Chip Conley
Hospitality entrepreneur, author, and wisdom educator. Founder and former CEO of Joie de Vivre, which grew to 52 hotels and became the second-largest boutique hotel chain in the US before being sold during the Great Recession. Personally recruited by Brian Chesky to join Airbnb in 2012 aged 52 as head of global hospitality and strategy — known internally as the Modern Elder. Founded the Modern Elder Academy (MEA, formerly Modern Elder Academy), the world’s first midlife wisdom school, with campuses in Baja and Santa Fe; 7,000+ graduates from 60 countries. Author of Peak, Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, Emotional Equations (NYT bestseller), and Learning to Love Midlife, among others. Founding board member of Burning Man. Former board member of Esalen Institute.