What if everything you built (the money, the status, the business success) left your heart completely empty?
In this episode, Dane Maxwell, serial entrepreneur and founder of The Foundation and Paperless Pipeline, shares his raw journey from "3D success" to discovering his sacred calling. After launching more than a dozen businesses and achieving what most would call the dream (money, freedom, recognition), Dane found himself with a hollow heart. Through a prophetic message in a church, answered prayers, and divine signs, he reclaimed the gift he'd buried 10 years earlier: his voice and music.
From training 2,000 students (including two billionaires) to singing improvised songs that help people take their most difficult actions, Dane's story reveals the difference between performing for validation and surrendering to become "a flute that the divine blows its breath through." He discusses spiritual hierarchy, the power of slowing down, and why being wanted by God matters more than being wanted by the world.
Dane reveals why music is sacred (not about fame or sex), how four signs in one week confirmed his calling, and what it means to approach life from the inside out instead of outside in.
[00:02:28] Meeting at Destiny Fest: A Three-Hour Conversation That Wouldn't End
Kevin and Dane met at Giovanni Marsico's Destiny Fest in Toronto
Sat at dinner table for hours after everyone else left
Dane performed an entirely improvised musical piece on stage for 1,400 people
Kevin's been connected to Gio for 14 years, watching the vision grow from a dinner conversation to nearly 2,000 attendees
[00:05:45] The Philosophy: Greatness in the Moment
Most people rehearse before presenting to 1,400 people
Dane chose to "dangle by a string," the string of present-moment creation
Believes the next evolution of events is not rehearsed but "moment oriented"
"I wanted to be present with people instead of rehearsed"
Magic happens when people are willing to risk unpreparedness
[00:07:54] Current Mission: Music for Difficult Actions
Creating songs that help people take the most difficult actions in their lives
Actions that would dramatically improve their lives in 90 days
Examples: losing weight, starting a business, going to the gym, writing a book, picking up a new hobby
Not telling people what to think, singing pure possibility and inspiration into their hearts
[00:13:40] The Problem: 3D Success with an Empty Heart
Had all the external markers of success: money, time freedom, status, women
"3D success," everything in the physical, three-dimensional world
But his heart felt completely empty
Realized he'd been "distracted by success" as a safe, socially acceptable way to avoid vulnerability
Business felt safe; true connection and music felt vulnerable
[00:15:06] How Men Are Stripped of Their Power
"You make them believe that the outside world can make them happy"
Make men believe worth is achievement, status, attention
The world is designed to engineer us to strip us of our power
Jesus had a donkey and white robe but was "beaming with power"
External trappings (beautiful women, cars, homes) are an illusion when coming from a dissociated place
[00:19:00] The Spiritual Hierarchy and Heart Pursuit
Jesus's heart field could reportedly be felt from two miles away (average is 15-50 feet)
Dane was raised Christian with teaching that "the heart is deceitful and wicked"
Felt he couldn't trust his own heart, so wrapped it in external things
Realized the teaching was "not being communicated or translated correctly"
Started approaching life inside out instead of outside in
[00:21:06] The Turning Point: Slowing Down and Hearing "Sing"
Heart kept feeling empty despite business success
Slowed down and heard the word "sing"
Initial resistance: "I'm a six-foot-one 42-year-old white male, I don't look like a singer"
Thought he was "such a broken man" that performing for others was the best he could do
Admits: "When I say I don't know what I'm doing, it's very honest"
[00:24:00] Teaching Wealth: The Karma of Money
Taught 2,000 students how to build wealth
Two billionaire students, one valued at $1 billion, one student exited for $500 million
Half of students did very well, other half probably shouldn't have bought the program
Friend Danielle LaPorte said people have their own "karma to sort out with money"
[00:24:30] The Church Moment: Getting His Gift Back
Age 31, attending Bethel Church (Holy Spirit-led church)
Pastor stops mid-worship, points directly at him: "Son, I just got a message from God"
"He didn't trust you with a gift, so he took it away. But he trusts you with it now, so he gave it back"
Dane's hand went to his throat, realized it was his singing voice
Had trained intensely for his first open mic at age 21
[00:28:20] Eleven Years of Fear and Teetering
11 years since that church moment
Released four albums, done shows, played for 1,400 people
But always "teetering around it"
Wasn't sure if he was authentically interested or just trying to impress people
Admitted fear: maybe doing it "to get laid" (common male conditioning around music)
[00:29:00] The Week of Signs: Music Is Sacred
Got hypnotherapy session to bring more freedom to singing
During hypnosis, saw subconscious belief: "I'm just trying to do this to get laid"
Sign #1: Massage therapist's hat said "MUSIC IS SACRED"
Sign #2: Someone wrote "I hope you're doing music"
Sign #3: On a business Zoom, someone private messaged "Hey, how's music?"
Sign #4: Woman he used to date said "Obviously you're supposed to be doing music"
[00:36:29] Rumi and Becoming a Flute for the Divine
Quotes Rumi: "I am but a flute that the Christ blows its breath through"
In spiritual hierarchy, highest level before God is Lord Christ
Jesus was "Christed," fully surrendered mediator for Lord Christ
Got off stage thinking "nobody got any flavor of me, I blew it"
Heard hysterical laughter (maybe angels): "You were just an instrument for love"
[00:39:40] The Mecca of Bliss
Bob Dylan and Michael Jordan have "an extra sense of something else"
That's spiritual connection coming through their work
"That's the mecca, the mecca of bliss"
Dissolve all sense of self, merge with Christ, allow God's love to flow through
[00:40:20] Approaching Life Inside Out
Doesn't have hot girlfriend, sexy car, amazing mansion anymore
"Am I way happier than when I had any of that stuff? Does any of me want any of that stuff? Maybe if it's aligned"
Not an ache because approaching life from inside out
If something feels "authentic to my core," he'll get it
Deep enough in his body now to not fool himself
[00:41:40] The Vocal Cord Miracle and Feeling Unwanted
Went to ear, nose, throat doctor after the church message
Doctor put camera down his throat, looked at vocal cords
"Dane, your vocal cords look pristine"
The four signs made him "feel so wanted by God"
Mother was concert-level flute player, listened to sophisticated music in the womb
[00:46:20] Holy Spirit Working Through Connection
Marcus Collier told Kevin: "This is the Holy Spirit working through you"
Making introductions and connections is being a vessel
When you allow it, you become more effective
They want more of that feeling
[00:49:36] Where to Find Dane and Final Message
Instagram: @musicbydane (Music by Dane)
Website: danemaxwell.com (book, businesses, principles)
Encourages Christians: stay where you are, it's close to God
Book recommendation: "The Great Work of Your Life"
"May anybody who loves God the way they do continue to love God the way they do"
KEY QUOTES
"How do you strip men of their power? You make them believe that the outside world can make them happy. You make them believe that worth is an achievement. That worth is status, that worth is attention." - Dane Maxwell
"What we're supposed to be doing with our life is evolving our consciousness to such a state that we can become a completely surrendered vessel for the divine love of God to flow through. That's the mecca, the mecca of bliss." - Dane Maxwell
"I've felt so unwanted on the earth and in my life, and just such a deep degree of unwantedness, which was a product of the conditioning of the nineties, which is you have to be a certain way to be wanted." - Dane Maxwell
"In Isaiah they say, and the Lord said, whom shall I send? And I said, here am I. Send me." - Isaiah (quoted by Dane)
CONNECT WITH DANE MAXWELL
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicbydane
🌐 Website: https://www.danemaxwell.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-maxwell-b7105b5b
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