge where we had
some events coming up. We hada lot of employees who are on contract
site. So they just need a lotof touch points back to the corporate
office because we're not allin the office working together. They're
(16:31):
very native to their clientsite. So having been in that position
myself, you know, working fora large contractor, understanding
what their point of view was,that was an area where I've done
event planning, I've donecommunications. I can help you with
this. So, you know, figuringout like, let's put it under, let's
build a strategy for it, let'sput some thought behind how we want
(16:52):
to do this and build ourculture. Because when I go out to
ask for marketing things, I'masking for favors. So the more that
I can bring people into thefold and bring and change our culture,
the easier my marketing jobis. If we have happy employees, we
have happy clients. So, right.The way that I tied it together was,
you know, maybe we put thisfunction under us as well. And so
(17:14):
just over the years, I've beenable to identify some of these gaps
for the company or sort oftrack on trends or say, hey, this
is what I'm hearing from thefield being to take that and turn
that into some solutions, notjust problem identification. I think
a lot of people get stuckthere, right. So you have to be able
to identify and then executeon those solutions. And so that's
(17:35):
kind of how I started to buildthe ladder for myself. And honestly,
there's a couple times where Ijust showed up to meetings, you know,
because I have a background instrategic planning for clients. When
I saw an opportunity thatthere was to help the company start
to do that, that gave meaccess to, to a lot of meetings and
a lot of information that Iwouldn't traditionally have just
(17:55):
sitting in that marketingrole. So finding ways to be very
helpful outside of my regularrole, identify gaps, help to build
that strategy. And with eachyear that has been more and more
sort of my focus area is thelarger vision and strategic, you
know, position for thecompany, which empowers marketing,
(18:16):
is all a piece of it, but hasagain allowed me to kind of go from
a Director, day to daymanager, up into these leadership
options.
So I love that. I mean,obviously at the end of the day,
you know, you identified thegaps and find found ways for you
to actually interject and behelpful, not to take over, but to
(18:36):
be hopeful. And I think that'sso important. So something that I,
but I, that I want to share isthat, I mean, obviously you're doing
this. So did you approach theCEO first about the path to VP or
like, how did thatconversation even start bubbling
up?
Yeah, it was probably a mix ofboth. But knowing myself is probably
(19:00):
something I asked for. And Iknow that is not always common, that
people are feel comfortableadvocating for themselves, but because
it is so easy for me to pointback and say, hey, this is what I
came in formally to do andthese are all the things that we've
since added and here are theresults that we've achieved. How
do we close that gap? What isthe next step for me? You know, my
(19:22):
ambition has always been tocome up to the C suite. So what are
those steps that I need totake to put myself at that next level?
What am I not doing today thatyou would expect to see a senior
director do or a VP do or youknow, now on the treasury for senior
Vice president. And so it'salways working about six months ahead
(19:43):
where you think you need tobe. But people will tell you, you
just have to ask the question.And I think to your point about,
you know, trying to find waysto be helpful, my job is always easier
when everyone else's job iseasier. And I think that's true of
me being a manager for mydirect reports, but also those individuals
around me. So just being ableto be a utility player, helping people
(20:05):
think through some of theseproblems that they might be, might
be hitting because they'restuck in their daily routine, it's
always helpful to have anoutside source come in and say, hey,
let me help you think throughthat. Because ultimately we're all
trying to build the companytogether. And I'm not here to take
credit, I'm not here to takeyour job. I'm just here to make your
life a little bit easier.Easier because again, at the end
of the day, I have to marketthis company. That is my core function
(20:28):
here. I have to market it. Ihave to recruit new people, new partners.
And so if all of the wheelsare turning together and we have
happy customers, happyemployees, that makes my job just
so much easier.
I really love that. I mean,basically it's again, key thing that
you just said too andlisteners, I think it's really important
(20:49):
is letting your ambition andyour personal vision be known and
vice versa. Like as a, as aleader, you know, you need to make
sure that you also know thepeople in your, that are on your
team, what their visionhappens to be so that you can help
(21:12):
them bubble up, you know, andif, because if they might, if they
are the person who is notspeaking or doesn't feel comfortable,
help them get comfortable withthat. That is so important. So as
a leader at the team, youknow, at the team, like, how are
you using these skills to helpyour team?
