Disrupting Default

Hema Crockett and Michael Crockett

Disrupting Default exposes the invisible rulebook controlling your decisions and shows you how to break free. Think your choices are personal? Think again - from career paths to success definitions, you're sleepwalking through a life designed by others. Each episode reveals one massive lie we've been sold and provides ways to escape the system. No fluff, just raw truth about social conditioning and step-by-step breakdowns of real freedom. Warning: this will mess with your head and make you question everything. Ready to reclaim your life?

  1. Take the Compliment: Why We Can’t Just Say Thank You

    3d ago

    Take the Compliment: Why We Can’t Just Say Thank You

    Someone tells you "I love that on you" or "you did such a great job" - and your instinct is to deflect. "Oh, this old thing." "It was nothing, really." We've been taught that brushing off a compliment is modest. It's not. It's a quiet rejection of something someone just offered you - and most of us would never do that with an actual gift. In this episode, Hema and Mike unpack the deflection reflex: why we think minimizing praise is the polite response, the gendered patterns behind who deflects what, and what it actually costs us - both in our relationships and in how we talk to ourselves. You'll learn where this habit really comes from, what's happening underneath it, and how to start disrupting it with something deceptively simple: just saying thank you. Perfect for anyone who's ever brushed off a compliment, downplayed their own work, or felt weird just accepting praise without a "but."

    17 min
  2. Body Language is Gendered: What We Were Taught About Taking Up Space

    Jun 10

    Body Language is Gendered: What We Were Taught About Taking Up Space

    In Episode 3 of Season 2, Hema and Mike extend the genderconditioning thread into the physical: the way we’ve all been taught to exist in our bodies differently based on our gender.   Women are taught to shrink - sit with legs crossed, smileconstantly, avoid postures that might read as aggressive. Men are taught to expand - spread out, take up room, hold eye contact. Nobody said any of this explicitly. It was absorbed through watching, through being corrected, through learning what version of yourself made others most comfortable. And most of us have never questioned it.   This episode unpacks the real consequences: how postureaffects not just how others perceive you but how you perceive yourself, the gendered patterns in meeting rooms and workplace dynamics, and the specific double bind facing executive women - told to be more assertive, penalized when they are.   Learn practical, honest guidance for women reclaiming physicalspace, for executive women navigating impossible double standards, and for men recognizing when physical space becomes an unconscious dominance cue.   Perfect for anyone who has ever made themselves smaller tomake others comfortable - and anyone ready to stop.

    18 min
  3. Men Don't Talk About It: The Cost of Silence Nobody Chose

    May 27

    Men Don't Talk About It: The Cost of Silence Nobody Chose

    Following the alpha male myth dismantled in Episode 1, Episode2 of Disrupting Default Season 2 explores the human cost of actually living by that script. The alpha archetype doesn’t just shape behavior - it shapes what men are allowed to feel, say, and ask for. And the numbers tell the story: men die by suicide at nearly 4x the rate of women, are significantly less likely toseek mental health support, and report fewer close friendships than women, with the gap growing.   Hema and Mike trace the conditioning from childhood - the“don’t cry,” “man up,” “don’t be sensitive” messages that become so automatic they’re invisible - through adult male friendships built on activity rather than conversation.   The disruption section is practical and nuanced: what actuallyhelps men access emotional honesty, what the people around men can do differently, and what this conversation is not about. Not forced vulnerability, not pathologizing stoicism. Just making sure men actually have a choice.   Perfect for men who’ve been told to handle it alone, partnersand friends who want to show up differently, and anyone who has watched someone they care about carry something they didn’t have to carry alone.

    22 min
  4. The Alpha Male Myth: Why the Archetype We Were Sold Was Never Real

    May 13

    The Alpha Male Myth: Why the Archetype We Were Sold Was Never Real

    In the Season 2 premiere of Disrupting Default, Hema and Miketake on one of modern culture’s most persistent archetypes: the alpha male. Dominant, aggressive, never asking for help, volume as authority - it’s a blueprint millions have been handed as the definition of strength. The problem? It was built on a scientific mistake the original researcher spent decades trying to correct.   This episode traces the alpha myth from its origins - a 1970sstudy of wolves in captivity that fundamentally misread how wolf packs actually work - to the billion-dollar self-help industry that monetized the error before anyone could walk it back. We unpack what the alpha archetype is actually describing, who profits from keeping it alive, and what real leadership lookslike in wolf packs and in boardrooms.   We also go where this conversation rarely goes: the impact onwomen. Executive women are routinely told to adopt alpha characteristics to be taken seriously - and then penalized for the exact same behaviors that are rewarded in men. That’s not a personal failing. That’s a double bind built on a myth that was wrong from the start.   Perfect for anyone who’s been told to “be more alpha,” anyonenavigating leadership in a culture that rewards dominance, and anyone ready to stop measuring themselves against a fiction.

    19 min
  5. Season 2 Trailer

    Season 2 Trailer

    Season 2 Trailer

    The defaults you never questioned? We're going there. Season 2 drops May 13th.

