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Dane Negrey

Brand Aid (asi/145193)

Do you ever see job titles and wonder, “how do you even get that position?” Certainly, you might think that about Dane Negrey, the “chief happiness officer” at Salt Lake City-based Brand Aid. It turns out to get the gig, it helps to be really, well, happy. And really good at making other people happy.

“I have a bartending background and my goal was to never let a client leave unhappy,” says Negrey, whose other official title is chief operating officer. “I’ve carried that virtue into the promo space and any other business endeavors.”

Sometimes “whatever it takes” is more than you expect, like when an emergency happened with a job right before the Sundance Film Festival. “I happened to be at the PPAI Expo when a supplier canceled an order on us a week before an in-hands date,” he says. “I was able to find an awards supplier headquartered in Salt Lake and willing to help us.”

So Negrey drove there the next day and drew up a design of the trays, which were cut out of acrylic. “I bought LED adhesive strips and power banks for the trays, put them together with my production team, and drove them to Park City the day before the event,” Negrey says. “We basically built the entire product from scratch in one day. It was intense, but they were happy.”

No doubt, it can take a lot of work to keep customers smiling, but it helps when you like what you do. “What I most enjoy is working with clients,” Negrey said. “I’m happy when I make my clients look good.”

Listen Up!

We asked Hot Listers what song they listen to as motivation for the day, a big meeting, or presentation. Here's what gets Dane fired up!