Yeah. So basically everyone onmy team is a new position because
(21:36):
as my team continues to growand the purview continues to grow,
we need to bring moreindividuals in to be able to handle
some of these things. And evenas my role sort of changes in terms
of, of focusing more onenterprise strategy and overall projects
versus day to day marketing,that frees up an opportunity for
me to find someone to take myjob. So essentially that's how I've
been building the ladder isevery rung that I take. My goal is
(21:59):
to bring my team up with meand find opportunities to give them
as much visibility aspossible. Have them be in places
where they can be successful,to take their credit for some of
these projects and make surethey're in front of the stakeholders
that matter. I never want tobe the singular point of failure.
I don't want everyone to haveto come through me. I want everyone
to be able to buildrelationships with the individuals
(22:21):
that matter at the company sothat every single person on my team
can be a point of contact forsomeone and we can come together
and figure out how to do this.But you know, I am not the top of
the pyramid. My job is to makeeveryone's job easier. And so I have,
I try to have very thoughtfulconversations at least quarterly,
outside of the hey, what areyou working on? What's the status
(22:43):
on this about? You know,what's your vision? Where do you
see yourself? How do I put youin positions that make you more successful?
What about my job? Do you wantto learn? Are there opportunities
for you to proxy or be in thismeeting? For me, my calendar is atrocious.
The less meetings I have toattend, the better. So find opportunities
for my team to represent methe department so they get that facetime,
(23:07):
they can build thoserelationships on their own.
I absolutely love thatsolicitors. I mean, this is so quintessential.
I mean, I feel like I sharethis all the time and it's something
Something that Alex said is,you know, for each rung that you
go up in the ladder to bringyour team with you, because eventually,
if you can bring people toreplace you, that's what we want.
(23:27):
Not that. Not that we wantsomeone to take your job, but if
you're going to move up, theonly way that you can move up is
to put somebody else in thatplace to fill that. To fill that
next. That spot. So it'sreally, really important. And getting
to know people, it's really,really key. You know, Alex, what
(23:48):
you're doing is, is as aleader and being part of this company
is really quite amazing. I'dlove for you to share a little bit,
though. You know, there'sempathy that has to come with it
and, and not to just bring itback to being that new mom. But,
like, how does that empathy,now that you also have, now that
you're a mom, it's been, youknow, 17 months old. Right. How has
(24:10):
that changed? Or has itchanged how your. How you. I guess
I could say empathize withpeople on your team?
Yeah, it. It definitely hasmade me softer. And I was joking.
You came back a lot softer.And I was like, well, that's kind
of what happens when you have,you know, a baby. But I think I always
(24:33):
had empathy. But it'sdefinitely magnified now because
I don't think individualswithout children fully understand
the mental load and just sortof the expectations that exist with
just keeping other people,like, going and alive in certain
cases. And we'd always had theflexibility, like I said, you know,
during COVID the companydecided to remain fully remote. So
(24:56):
we do have an office that willgo in for meetings and other things
like that. But we have a lotof flexibility built into our company,
which comes with a lot oftrust, and it works for our company
quite well. So a lot of us areable to be so successful, both personally
and professionally because wehave such an integrated work life
flex. And so, you know,someone needs to go to a doctor's
(25:16):
appointment or, you know, hassomething for their children. Like,
my expectation is your familycomes first. As long as you're getting
the work done, I don't care atwhat hour you do it. It just needs
to get done. But those arejust things that you need to communicate
that, hey, if I'm going to beoffline for a certain amount of time,
I just need to know that. SoI'm not like, chatting you wondering
where you are, Right? Yeah.The crazy thing was she's no longer.
(25:42):
She's since moved on foranother opportunity. But at the time
when I was going, you know,through my pregnancy and then, you
know, my maternity leave, thedeputy who I left in charge was in
a similar place in her life,and her and her husband were also
thinking about extending theirfamily. So, you know, having been
a little bit ahead of her, Isaid, man, your first trimester is
(26:03):
really, really rough. If youcould do anything, just promise me
that when I'm on maternityleave that you don't get pregnant.
Because it's like there aredays where I would wake up and just
like. Like, stare at the wallfor an hour. Because you're just.
You're so tired. You're justinsanely tired. And I was like, I
know even writing you the bestof plans for the weeks that I'm gone,
you know, there's going to bea lot more expectations on you, a
(26:25):
lot more eyes on you, and thisis an opportunity for you to shine,
because I'm no longer there.Like, this is your department for
the next eight weeks. So Isaid, whatever you do, if possible,
just try not to get pregnantwhile I'm out. Of course, she got
pregnant while I was out,because that's the way that the universe
works. But I think being ableto go through something like that
(26:47):
myself and then be able toimmediately turn around and sort
of give that gift and graceback to someone on my team who is
going through somethingexactly the same eight months later.