    2 min
  6. Diet Coke Logic: Why We Negotiate With Ourselves Over Food

    Apr 15

    Diet Coke Logic: Why We Negotiate With Ourselves Over Food

    In this Season 1 finale of Disrupting Default, we expose the absurd mental loop we've created where nothing is just food anymore – it's a moral decision that requires a calculator. We explore the constant negotiation: ordering a burger and fries with a Diet Coke like the diet soda somehow cancels out the 2,000 calories. "I'll eat a salad for dinner so I can have dessert." "I had dessert today, so I'll run extra miles tomorrow." "I ate healthy all week, so I can have a cheat day." If any of that sounds familiar, you're not alone. We've turned food into a constant negotiation, treating our bodies like bank accounts where we deposit salads and withdraw desserts. Where Diet Coke is the loophole that makes the burger "better." Where we pre-compensate and post-compensate like our hunger requires permission. This episode traces our food negotiation back to the mental gymnastics we all do. The Diet Coke delusion: it's not about actual health, it's about feeling like we made ONE better choice, a gesture toward "being good," permission to have the meal we've already decided is "bad." The compensation equation: constant mental math where every meal is a transaction (salad for lunch = pasta for dinner, dessert today = skip breakfast tomorrow), and you're too busy tracking and adjusting to enjoy anything. "Earning" your food: we've moralized eating where "I was good" means salad and "I was bad" means pizza, like you have to earn dessert through workouts, like hunger isn't reason enough to eat. Tune in to discover the "cheat day" mentality (if you're cheating, who are you betraying?), the exhausting cycle it creates (restrict → cheat → guilt → restrict harder), and what it looks like to just... eat. Imagine: hungry? Eat. Want dessert? Have it. No pre-compensation, no post-compensation, no math. Spoiler alert: food is fuel, pleasure, culture, and connection – but it's not a moral test. A salad doesn't buy you dessert rights. Your body isn't an Excel spreadsheet. Perfect for anyone ordering Diet Coke with ridiculous meals, eating salads to earn dessert, doing extra workouts to burn off cookies, treating food as good/bad, exhausted from constant calculation, or ready to stop apologizing to themselves for eating.

    16 min
  7. Sorry Not Sorry: Why We Apologize for Existing

    Apr 1

    Sorry Not Sorry: Why We Apologize for Existing

    In this episode of Disrupting Default, we expose "sorry" for what it's become: a verbal tic we use to make ourselves smaller, not an actual expression of remorse or accountability. We explore how constantly we say sorry without thinking: "Sorry, can I ask you a question?" "Sorry, just passing through." "Sorry to bother you, but..." "Sorry for the late response" when you responded in 20 minutes. If you're like most people – especially women – you're apologizing constantly. For taking up space, asking questions, existing in shared spaces, having needs. But what are you actually apologizing for? When did "sorry" stop meaning "I did something wrong" and start meaning "please don't be mad at me for being here"? This episode traces the sorry reflex back to conditioning: we've been taught to apologize, smooth things over, make ourselves smaller so others feel comfortable. "Sorry" has become social lubrication, not accountability. It's pre-emptive management of other people's potential displeasure. For women especially, this is everywhere – we apologize for speaking up in meetings, sending emails, having opinions. We've been taught that taking up space requires an apology, that our presence is an inconvenience by default. Tune in to discover sorry as reflex not apology (none of these situations require apology – you're not bothering anyone, you have a right to exist), the gendered apology gap (women apologize significantly more, men apologize when they believe they actually did something wrong, women apologize preemptively), what we're really saying ("please don't be mad," managing reactions, afraid of conflict), and how to disrupt this: count how many times you say it, catch yourself before you say it, replace it with something that doesn't diminish you, reclaim your space. Spoiler alert: you're not sorry – you're just conditioned to act like your presence is an inconvenience. Perfect for anyone saying sorry without thinking, starting contributions with apologies, softening everything to make others comfortable, undermining themselves before they start, teaching people their presence is negotiable, or those ready to stop apologizing for existing.

    15 min
  8. Morning on Autopilot: Why We Start Every Day Without Thinking

    Mar 18

    Morning on Autopilot: Why We Start Every Day Without Thinking

    In this episode of Disrupting Default, we expose how most of us are running our mornings on complete autopilot – blindly following habits we never chose while wondering why we feel scattered all day. We explore the same sequence everyone does: alarm goes off, hit snooze multiple times, reach for phone, check email before you've even sat up, scroll Instagram while still in bed, stumble to coffee on autopilot, shower in the exact same order, rush out the door. Repeat tomorrow. And the day after. Like Groundhog Day. We've been told how you start your day matters, and that's actually true – it sets your tone, mindset, and energy. But despite knowing this, we're not starting with intention. We're just reacting. This episode traces our morning autopilot back to the billionaire routine trap: we read "5 habits of successful people" and think if we just copy the steps, we'll get their results. We wake up at 5am even though we're night people. We do cold showers because some entrepreneur swears by them. We adopt meditation and journaling because that's what "successful people" do. But their morning works for THEIR life, not yours. A billionaire CEO has help, flexibility, and resources you don't have. We're chasing the routine, not the intention. They chose their morning – you're just copying yours. Tune in to discover what we actually do on autopilot (first input is other people's emails, first thoughts aren't even yours, starting reactive instead of intentional), why there's a difference between mindless routine and intentional living, and what disruption looks like: recognizing autopilot, stopping the copying, asking what YOU need, making one intentional choice. Spoiler alert: how you start your day matters, but only if you're starting it intentionally – not sleepwalking through someone else's routine. Perfect for anyone following routines they read about, hitting snooze and immediately feeling behind, checking phone before consciousness, doing the same things every morning from a different season of life, or ready to design a morning that actually works for them.

    20 min
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About

Disrupting Default exposes the invisible rulebook controlling your decisions and shows you how to break free. Think your choices are personal? Think again - from career paths to success definitions, you're sleepwalking through a life designed by others. Each episode reveals one massive lie we've been sold and provides ways to escape the system. No fluff, just raw truth about social conditioning and step-by-step breakdowns of real freedom. Warning: this will mess with your head and make you question everything. Ready to reclaim your life?

Information

  • Creator
    Hema Crockett and Michael Crockett
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Hema Crockett and Michael Crockett
  • Show Website
    Disrupting Default