Let Your Passion Drive Your Business 101127

It has often been said, “If you do what you love to do, you will never work another day in your life.”  While this may not be completely true, the point is well taken, if you are going to spend upwards of 25 – 30% of your entire week doing something, shouldn’t you make sure it is something you enjoy?

Max Maxwell of Maxwell driving school has done just that.  Parlaying a career as a professional stuntman, Max spends the bulk of his time with one thought – how to keep kids safe on the road.  Taking the skills he learned as a stuntman and understanding the need for an increase in safe driving, Max opened Maxwell Driving School. 

I recently caught up with Max and discovered at least a portion of what drives him to do what he does.  Max explained to me that every year approximately 42,000 people die from vehicle related accidents.  Putting that into perspective, he framed it this way, “That’s like a fully loaded Jet Liner crashing every 2 weeks and killing all aboard.  If that was happening in the aviation industry, there would certainly be an outcry from the public.”  Sitting back in my chair, I realized how right he was.

After asking him what his goal was, he put it as simple as one can, “I want to keep teenagers safe.”  It’s not sexy, it’s not elaborate, but it is certainly sobering as a parent of two teenagers and two pre-teens to hear someone else express a concern for all teenagers in such a way.  In fact, Max not only cares and has a passion, he has put his money where his mouth is…he recently purchased a “Skid Car” that allows him the ability to safely put drivers in a simulated environment of losing control to teach them how to get out of this.  When I asked him about his philosophy of getting out of a skid, he was quite candid, “Don’t get into it in the first place.”  He went on to reinforce his primary goal for his students, SAFE DRIVING SKILLS.  The skid car is designed to teach his students how to handle an unwanted event if it occurs but his preference is for them to never have to use those skills.

While Max does not seem to be opposed to “Driver Education”, he points out clearly that driver education is just not enough.  Since no one ever learned to throw a baseball, catch a football or kick a soccer ball in a classroom, how can you develop the necessary muscle memory, techniques and practice reactionary responses in a classroom?  Well, you can at Maxwell Driving School, with four indoor driving simulators, he has the ability to allow the student to practice hands on skills before they ever get behind the wheel of a vehicle.  An immobile simulator is much safer than a 2,000-pound car to provide the first level of skills assessment – there’s no light pole to back into in the classroom.

You can contact Max Maxwell @

Maxwell Driving School

7777 Walnut Grove Road

Suite 49

Memphis, TN 38120-2121

(901) 755-6777

Until next time…