And, you know, everyone on myteam at this, at that point was a
mom or, you know, expectingmom. So I just think we've had to
learn to work around theschedules and work around the ebbs
(27:09):
and flows of what life lookslike, because you can have the best
intentions for the week. Andthen ultimately, my daughter will
get sick, and it just is whatit is, right? Yes. So work will always
be there. I think, you know,if you've got high performers, people
who will want to learn, are agood culture fit. You just have to
build that trust with yourteam that everyone has each other's
(27:32):
backs. If there's trulysomething you can't get to today
because you have anotherpriority, just communicate with it
and make sure that, you know,everyone can. We can continue to
move the ball, we can movepriorities, we can change things
around because you're. You'rea whole human. You don't just work.
You're not just a mom. You'reboth at the same time. And so we
have to treat people that way.
(27:52):
Yeah, that's so true. And Ilove what you just said. It's so
important. Trustingcommunication is absolutely, absolutely
important. So, Alex, I couldtalk to you forever. I think what
you are doing is great. I lovewhat you're sharing. So tell our
listeners how they can connectwith you and get more of your wisdom.
Yeah, absolutely. So you canfind me on LinkedIn. Alex Stevens,
(28:15):
love if you like pit bulls andpowerlifting. My Instagram is probably
for you. So not a professionalaccount, definitely my personal life.
But you can also catch up withme on my podcast, which is failing
pod.com.
That'S awesome. Well, I willhave. We will have links to those
in the show notes. So, Alex, Iso appreciate you being a guest and
(28:36):
listeners. I'm sure you'vegotten some great tips and wisdom
out of this. So please do methe amount, the best favor of which
is to hit subscribe and alsoto share it with your friends and
colleagues because I am surethat they will get some great wisdom
out of this as well. So I'mJacqueline Strominger, your host
and thank you all forlistening and thank you, Alex, for
being an amazing guest.
Thank you so much for having me.
Well, hello, everybody, andwelcome to our amazing podcast. And
today, I actually should alsointroduce myself. I am your host,
Jaclyn Strominger , and todayI have the absolute pleasure of introducing
to you Alex Love. Let me tellyou a little bit about Alex. So Alex
is a dynamic and multifacetedprofessional, and she is currently
serving as the VP of Marketingand communications at Riva Solutions,
(01:03):
which is. We'll talk a littlebit about what she's doing there.
But she brings a wealth ofexpertise and unique perspective
to the table. She's also a newmom, and she has her own podcast,
which is Mastering the Art ofFailing. So Alex's journey is marked
by versatility, and sheunderstands how to make a big impact
with limited resources. So,Alex, let's talk about being unstoppable.
(01:29):
Do it.
So welcome to the show. So,okay, so seriously, new mom balancing
career leadership roles. Howare you being unstoppable?
You know what? Some days itfeels like I am stoppable, but, yeah,
(01:49):
you know, stepping into. So mydaughter is just about 17 months
old, so we're, you know, wellpast newborn. We're now in the let's
figure out toddler phase, andbig feelings and big opinions, as
I definitely see mypersonality mirrored back in this
time, which, you know, was thephase I knew was coming, but just
welcoming it with open arms.But, yeah, I took the VP role four
(02:13):
weeks before my daughter wasborn. So it was one of those things
where it was two huge lifeshifts happening all simultaneously
with big expectations on bothsides of the house for things that
I'd never done before. So Iwas very, very thankful for the supportive
culture that I had from myleadership team, you know, who not
only followed through with thepromises for promotions, even knowing,
(02:35):
you know, impending maternityleave and things were changing on
my world, but gave me thegrace to sort of figure that out,
because when you welcome achild to the world, you're a whole
new person. So I came backwith new priorities, new limitations,
you know, healing while you'retrying to balance, you know, low
(02:57):
sleep, just low everythingwith this tiny creature that you
now have, like, fullresponsibility for. You know, you
don't get a lot of training onit. They're just like, here she is.
Right, Right. I mean, youknow, with all the books that are
out there on momhood, therereally is not a book about how. Because
it's so personal, like, on howto deal with, you know, sleep deprivation.
