Dane Maxwell: “How you treat your wife is how you treat your business”

Dane Maxwell, the founder of Zannee, lives his life according to three essential priorities that he strives toward in his personal life, relationships and his business: playfulness, healing and support. Maxwell found these guiding forces in an unlikely place: Burning Man, where he met his business mentor, Eben Pagan. Maxwell calls Pagan an “alchemist” who…

During his Thinc Iowa talk, Dane Maxwell shared the priorities that drive him personally and professionally 

Dane Maxwell, the founder of Zannee, lives his life according to three essential priorities that he strives toward in his personal life, relationships and his business: playfulness, healing and support.

Maxwell found these guiding forces in an unlikely place: Burning Man, where he met his business mentor, Eben Pagan. Maxwell calls Pagan an “alchemist” who can make money out of thin air. Pagan is also a dating guru, and Maxwell, who was single at the time, asked Pagan how to meet girls at Burning Man.

Pagan asked Maxwell why he wanted to pick up women, and Maxwell said he wanted to meet his wife. Pagan then gave Maxwell a series of assignments to think about the qualities he wanted in his wife and what he wanted to be the most important quality of their relationship. His first answer? Play. “To play in this minute — in this moment and every day for the rest of their lives,” Maxwell recalled. “And the next two qualities that came up were healing and support.

“And the next thing Eben told me to do, he said, ‘OK, you’ve got playful, healing and support. Now write down three sentences why they’re important personally, why they’re important in relationships and why they’re important in business. And then he told me to give speeches on them. So I’m doing exactly what he told me to do.”

Here’s what Maxwell told the Thinc Iowa 2012 crowd today at The Temple for Performing Arts about his personal and professional goals.

Live your goals in your personal life

The same qualities that Maxwell values in a partner are, understandably, qualities he values in his own life. He embodies these every day in his personality and his communities.

“Playful is important to me personally because it unlocks the best parts of my personality when I interact with joy,” Maxwell said. “Healing is important to me personally because it’s a soft, vulnerable space for me to interact with generosity.

“Support is important because it’s the reason I’m on this planet — to support people. It’s the reason for communities and it creates the foundation for explosive growth.”

Live your goals in your relationships

“Playful is important because it brings out the best qualities in that person and allows them to shine. Think about the last time you were totally playful, your mind was shut off, and you could just be you,” Maxwell said. “It’s amazing.

“Healing is important because it stops the past suffering and ends the cycle of recreating our hurts for our own future children — healing is probably one of the most important things we can use as humans with each other. And I use this stuff in business, too.

“Support is important because it creates the ability to surrender to each other. I wonder how many people out there really truly feel supported by their partner. When you can trust in someone’s support, your potential expands.”

Live your goals in your business

Most importantly, Maxwell emphasizes that the qualities that fuel his personal life are also fueling his business life. He says he’s finally found his passion: becoming the best teacher he can be through The Foundation, where thousands of people are begging to come work with him. And the reason, he says, is because he prioritizes his most valued qualities.

“Playful is magic because this fun attracts more profit, more customers and kick-ass employees. It also shifts your mind into a more creative place,” Maxwell says. “Healing is important for conflicts in customer and employee relationships. When you heal, it creates an energy field of loyalty and love. Support is important because it’s how you transform customers into raving lunatics for your vision — support turns one customer into ten. And support is important for employees because when they feel supported and trusted, they soar.”

 

Credits: Photos by Anna Jones and Phillip Harder.


Thinc Iowa is a premiere event produced by Silicon Prairie News. For live video of Thinc Iowa 2012, tune in at spne.ws/live from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Oct. 10 and 11. For more on Thinc Iowa, check out the conference on Twitter and Facebook

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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