Meet Dane Howard

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dane Howard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dane, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I’d have to say that optimism, for me, comes from gratitude. When you set the table with gratitude, it rewires your brain to see the positive opportunities in a problem you are solving. Gratitude helps set the context for possibility and a hypothetical future. I’ve never been one to watch local news or be pulled down by someone else’s negativity. Design is at the heart of what I’ve learned to do professionally, and there is a glorious way forward when optimism is combined with possibilities. I love thinking about hypothetical futures. It makes sense to me that you need optimism to do that.

There is a great way to start brainstormable questions. “How might we” is a great way to start a question because it is inclusive, it teases out the possibility, and offers an openness that allows for divergent thinking to happen before convergent thinking takes over.

I’ve been a designer and a creator most of my life, and so I’m grateful for optimism. Design teaches you to be a problem solver. Without optimism it’s difficult to find ways forward. Optimism is so much easier to build upon than to pick apart negativity. Blind optimism can be close cousins to being naïve, which I try to avoid. I’m constantly curious. I look to nature, biology, science, technology and art to find optimism, because creativity, in my opinion, has to rely on finding a path forward.

Creativity has to be a foundation of possibility. Optimism has to sit in the tension for solving problems, regardless of their size. Optimism keeps me asking questions and trying things. It’s like an engine that helps propel me forward.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have a professional three-legged stool that I balance between design leadership, executive coaching, and a creative artist studio. In my current season of life, the balance between those three are critical to help me find my center for solving problems through Design, Coaching and helping others, and embarking on artistic collaborations and creations.

I started Dane Howard Studio as a re-emerging artist who has found my way back to continue a journey of creativity, design, and travel. I started painting in 1995, and am now returning to it in a more serious way.

I got distracted. Life happens. I’m now more diverse and interesting. My background as a husband, father, designer, executive advisor, and leader has shaped my perspective. I found myself returning to pursue my art and studio with more vigor and focus. I’m not (yet) ready to leave a corporate life as a product design executive, but I enjoy the balance I find between tech and art. I like the tension and the variance of both mediums and the speed by which they evolve. I live and work in my modern farmhouse in Tennessee. It is my creative haven and workspace, where I bring ideas to life. Some of those ideas find their way here.

My previous experiences leading globally diverse teams and building products, services, and brands have taught me the importance of storytelling in connecting people and creating a shared purpose. I have worked with top industry leaders and brands such as Microsoft, BMW, and Amazon, and have received recognition for my design and marketing efforts. It’s a peculiar foundation for a re-emerging artist.
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I am a photographer, author, speaker, and executive advisor. My book, The Future of Memories, explores the role of photography and storytelling to help shape our lives and our growing families. I am a proud advisor to Black Players for Change, a non-profit organization that promotes equality for all. I am also an advisor to standbeautiful.me, a movement that brings awareness to anti-bullying and promotes self-acceptance and acceptance of others.
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I am driven by my passion for art and the power it holds to transform perspective, and culture and inspire change. I am eager to continue this path and share my story with others.

My recent work has been inspired by a new series of paintings about the ever-changing Tennessee Sky. Since I first set foot in Tennessee in 2020, the sky has captivated me—vast, mercurial, almost theatrical in its shifting tones. But it wasn’t until I made this place my home in 2022 that I began to understand the deeper conversation between the landscape and the seasons. The land here isn’t static; it breathes, moves, transforms. Each turn of the weather, every subtle change in light, feels like a new chapter in an unfolding story. This series aims to capture those moments, where the sky and earth meet in a delicate, fleeting dialogue—where Tennessee speaks not just to the eye, but to my soul.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I will start with three skills and areas of knowledge.

The first area of knowledge is around developing strong serial thinking. This is the practice of organizing thoughts into context. It has become a foundation for how I think and is in every aspect of storytelling. Serial thinking hard wires your brain for stories, that can be told and retold in any aspect of your life.

The second skill or area of knowledge is through observation and curiosity. As a designer, I have to be empathetic and observe how things work. That curiosity helps me reverse engineer processes in such a way that allows me to solve problems. Some people think you are born with curiosity, but I think it is a learned skill. When you amplify your curiosity you begin to change your perspective on how to solve problems and jump across topics and categories even if they are distant from each other.

The third skill I’ve learned is visual problem-solving. Some might call this visualization, or the ability to visualize through the arts. I tenaciously educated myself in photography, drawing, 3-D modeling and animation, painting and illustration, user interface design, sculpture, and architecture. I studied the mediums and their processes, and I experimented and combined them in new ways. Visualizing problems has been a superpower for me, especially when I problem-solve with curiosity and storytelling.

Today, I try to use these three important skills and overlap them in ways that allow me to use visual storytelling. I use this for my design work, my coaching and advisory work, and through my studio. I try to use these three important skills and mash them up in ways that allow me to explore topics I’m curious to explore. I’ve recently launched a new narrative series. ‘Implausible Creatures’ is a rich media, immersive exhibit focused on engaging, educating, and entertaining audiences of all ages. Visitors will be transported into imaginative and creative storytelling, where the impossible becomes possible. The exhibit is imagined to feature large portraits of fantastical creatures and an audio tour of their stories, backgrounds, and impact on our world. Each of these stories will invite an educational component to bring awareness to issues affecting the animals and the world they/we live in.

If I were to offer advice to someone interested in a similar journey, I would start with serial thinking and storytelling. I think it’s a foundational skill you can always get better at, and you’ll never master. Storytelling and serial thinking provide a foundation for communicating more effectively, regardless of your function or medium.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m looking for collaborators on a few dimensions. For my Studio work, I’m looking for Interior and environment designers. I’ve got some extraordinary projects that lend to education and learning, so I’m looking for some specialists who know how to distribute curriculum throughout the education system to promote creative learning.

In my coaching and advisory work, I specialize in transitions throughout a professional career. I often work with founders and product executives who are working through large transitions in their businesses and lives.

Finally, in my design leadership work, I’m collaborating with other leaders on topics that help build and maintain strong cultures of creativity, design, and research. I’m always looking for talented leaders who are willing to exchange operational mechanisms that help grow and scale world-class design teams.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danehoward-studio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danehoward_studio/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danehoward/
• Other: https://danehoward.com/