Chip Conley, a co-founder of Modern Elder Academy (MEA), joins us today in conversation with Drew. Chip is not a graduate of the Hoffman Process, but the work of MEA and the work of the Process both beautifully support growth and change within. ** (See below for the next community conversation with MEA and Hoffman.)

Content warning: This episode mentions suicide. Please use your discretion. If you or someone you know is suicidal, please reach out to The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

Listen in as Chip shares his life journey of learning on many levels. In mid-life, Chip’s world was rocked when he lost friends to suicide. He had his own suicidal thoughts. Realizing that the human changes we go through in mid-life are not supported by our culture, he began to consider what humans really need to navigate the twists and turns of life. Out of this, Modern Elder Academy was born.

In his exploration of mid-life, elderhood, and growing wisdom, Chip has come to see that the ultimate spirituality is one that “actually helps you to show up with the most humanity in this lifetime.” Our humanity can be deepened and ripened through life if we engage in an exploration of and conversation in an understanding of our own spiritual nature. As Chip wisely says, wisdom isn’t taught, it’s shared.

**While the vast majority of our guests are Process graduates, we occasionally host experts in other modalities of healing that align with the work of the Process.

Chip, along with Liza and Raz Ingrasci of the Hoffman Institute, hosted another live event – a community conversation with MEA and the Hoffman Institute. These conversations offer insights and powerful approaches for deepening our spirituality and humanity.

Please watch the replay here. 

Chip Conley is on a midlife mission. After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the U.S., and then as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Conley co-founded MEA (Modern Elder Academy) in January 2018 in Baja California, Mexico.

Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a ‘modern elder’ at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary transformation from a fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world’s first ‘midlife wisdom school’ and has a campus opening on a 2,600-acre regenerative horse ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico in early 2024.

Dedicated to reframing the concept of aging, MEA supports students to navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. A New York Times bestselling author, Conley’s 7th book “Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age” is about rebranding midlife to help people understand the upside of this often-misunderstood life stage and he was asked to give a 2023 TED talk on the “midlife chrysalis.”

Discover more about Chip here. Follow Chip on Instagram and LinkedIn; and follow MEA on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Three founders of Airbnb

Blake Mycoskie, MEA Faculty

Lynne Twist, MEA Faculty

Liza Ingrasci, CEO Hoffman Institute Foundation

Esalen Institute

Omega Institute

Blue Spirit, Costa Rica

Kripalu Yoga Center

Appreciative Inquiry

Quote:

Long Beach Polytechnic High School

Stanford University

AIDS Epidemic

Arthur Brooks: From Strength to Strength

Burning Man

Brian Chesky

ROI: Return on Investment —> Ripples of Impact

Prostate Cancer 

The Hero Archetype

Oprah interviews David Brooks

Dacher Keltner, Berkeley & MEA Faculty

Dacher Keltner’s Awe Walk (on YouTube with The OnBeing Project)

BJ Fogg, Stanford & MEA Faculty

Mantra

Wisdom Well, Chip’s Daily Blog

Esther Perel, Psychotherapist and Best-selling Author

Matthieu Ricard, French writer, photographer, translator and Buddhist Monk

Dan Buettner, Author, National Geographic Fellow, Founder of Blue Zones

Michael Franti, Musician & MEA Faculty

Pico Iyer, Writer & MEA faculty

Aaron Taylor, Football Player & MEA faculty

Essence (Your Essential Nature)

Imposter Syndrome

Growth Mindset

The Enneagram

US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, on the Epidemic of Loneliness

Robert Putnam, American Political Scientist

Emotional Insurance, Chip Conley