(03:21):
Because everybody deals withthat differently. Everybody deals
with being a mom differentlyand all those responsibilities and
how, you know, not to throw inyour partner, but like your, your
partner really in this case,like, or maybe you're a single mom.
Right. Depending upon whatyour role is. Really is so individual.
(03:42):
Yeah. And it's good to havefriends who are like in different
phases of momhood too. So, youknow, we started our family, so I'm
previously married, remarried,so you know, my husband and met in
our 30s. So we started ourfamily a little bit later than some
of my friends who hadmarriages and children sort of in
their 20s. But it's always funto have those people that you can
(04:02):
point back to and say like, isthis normal? Is this real? Is this
what we're really doing? Howare you dealing with it? And I've
loved being able to pay itforward for some of my friends who
are a couple months or maybe ayear behind me in sort of motherhood
that are like in the trenchesof having a 4 month old, 5 month
old and being able to passdown that wisdom. To say like, this
(04:25):
is hard because you're puttingyour whole heart into it and you
care and if you didn't, then,you know, you'd be kind of breezing
through this. But becauseyou're giving it your all, not only
in your career but also toyour family, like you're very, you're
stretched very thin. But Ilike, is a phase that everything
is temporary, that the newbornstage, eventually they start sleeping,
(04:47):
you know, eventually you getto a different milestone. You know,
now, now my daughter iswalking, running, you know, throwing
things. We're dealing with newchalleng but it's really fun to see
her evolve and to see myselfevolve too as we're dealing with
new challenges and trying tofigure out again, my concern when
I found out I was having agirl was how do I actually parent
(05:08):
a mini version of myself?Because I know I have a strong personality,
lots of opinions and I knowthat's going to be served right back
to me. And I'm absolutelyloving raising strong women, but
it's a lot.
It is a lot. So something thatyou said, I, I, I actually really
kind of want to touch onbecause you, you have, you entered
(05:31):
into momhood, you know, as yousaid, you just took on a new role
as, as VP and, and your, youknow, the team at Reva obviously
supported obviously your rolelike the, the pregnancy obviously,
and have becoming a new momand giving you the promotion. So
(05:54):
I'm really curious as to, youknow, the strength of the leadership
and how that has made such agreat impact for you because I think
that's really Important tohelp us be unstoppable. You know,
again, as you said, even as amom, even as a new mom, having that
surrounding. But thecorporate, the corporate family.
(06:17):
Yeah, it would definitely nothave been possible without the support.
You know, I have the privilegeof working directly for our CEO and
I've been at the company nowfor five years and started in a director
role and sort of, you know,continue to add on things to my purview,
different departments,overseeing a lot of things, and now
sort of sitting a little bitmore on the strategy side of the
(06:37):
house in terms of what's thevision for the company, how are we
going to continue to grow, howdo we pivot, change cultures on side
of my, you know, dailyoperations, management, managing
the marketing communicationsteam. But thankfully, everyone around
me is also parents too. And sowhile the senior execs, you know,
are a little bit, have olderchildren that are in high school,
approaching college, they'vebeen in the trenches. And as entrepreneurs
(07:02):
who started their business atthe same time when they were welcoming
and expanding their family,you know, they had that experience
that, you know, they've gonethrough it. Maybe they're, you know,
a little bit further reserved,but it's still in your mind when
you're like, oh, yeah, Iremember those nights trying to build
a company, a business, andalso sort of managing, you know,
my growing family too. So itwas just, it was really. I had a
(07:25):
moment actually when, youknow, I was. We were in Miami for
a leadership off site and Ihad already told the team I was pregnant.
So everyone had known forabout a month or so. And the VP conversation
had been something that we'dbeen talking about for a while and
the timeline was there, but Iwas really kind of nervous to sort
of bring that back up becauseit was, it was a handshake conversation.
(07:48):
It wasn't anything that I haddocumentation for. This was just
the path that we were workingtowards, an agreement. And so many
women get sidelined becausethey make these announcements and,
you know, you could be the topof your game. You step out for a
couple weeks, months, what,whatever, for your maternity leave
and come back and your role isgone or your something has shifted
(08:10):
or, you know, because yourpriority has changed. Someone in
the company thinks that you'reno longer the loyal employee because
now you have children to takecare of. So, you know, I was very
cautious, even with goodrelationships when I sort of made
that announcement. And ofcourse, everyone was happy for you.
