Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Kristina Daduryan of Glendale

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kristina Daduryan. Check out our conversation below.

Kristina, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Intelligence and energy are essential, but integrity is non-negotiable.

You can teach skills. You can coach people to manage their energy. But you can’t build trust on anything except integrity. Without it, even the most talented person becomes a risk to the team, the brand, and the culture.

In my experience, people who act with integrity make better decisions when no one is watching, communicate honestly when something goes wrong, and protect the work rather than their ego. That creates long-term results, not just short-term wins.

So for me, intelligence opens the door, and energy moves the work forward — but integrity is what makes success sustainable.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Kristina Daduryan, a software quality assurance engineer with more than 15 years of experience in the tech industry and the founder of The Art of Quality Assurance. I hold a master’s degree in software technologies and a bachelor’s degree in informatics. Over the years, I’ve helped many people find their first job in IT — often simply through honest advice, guidance, and encouragement.

The industry today is very different from what it was a few years ago. After COVID and with the rapid rise of AI, many companies froze hiring or automated large parts of their workflows. Junior QA roles became rare, and starting a career from scratch — especially when coming from another field — is now more challenging than ever.

That reality slowly pushed me to rethink my own path.

Creativity has always been my way to reset, solve problems, and stay curious — something I shared in this magazine last year. Today, I bring that creativity into a new direction. I recently added to my education with a Social Media Marketing Certificate from Glendale Community College, and I’m now building my own creative agency called Growth Ratio.

The name reflects who I am — a mathematician at heart who deeply admires art. It combines the idea of the golden ratio with a measurable growth rate in marketing. Through Growth Ratio, I help brands tell meaningful stories, build trust through strong visuals, and grow with intention — not noise.

My QA background still shapes everything I do: preventing mistakes before they reach the audience, validating ideas with data, and turning structure into impact. I’ve moved from testing software to crafting digital stories — applying the same analytical discipline to a new creative field.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
What breaks bonds between people most often is not conflict itself but silence — not knowing the whole picture and not saying the things that feel difficult.

Many misunderstandings don’t come from bad intentions, but from people carrying unspoken feelings while being too busy, too stressed, or too focused on their own world to notice what someone else is going through. When empathy disappears, even small gaps in communication slowly turn into distance.

What restores those bonds is the exact opposite: curiosity, humility, and the courage to talk. Asking, listening without preparing a defence, and letting go of ego create space for genuine connection again. Less ego always makes relationships stronger — because it allows people to meet as humans, not as expectations.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
I changed my mind about what failure actually is.

I used to see failure as something to avoid at all costs — a sign that I wasn’t good enough or that I had taken a wrong turn. After going through moments that didn’t work out the way I had planned, I realised failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s feedback.

I still strive for high standards, but I no longer confuse perfection with progress. Wanting to do things well pushes me forward — but allowing myself to move before everything is flawless is what actually helps me grow.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest misconceptions in marketing today is that automation can replace real human connection. AI can make things faster and more efficient, but it can’t feel emotion, context, or meaning — which is why so much “perfect” content still feels empty.

As more brands turn to avatars and automated storytelling, people are starting to crave the opposite: real faces, minor imperfections, and honest stories.

Another quiet lie is that more content brings better results. In reality, clarity beats volume. Technology should amplify human insight, not replace it — and the brands that grow are the ones that use AI to move faster while still thinking deeper.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I’m creating something meaningful without rushing — when I’m fully present in the process instead of thinking about the result. It might be shaping an idea, designing, or building a digital story, or simply being with the people I love.

Those quiet moments, when nothing needs to be proven and nothing needs to be perfect, remind me why I do what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thegrowthratio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowthratio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinadaduryan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growthratio
• Other: https://kristinadaduryan.com/
  https://www.instagram.com/kristina.daduryan