​​𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

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It started in 1999 when I was an 18-year-old college kid assigned to tutor adults — people with jobs, families, and real lives. I quickly learned that I couldn't just show up and teach. I had to understand where they were coming from, what they needed, and how they learned before I could break through the barriers and help them succeed. That was my first lesson in meeting people where they are.

I spent the next 24 years in audiovisual design and installation, and that's where the lesson deepened. I learned that people don't care as 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 about the technology — they care 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 about the experience it creates. I designed a control interface that didn't work for a client, and instead of living with it, we worked through what they actually needed. I redesigned it, and they were thrilled. I worked with a difficult House of Worship client and discovered that if I gave them an experience-level intro that felt over-the-top from the start, they never asked for more — they were already there. The technology was never the point. The experience was.

After years of travel and stress, I was ready to exit my career but didn't know how. I started blogging about life and work, and that's how My Default Life began. When I finally resigned, I thought: 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳. That's what I could help others do. Then I read Nine Lies About Work and realized I could help not just individuals, but teams and organizations design experiences that actually work — experiences that drive loyalty, retention, and real outcomes.