But in the back of my mind,you know, for a while I had that
in my brain, is this gonnastill work out for me? You know,
(08:35):
and doing the best I can beingpregnant, trying to manage all of
this. But we had a momentwhen, you know, after sort of the,
with the, of strategicplanning went through, we were standing
at happy hour, you know,having dinner, and the CEO came up
to me and he said, are youexcited to be vp? And it just gave
(08:56):
me this like warm feelingwhere I'm like, I didn't bring it
up. He brought it up. We'restill months away from both of these
things happening, but hisperception of this hasn't changed.
And it was so soothing to meto be able to know, like, they accept,
they understand that this iswhere I am in life, that I'm going
to do my best to succeed onboth sides of the house. But my priorities
(09:19):
are going to changesignificantly with the welcoming
of my daughter. But it justgave me such a good feeling about,
wow, I am in the right place.Because I have been in some of those
cultures where you don't havethat you don't have to buy in from
the CEO. And especiallysitting formally in a marketing role,
you really do have to havethat good relationship and buy into
(09:39):
the vision and the culturebecause that's ultimately my job
is, is to market it right.But. And I've left, I've left roles
because I didn't have thatconnection and I didn't have that
buy in. So it's just a reallynice moment where I was like, oh,
I am in the right place. Andthis is a, this is a long term thing
for me that.
Okay, so I just absolutely,absolutely love that. Okay, so so
(10:04):
many great things. And Ialmost like have goose. Well, I do
have goosebumps from what yousaid because I think it's so important
that, you know, we, I can talkto him blue in the face to talk about
vision and mission and buyinginto that. And if you're, if you
haven't bought into it, ifyou're the leader and the people
on your team haven't boughtinto it, you know, that's not the
right fit. And, and so it's soimportant that I think, you know,
(10:24):
listeners as you hear, youknow what Alex just said, she bought
into it. She knew that. But sodid the leader, the CEO of the company
know that? But I want to goback to the before this conversation
happened. Okay. And that issomebody in this role before?
(10:45):
No.
And so I'm curious as to howdid this conversation even start
with you becoming the VP ofmarketing and Communications? Because
this is a It's a huge. I, Ithink this is so important because
it's a, as, as you said,you've had this conversation with
(11:08):
a path. So I'd like to hearabout that.
Yeah, absolutely. So I joinedthe company in a director function.
They had a loose department,if you will, and they didn't really
have anyone sort of in themanagement or the leadership for
it. They had an associate whowas sort of helping with things and
(11:28):
they certainly had a presenceand had started to put pieces together,
but they never had anybodyformally building up this department.
So you know, at the time thecompany was in the small business
program, but they were on atrajectory to graduate the program
early. So in the governmentcontracting space we have certain
protected business classesthat help you get contracts with
(11:50):
the government. So they'repart of the eight, A small business,
small disadvantaged businessprogram. But there are size restrictions
to that. You either get nineyears or you can graduate early depending
on your revenue or youremployee size. So when I joined the
company in 2020, they were onthe trajectory to graduate the program
early based on size. And thatwas conversations that they were
having literally the first dayI walked in about, you know, how
(12:12):
do we set the company up forsuccess once we exit this program?
Because there is a pretty bigvoid in the government contracting
industry for companies whoexit this small business program
and then are able to succeed,you know, because you no longer have
these protected classes orcontracts that you're eligible for.
(12:33):
So you're immediateimmediately competing against Gdit,
Lockheed Martin, these massivebillion dollar companies. So there's
this void of companies in themiddle of these 80, 100, you know,
300 million dollar companies,they just don't exist. So it's very,
very difficult to besuccessful in that phase because
you just lose all of thecushions and all of your on ramp.
(12:55):
Right. They were having theseconversations about, you know, how
do we beat the, the, the cliffessentially is what we call it. How
do we beat this cliff? How areyou one of like the 2% of companies
that are successful at the endof this program? So investing in
the culture, investing inmarketing, communications was one
of the things that thankfullythe CEO, you know, was buying into
(13:18):
and said now is the time forus to formalize what works in the
8A small business class, sortof a jack of all trades, you know,
we'll do anything. Doesn'twork in this mid sized market because
you have to know who yourcustomers are. You have to have real
products, real services and beable to attack those opportunities
(13:38):
with laser precision to beable to continue to get bigger and
bigger contracts. So he hadthe forethought to bring on and say,
it's time to formalize thisdepartment. We need to bring somebody
in. So he is somebody that Ihad met in the industry years before.
