It’s my pleasure to introduce Rebecca Pan—serial entrepreneur, maverick extraordinaire, and dear friend. Known as Bex to those close to her, she grew up in Philadelphia, honed her skills in New York City, and has launched one venture after the next in San Francisco.
Bex is the visionary power behind Trellis, a coworking space and prominent community of climate resilience founders, AI companies, nonprofits, changemakers, and entrepreneurs. In addition to Trellis, Bex leads ActGreen, an AI-powered fundraising platform for environmental nonprofits that aims to 10x their impact and donor base.
Bex is a dynamic leader who balances grit, curiosity, and resilience—and always seems to have a ready smile. Her philosophy? Do the most good while having the best time. This guiding mantra infuses everything she touches with both purpose and a joyful sense of adventure.
Bex has taken all three of my Quantum Surfing courses, and she comments on them here. We’ve had a fantastic time surfing quantum waves together and breaking through to new trajectories of awesomeness. Life is always more fun when you have great friends for the journey.
What makes you happy?
Spending time with family playing Progressive Rummy, hosting dinner parties with 8–12 friends, enjoying the gorgeous view from my kitchen and bedroom windows, and goofing around with my funny, silly, brilliant son, Sawyer.
Have there been pivotal experiences that shaped your entrepreneurial and maverick mindset?
Taking the Quantum Surfing curriculum, which I think of as transformational philosophy, helped shape my outlook enormously. These lessons took me from being a helluva paddler to an accomplished surfer—metaphorically speaking, of course. The two times I tried real surfing, my board hit me in the head!
How has luck, serendipity, or joyful coincidences shaped your journey?
I’ve learned that there is luck everywhere if you know how to look for it. That realization was huge. Even something as terrible as the pandemic had its lucky moments. It gave me time to write my grandmother’s memoir before it was too late, and we renegotiated our lease with our landlord, turning a win/lose situation into a win/win.
How have you faced and tackled challenges along your journey?
There have been too many challenges and setbacks to recount or even remember. But each one had something lucky in it, and something to teach me. Spending time on fun, self-care, gratitude, and pursuing hobbies and interests allows me to weather the storms with grace and build resilience and grit.
What strategies do you use to assess risks and opportunities?
I ask myself, “How does it feel in my body?” If I’m more than 50% excited and less than 50% terrified, it’s probably worth going for.
What makes you smile and lights your soul on fire?
Knowing I did something that made a difference, whether for a person or a project.
How do you choose where to place your focus and attention?
My mantra of do the most good while having the best time helps create a balance. If I focus only on doing good, it leads to burnout. If I focus only on having fun, I lack purpose and feel guilty or anxious. This mantra helps me find where my attention and energy should go.
How important is authenticity in your life?
Authenticity is so important! I talk a lot about imposter syndrome and the process of peeling back layers until I’m just being the real me. It’s a practice, because I also want people to like me, respect me, and value me—and playing to the crowd can be tempting. But I feel much better after a conversation when I’ve been authentic, even if that means admitting when I don’t know something.
What role does intuition play for you?
Intuition guides me, but I often have to go looking for it—it can be elusive. That’s where the Automatic Writing technique we learned in Quantum Surfing comes in. It’s how I reach my intuition, and it hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Sometimes I forget to check in with my inner self and make decisions without it, but more and more I remember to sink into my unconscious and follow my intuition.
What is exciting you right now?
Right now, I’m focused on finding gaps in climate resilience efforts and figuring out how to leverage my 18,000 square feet of beautiful coworking and event space to help fill those gaps.
What hopes do you have for humanity and our world?
I hope we can all realize that, as humans, we’re doing better than ever before—less war, fewer deaths, longer lives, and a higher quality of existence. We have everything we need. It’s time to stop striving for more stuff and start pouring our energy into the circular economies that can restore our planet. The Earth has taken care of us for thousands of years, and we’ve extracted enough. Now, it’s our turn to take care of it.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to embrace their inner maverick?
Play.
Are there any resources that have been particularly influential in your journey?
Hunt, Gather, Parent was the most influential parenting book I ever read. The E-Myth was the most influential business book. And you really can’t have too much therapy or coaching.
In everything she does, Bex embodies the spirit of a maverick—unafraid to challenge conventions, driven by purpose, and always in pursuit of a life filled with meaning and joy. If you’re ever in San Francisco, stop by Trellis, her coworking space, and see how Bex is making a difference in climate resilience while having the best time doing it!
CONNECT WITH REBECCA PAN: LinkedIn, Trellis Coworking + Events