Ashley Flowers' entry point into true-crime storytelling was not a show, a studio, or any kind of business plan. It was a volunteer form and a need to feel useful.
Flowers, who grew up as a "crime junkie" and says she inherited the obsession from her mother and grandmother, knew she wanted to do more than just consume true-crime content. As an adult, she wanted to contribute to the criminal investigations process. "I kept thinking to myself, how do I find a way to give back? If I'm taking from this community, how can I give back?" the founder and chief creative officer at Audiochuck told CNBC's Julia Boorstin on the latest episode of the "CNBC Changemakers and Power Players" podcast.
Her local Crime Stoppers in Indiana was the initial answer. "I started volunteering with my local Crime Stoppers," she said. "I eventually went on their board of directors."
Today, Audiochuck, which she founded in 2017, consistently ranks among the top true-crime podcast producers in the U.S.
Flowers was selected for the 2025 CNBC Changemakers list.
At first, her volunteer tasks were straightforward, like showing up at events and being active on the board. But it was those hours on the ground that led to unexpected connections, including with one local Indianapolis radio host that would change the course of her life. The radio host loved true-crime, and their conversation naturally drifted to cases she had worked on. At the same time, Crime Stoppers needed stronger visibility among younger audiences. As part of her role on the local chapter's board, Flowers proposed a strategic trade. She would come in every Monday with her research on a cold case and tell the story live, and she would do it for free as long as the radio station promoted Crime Stoppers. It wasn't about the airtime for herself, she says, but about the impact.
The segment took off, becoming one of the station's biggest hits. "And as the show grew, obviously the opportunities for involvement and advocacy and change grew with it, and we kind of evolved over time," Flowers said.
Her volunteer experience also revealed a deeper problem in the system, Flowers says, with evidence sitting in storage due to lack of public budget dollars for modern testing, and cases that could have otherwise moved forward being suspended. She launched Season of Justice, a cold case nonprofit often focused on funding scientific analysis of DNA evidence, in 2020.
Flowers says the one practical decision that has contributed the most to her success is caring about these stories, and as a result, feeling the need to contribute. Volunteering with Crime Stoppers gave her a starting point, a structure, and a set of values she still uses.
Audiochuck shows "Crime Junkie" and "The Deck" now contribute to a podcast network that has generated an estimated 3 billion downloads.
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