I was looking for a newopportunity because I had hit that
threshold at my current rolewhere I no longer bought into the
vision of where the CEO wastrying to take the company. And I
(14:00):
needed the opportunity to bowout and say, I can't come on this
journey with you. I don't, I'mnot, you know, I'm not in alignment.
This is no longer not yourgirl any longer. Exactly, exactly.
So I joined the company likeblindly in 2020, like, like full
Covid, you know, no one's inthe office. I think I did one virtual
interview I had, you know,that was it. I got this job offer
(14:24):
and I said to my husband, nowat the time I was like, you know,
this feels really riskynormally, but in a Covid environment,
if this doesn't work out, Idon't think anyone's going to judge
me for making a jump. Right.You know, you just don't know. One
virtual interview. And I saidyes, right. Like it's either a great
(14:46):
opportunity or it's a terribleone and I'll have the opportunity
to reset if this doesn't workout. And so five years later, I'm
still here and still good,good opportunity. But in terms of
the growth trajectory, to yourpoint, there was no one formally
in this role. So even though Icame in as a director, I was doing
a lot of the functions thatyou would see at that higher level
strategy, because there was noone there a long time to be able
(15:08):
to build up the relationshipsand, you know, be able to move the
needle in some of these areas.Because we were maturing so fast
as a company, we're growingvery fast. You know, our, our clients
are changing, our customersare changing, our employee base is
changing. All while we'retrying to figure out like, who are
we and what do we do and whatare we really good at so that we
(15:28):
can narrow down our focus tobe successful in this mid sized market
which we knew was coming. Somy background outside of marketing,
I've come in and out ofmarketing before. You know, I have
an mba, I was a consultantright before I joined Riva. And so
I've got, you know, clientexperience, I did a lot of strategic
planning, a lot of changemanagement, communications, things
(15:49):
like that. So I, I enjoy thatside of the house in terms of Growing
businesses too. So I think itwas easier for me to sort of build
my pathway from just managingmarketing by able to identify gaps
that were in the company andthen helping to solve them. So one
of the first things that cameunder my purview was internal communications.
(16:11):
At the time, the HR departmenthad like a massive turnover and basically
everyone left. And so thatleft us in a drudge where we had
some events coming up. We hada lot of employees who are on contract
site. So they just need a lotof touch points back to the corporate
office because we're not allin the office working together. They're
(16:31):
very native to their clientsite. So having been in that position
myself, you know, working fora large contractor, understanding
what their point of view was,that was an area where I've done
event planning, I've donecommunications. I can help you with
this. So, you know, figuringout like, let's put it under, let's
build a strategy for it, let'sput some thought behind how we want
(16:52):
to do this and build ourculture. Because when I go out to
ask for marketing things, I'masking for favors. So the more that
I can bring people into thefold and bring and change our culture,
the easier my marketing jobis. If we have happy employees, we
have happy clients. So, right.The way that I tied it together was,
you know, maybe we put thisfunction under us as well. And so
(17:14):
just over the years, I've beenable to identify some of these gaps
for the company or sort oftrack on trends or say, hey, this
is what I'm hearing from thefield being to take that and turn
that into some solutions, notjust problem identification. I think
a lot of people get stuckthere, right. So you have to be able
to identify and then executeon those solutions. And so that's
(17:35):
kind of how I started to buildthe ladder for myself. And honestly,
there's a couple times where Ijust showed up to meetings, you know,
because I have a background instrategic planning for clients. When
I saw an opportunity thatthere was to help the company start
to do that, that gave meaccess to, to a lot of meetings and
a lot of information that Iwouldn't traditionally have just
(17:55):
sitting in that marketingrole. So finding ways to be very
helpful outside of my regularrole, identify gaps, help to build
that strategy. And with eachyear that has been more and more
sort of my focus area is thelarger vision and strategic, you
know, position for thecompany, which empowers marketing,
(18:16):
is all a piece of it, but hasagain allowed me to kind of go from
a Director, day to daymanager, up into these leadership
options.
So I love that. I mean,obviously at the end of the day,
you know, you identified thegaps and find found ways for you
to actually interject and behelpful, not to take over, but to
(18:36):
be hopeful. And I think that'sso important. So something that I,
but I, that I want to share isthat, I mean, obviously you're doing
this. So did you approach theCEO first about the path to VP or
like, how did thatconversation even start bubbling
up?
