Crash Out With Me.

Madison Butler
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Arts

Crash Out With Me is the podcast where we stop pretending we have it all together and start saying the quiet parts out loud. Every episode is a little unhinged, a little honest, and a lot about burnout, work, life, and the moments where everything falls apart just enough to figure out what actually matters.

  1. 2d ago

    How Workplace Power Shapes American Democracy

    Send us Fan Mail Your job is political. Even if you don't want it to be. And the people telling you to “keep politics out of the workplace” are often the same people benefiting from you not paying attention. This week on Crash Out With Me, I'm joined by multi-time startup founder, workplace culture researcher, and professional dot-connector Aparna Rae to talk about something that should make a whole lot more people uncomfortable: the relationship between corporate America, political power, and the slow erosion of American democracy. Because your workplace doesn't exist in a vacuum. The policies that determine where you work, how much you're paid, whether you can afford healthcare, and how much control you have over your own body are political decisions. And corporations have spent a lot of money making sure those decisions work in their favor. We're talking about return-to-office mandates that have more to do with real estate and control than collaboration. Corporate lobbying. Labor protections. The absurdity of telling people to stay out of politics while their employers actively participate in shaping the laws that govern their lives. And then there's hustle culture. Because it's awfully convenient to have a workforce so exhausted from trying to survive that nobody has the time, energy, or resources to question the systems making survival so difficult. We also get into the conversations corporate America would really prefer we didn't have. Racism in hiring. The disproportionate impact of workplace policies on Black women. The way “professionalism” has become a socially acceptable way to police people's identities. Reproductive rights, childcare, and the uniquely American experience of having your healthcare held hostage by your employment status. At what point do we stop treating these as separate workplace problems and start acknowledging that they're all connected? But this episode isn't just about identifying everything that's broken. Aparna and I talk about what we can actually do about it, from understanding your rights and setting boundaries to reclaiming your time, building community, and organizing. Because you don't have to become a full-time activist to participate in democracy. But you do have to recognize when your workplace is making it harder for you to participate at all. And maybe the most radical thing you can do this week is stop confusing being a good employee with being a good citizen. Listen, subscribe, and send this episode to the coworker who's been saying what everybody else is thinking. Your job is political. It's time we started acting like it. Follow Aparna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparnarae/ Support the show

  2. Oct 1

    The Internet Is A Funhouse Mirror, Not A Home

    Send us Fan Mail The internet can make you feel famous, furious, and insecure before you’ve even finished your coffee. We sit down with Sabrina Ramos, founder and creative director of Pop Spark Agency in New York City, to name what so many of us feel but rarely say out loud: the internet doesn’t love you back, and neither does a system built to monetize your attention. We get into the dopamine loop behind likes and engagement, why “educating” trolls often turns into unpaid emotional labor, and how social media becomes a funhouse mirror that flattens real life into a one dimensional performance. Sabrina shares what changed when she stepped back from posting and why rebuilding offline community through groups and events is more than a cute self care idea, it’s how relationships survive. Then we follow the thread into influencer marketing, ethical promotion, and consumer culture: buy now pay later, planned obsolescence, and the constant pressure to purchase your way to relief. From there, we take on instant reply expectations, remote work boundaries, and the hard truth about “human capital” workplaces that demand loyalty while offering none. Sabrina’s spiciest advice lands with a thud: if you’re overworked, under resourced, and everything depends on you, let it break. We close with a candid conversation on veganism, intersectional feminism, and systems of oppression, plus a realistic look at what vegan meals actually look like day to day. If any part of this hits close to home, share this with a friend, subscribe so you don’t miss the next crash out, and leave a review with the boundary you’re setting this week. Work with Sabrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrina-ramos-a1a47870/ Support the show

  3. Sep 16

    "Justice" for me, not for thee

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  4. Sep 9

    Talent Acquisition is Tired.

    Send us Fan Mail The hiring process is not just “broken” right now, it’s starting to feel openly hostile, and that’s the part we can’t ignore. I’m joined by Keirsten Greggs, better known as the Trap Recruiter, to talk about what’s happening inside talent acquisition and recruiting as the job market tilts toward employers. We get into why empathy disappears, why candidates get treated like placeholders, and why TA teams often end up fighting everyone at once: hiring managers, HR, compensation, vendors, leadership, and even each other. We also dig into the internet layer that’s making job search harder: fake job postings, recycled openings, and LinkedIn influencer culture that rewards the loudest take over the truest one. Keirsten breaks down how to vet job search advice, why “guaranteed placement” programs can be predatory, and why anyone claiming they can teach you how to beat the ATS is selling a fantasy. We ground it with real recruiting reality: the ATS is mostly a filing system, rejections at odd hours have boring explanations, and there is no straight line from application to offer. Then we go deeper into the human cost: cliquey TA communities, conference safety, tokenization, and the exhausting cycle of trend chasing from DEI to AI. Keirsten shares what it’s like to be a job seeker while pursuing TA leadership roles, including how an online brand can be treated as a “risk,” and what her dream role looks like across TA ops, storytelling with data, and customer education.  If you care about candidate experience, recruiting ethics, and how hiring actually works, this conversation will stick with you.  Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s job searching, and leave a review with the biggest hiring myth you want us to take down next. Follow Keirsten: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traprecruiter/ Support the show

