Why I Refuse to Play By the Rules

When people start companies, there’s a script they’re expected to follow. Write the business plan a certain way. Present the pitch in a certain tone. Use the titles everyone recognizes. Play nice, play safe, play the game.

 

That’s never been me. I don't know how to be a yes-man. And I can’t play the corporate carefully filtered, socially "acceptable" speech game to save my life.

 

I don’t want to do something just because that’s “how it’s always been done.” I don’t want to nod along while the same old system tells us the dream of ownership is out of reach unless you already fit its mold. I don’t want to swallow my words or water down my voice just to sound acceptable.

 

And it’s not just the housing rules I refuse to play by. It’s the unspoken rules of being a founder.

 

I’ve never cracked open a stack of grant applications or investor playbooks — but I don’t have to. I know the expectation: polished, corporate, carefully packaged answers designed to tick boxes and sound the “right” way. But that’s not me.

 

I’m autistic, and that means I’m direct. I don’t dress things up. I don’t know how to beat around the bush. Sometimes my words come out with unusual tones, emphasis, or rhythm, but the meaning is still there. I’ve learned to take responsibility for the words I use — but I can't be responsible for how someone else interprets them.

 

So when I pitch, when I apply, when I write, I’ll use my own voice. Because if I have to trade authenticity to fit someone else’s rules, then Little Haven stops being what it was meant to be.

 

That’s why I refuse to play by the rules. Because those rules were never written for people like me — people who question orders, who won’t look the other way when something’s wrong, who don’t fit the mold the system was built to serve. If we keep playing the game the way it’s always been played, nothing will ever change.