Yeah, it was probably a mix ofboth. But knowing myself is probably
(19:00):
something I asked for. And Iknow that is not always common, that
people are feel comfortableadvocating for themselves, but because
it is so easy for me to pointback and say, hey, this is what I
came in formally to do andthese are all the things that we've
since added and here are theresults that we've achieved. How
do we close that gap? What isthe next step for me? You know, my
(19:22):
ambition has always been tocome up to the C suite. So what are
those steps that I need totake to put myself at that next level?
What am I not doing today thatyou would expect to see a senior
director do or a VP do or youknow, now on the treasury for senior
Vice president. And so it'salways working about six months ahead
(19:43):
where you think you need tobe. But people will tell you, you
just have to ask the question.And I think to your point about,
you know, trying to find waysto be helpful, my job is always easier
when everyone else's job iseasier. And I think that's true of
me being a manager for mydirect reports, but also those individuals
around me. So just being ableto be a utility player, helping people
(20:05):
think through some of theseproblems that they might be, might
be hitting because they'restuck in their daily routine, it's
always helpful to have anoutside source come in and say, hey,
let me help you think throughthat. Because ultimately we're all
trying to build the companytogether. And I'm not here to take
credit, I'm not here to takeyour job. I'm just here to make your
life a little bit easier.Easier because again, at the end
of the day, I have to marketthis company. That is my core function
(20:28):
here. I have to market it. Ihave to recruit new people, new partners.
And so if all of the wheelsare turning together and we have
happy customers, happyemployees, that makes my job just
so much easier.
I really love that. I mean,basically it's again, key thing that
you just said too andlisteners, I think it's really important
(20:49):
is letting your ambition andyour personal vision be known and
vice versa. Like as a, as aleader, you know, you need to make
sure that you also know thepeople in your, that are on your
team, what their visionhappens to be so that you can help
(21:12):
them bubble up, you know, andif, because if they might, if they
are the person who is notspeaking or doesn't feel comfortable,
help them get comfortable withthat. That is so important. So as
a leader at the team, youknow, at the team, like, how are
you using these skills to helpyour team?
Yeah. So basically everyone onmy team is a new position because
(21:36):
as my team continues to growand the purview continues to grow,
we need to bring moreindividuals in to be able to handle
some of these things. And evenas my role sort of changes in terms
of, of focusing more onenterprise strategy and overall projects
versus day to day marketing,that frees up an opportunity for
me to find someone to take myjob. So essentially that's how I've
been building the ladder isevery rung that I take. My goal is
(21:59):
to bring my team up with meand find opportunities to give them
as much visibility aspossible. Have them be in places
where they can be successful,to take their credit for some of
these projects and make surethey're in front of the stakeholders
that matter. I never want tobe the singular point of failure.
I don't want everyone to haveto come through me. I want everyone
to be able to buildrelationships with the individuals
(22:21):
that matter at the company sothat every single person on my team
can be a point of contact forsomeone and we can come together
and figure out how to do this.But you know, I am not the top of
the pyramid. My job is to makeeveryone's job easier. And so I have,
I try to have very thoughtfulconversations at least quarterly,
outside of the hey, what areyou working on? What's the status
(22:43):
on this about? You know,what's your vision? Where do you
see yourself? How do I put youin positions that make you more successful?
What about my job? Do you wantto learn? Are there opportunities
for you to proxy or be in thismeeting? For me, my calendar is atrocious.
The less meetings I have toattend, the better. So find opportunities
for my team to represent methe department so they get that facetime,
(23:07):
they can build thoserelationships on their own.
I absolutely love thatsolicitors. I mean, this is so quintessential.
I mean, I feel like I sharethis all the time and it's something
Something that Alex said is,you know, for each rung that you
go up in the ladder to bringyour team with you, because eventually,
if you can bring people toreplace you, that's what we want.
(23:27):
Not that. Not that we wantsomeone to take your job, but if
you're going to move up, theonly way that you can move up is
to put somebody else in thatplace to fill that. To fill that
next. That spot. So it'sreally, really important. And getting
to know people, it's really,really key. You know, Alex, what
(23:48):
you're doing is, is as aleader and being part of this company
is really quite amazing. I'dlove for you to share a little bit,
though. You know, there'sempathy that has to come with it
and, and not to just bring itback to being that new mom. But,
like, how does that empathy,now that you also have, now that
you're a mom, it's been, youknow, 17 months old. Right. How has
(24:10):
that changed? Or has itchanged how your. How you. I guess
I could say empathize withpeople on your team?