  5. Aug 28

    We Exist To Belong

    Send us Fan Mail Belonging sounds simple until you try to live it. If you’ve ever walked into a room, a workplace, or even your own body and thought, “I don’t think I belong here,” this conversation puts language to that feeling without sugarcoating it. John joins me to unpack why so many of us treat acceptance like something we have to earn through achievement, polish, and overperformance, and what it costs when one small mistake can feel like a permanent label.  We draw a hard line between fitting in and true belonging. Fitting in is the exhausting work of becoming the version of you that a room will tolerate; belonging is what happens when you can be known and still be safe. We talk psychological safety at work, why representation and “a seat at the table” are not the same as being able to speak, disagree, and influence decisions, and why corporate culture can hit especially hard for people with marginalized identities. We also get real about the bigger systems underneath it all: capitalism, layoff culture, scarcity mindsets, and the limits of what any one person can fix alone.  Then we go wider. Belonging can be healthy, but it can also be weaponized. We explore cult dynamics, internet communities built on exclusion, online radicalization, and how social media creates dopamine loops that simulate connection while pushing us to sand ourselves down into something more “consumable.” We close with practical ways to lower the stakes, make better change decisions, and move toward people and places where you can put the mask down. If you want more honest conversations about belonging, identity, and work, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find us. follow john: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfgorman/ work with him!: https://saintorange.co/ Support the show

  6. Aug 6

    Hot Flashes, Cold Takes

    Send us Fan Mail Your body can change overnight and your calendar still expects you to be sharp, upbeat, and “professional.” Madison Butler is joined by HR consultant Talia Edmondson, founder of HRB Consulting, to talk about the perimenopause stack: irregular cycles, brain fog, insomnia, hot flashes, histamine reactions, and the mental health load of trying to act like nothing is happening. We get honest about how unprepared so many of us are, especially when women’s health was never discussed at home, and why saying it out loud is the first step to getting real support.  We also dig into the workplace side, because perimenopause, menopause, anemia, and hormonal shifts are not “personal problems” when they affect focus, memory, energy, and confidence at work. Talia shares how People teams and leaders can introduce practical, non-awkward conversations, build inclusive policies, and design employee benefits that meet actual needs. We cover feedback surveys, using data to win buy-in, health insurance realities like out-of-network specialists, and creative approaches to coverage when care isn’t accessible where employees live.  From there, we zoom out to the pressure cooker of diet culture, body image, GLP-1 ads, and social media, plus the very real spiral that happens when clothing sizes are inconsistent and your closet stops feeling safe. You’ll hear tactics for self-advocacy with clinicians (including asking them to document symptoms), thoughts on HRT myths and hormone replacement therapy, and a grounding question for tough days: “Are you good enough for today?” If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s white-knuckling it, and leave a review so more people can find it. Work with Talia: https://www.hrnbconsulting.com/ Connect with Talia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taliaedmundson/ Support the show

  7. Jul 31

    Being Loud Does Not Make You Right

    Send us Fan Mail The most dangerous voice at work isn’t the angriest one, it’s the confident one who’s wrong and impossible to correct. We sit down with Titara “Tara” Haynes, a People Operations leader and writer, to unpack how “loud and wrong” behavior spreads through workplaces, social media, and even the coaching and consulting world, then lands hardest on Black and brown professionals who can’t afford the fallout.  We talk about why the internet rewards certainty over accuracy, how rage bait and follower counts get mistaken for expertise, and what it looks like to opt out without spending your whole life arguing with brick walls. We also get practical about leadership accountability: the power of saying “I don’t know,” building rooms where smart people can challenge decisions, and why “soft skills” are actually the skills that keep teams healthy and businesses profitable.  Then we go straight at the grift: how to vet a coach, mentor, or consultant like you’re hiring them, what “show your work” should mean in a saturated market, and why NDAs are not an excuse for zero proof. We also name the patterns of performative allyship and weaponized tears, and how to protect your mental health when being wrong and loud becomes a career strategy for someone else.  If this hits home, share it with a friend who’s dealing with a loud-and-wrong boss, and subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation.  After you listen, will you leave a review and tell us the loudest wrong take you’ve heard lately? Connect with T.Tara Turk-Haynes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ttaraturkhaynes/ Work with her: https://www.equityactivations.com/ Support the show

  8. Jul 23

    Resumes That Get Interviews

    Send us Fan Mail Your resume isn’t a scrapbook of everything you’ve ever done. It’s a sales page for your work, and most of us are wasting prime space describing tasks instead of proving value.  I’m joined by Tajal (aka “caffeinated Tejal”), a longtime recruiting leader who’s reviewed hundreds of thousands of resumes, and she brings the kind of clarity that cuts through job-search panic fast. We get specific about what recruiters want to see: bullet points that show impact, not vague claims like “results-driven.” Tejal shares her CAFE framework (Cause, Action, Findings, Effect) so you can translate your skills into evidence that works for both humans and applicant tracking systems. We also call out the ATS misinformation machine, why keyword stuffing falls apart in human review, and why tricks like hidden white-font keywords are a dead end. Then we go where people usually won’t: bias and power. If you’ve ever been told to “dumb down” your title to look less intimidating, we explain why that advice is harmful and how to position senior experience with confidence. We also talk about the coaching grift, the red flags behind “guaranteed job placement,” and what to do if you can’t afford expensive resume services.  Tejal shares a free resource, getselected.app, plus guidance on LinkedIn profile optimization, employment gaps, and a five-minute approach to tailoring without burning out. If you’re tired of guessing, take these tools and rebuild your resume with proof.  Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s job searching, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s the one resume line you wish a recruiter would finally understand? Want to try Get Selected? Try it here. Connect with Tejal.  Support the show

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Crash Out With Me is the podcast where we stop pretending we have it all together and start saying the quiet parts out loud. Every episode is a little unhinged, a little honest, and a lot about burnout, work, life, and the moments where everything falls apart just enough to figure out what actually matters.

Information

  • Creator
    Madison Butler
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Crash Out With Me.
  • Show Website
    Crash Out With Me.