What happens when you realize the job you took is not for you, but you still want a career in tech?

In this episode, Limor talks with Mariam Chtchyan, former Chief Operations Officer at HackTech and now Associate Partner at Civitta, with over a decade of experience in project and delivery management across industries.

Mariam started as an English tutor, accidentally landed in a sales role in an IT company, and spent months trying to make it work before she admitted it was not the right path. Instead of quitting tech altogether, she pivoted into project management, learned the technical side from scratch, and eventually reached the C-suite.

They talk about:

• How to know when a role is not for you, and why that does not mean you failed

• Learning fast in a technical environment when you are not technical

• How to ask “dummy” questions without feeling small

• Growing from junior project manager to COO in about seven years

• What it means to build a tech career as a woman in Armenia, where some women still need their husband’s “permission” to work

• How Mariam is raising her son to feel and express emotions, not hide them

If you are pivoting into tech, feel behind, or are balancing cultural expectations with your ambition, this conversation will remind you that your path does not have to be linear to be powerful.

About Mariam:

Mariam Chtchyan is an operations and delivery leader in the tech industry, specializing in digital transformation. She has grown from an English tutor with no technical background into a C-level executive, serving as COO at a tech company and now helping organizations modernize and scale their digital capabilities. Mariam is passionate about challenging traditional gender norms, supporting women in tech, and sharing real stories of corporate evolution through her work and podcast, Digital Shifts – Corporate Evolution Tales.

Connect with Mariam:

Website: https://gohacktech.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariam-chtchyan-2b2b3b167/

YouTube (DigitalShifts podcast): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu14ZeTD6MmHebxSYirFsPA

Medium article: https://medium.com/@chtchyanmariam/husband-is-not-allowing-me-to-work-bff196e2ac36