Yeah, it. It definitely hasmade me softer. And I was joking.
You came back a lot softer.And I was like, well, that's kind
of what happens when you have,you know, a baby. But I think I always
(24:33):
had empathy. But it'sdefinitely magnified now because
I don't think individualswithout children fully understand
the mental load and just sortof the expectations that exist with
just keeping other people,like, going and alive in certain
cases. And we'd always had theflexibility, like I said, you know,
during COVID the companydecided to remain fully remote. So
(24:56):
we do have an office that willgo in for meetings and other things
like that. But we have a lotof flexibility built into our company,
which comes with a lot oftrust, and it works for our company
quite well. So a lot of us areable to be so successful, both personally
and professionally because wehave such an integrated work life
flex. And so, you know,someone needs to go to a doctor's
(25:16):
appointment or, you know, hassomething for their children. Like,
my expectation is your familycomes first. As long as you're getting
the work done, I don't care atwhat hour you do it. It just needs
to get done. But those arejust things that you need to communicate
that, hey, if I'm going to beoffline for a certain amount of time,
I just need to know that. SoI'm not like, chatting you wondering
where you are, Right? Yeah.The crazy thing was she's no longer.
(25:42):
She's since moved on foranother opportunity. But at the time
when I was going, you know,through my pregnancy and then, you
know, my maternity leave, thedeputy who I left in charge was in
a similar place in her life,and her and her husband were also
thinking about extending theirfamily. So, you know, having been
a little bit ahead of her, Isaid, man, your first trimester is
(26:03):
really, really rough. If youcould do anything, just promise me
that when I'm on maternityleave that you don't get pregnant.
Because it's like there aredays where I would wake up and just
like. Like, stare at the wallfor an hour. Because you're just.
You're so tired. You're justinsanely tired. And I was like, I
know even writing you the bestof plans for the weeks that I'm gone,
you know, there's going to bea lot more expectations on you, a
(26:25):
lot more eyes on you, and thisis an opportunity for you to shine,
because I'm no longer there.Like, this is your department for
the next eight weeks. So Isaid, whatever you do, if possible,
just try not to get pregnantwhile I'm out. Of course, she got
pregnant while I was out,because that's the way that the universe
works. But I think being ableto go through something like that
(26:47):
myself and then be able toimmediately turn around and sort
of give that gift and graceback to someone on my team who is
going through somethingexactly the same eight months later.
And, you know, everyone on myteam at this, at that point was a
mom or, you know, expectingmom. So I just think we've had to
learn to work around theschedules and work around the ebbs
(27:09):
and flows of what life lookslike, because you can have the best
intentions for the week. Andthen ultimately, my daughter will
get sick, and it just is whatit is, right? Yes. So work will always
be there. I think, you know,if you've got high performers, people
who will want to learn, are agood culture fit. You just have to
build that trust with yourteam that everyone has each other's
(27:32):
backs. If there's trulysomething you can't get to today
because you have anotherpriority, just communicate with it
and make sure that, you know,everyone can. We can continue to
move the ball, we can movepriorities, we can change things
around because you're. You'rea whole human. You don't just work.
You're not just a mom. You'reboth at the same time. And so we
have to treat people that way.
(27:52):
Yeah, that's so true. And Ilove what you just said. It's so
important. Trustingcommunication is absolutely, absolutely
important. So, Alex, I couldtalk to you forever. I think what
you are doing is great. I lovewhat you're sharing. So tell our
listeners how they can connectwith you and get more of your wisdom.
Yeah, absolutely. So you canfind me on LinkedIn. Alex Stevens,
(28:15):
love if you like pit bulls andpowerlifting. My Instagram is probably
for you. So not a professionalaccount, definitely my personal life.
But you can also catch up withme on my podcast, which is failing
pod.com.
That'S awesome. Well, I willhave. We will have links to those
in the show notes. So, Alex, Iso appreciate you being a guest and
(28:36):
listeners. I'm sure you'vegotten some great tips and wisdom
out of this. So please do methe amount, the best favor of which
is to hit subscribe and alsoto share it with your friends and
colleagues because I am surethat they will get some great wisdom
out of this as well. So I'mJacqueline Strominger, your host
and thank you all forlistening and thank you, Alex, for
being an amazing guest.
Thank you so much for having me.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
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.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.