Amevida Profile: Chip Conley
Chip Conley is an entrepreneur, hospitality trailblazer, and best-selling author of seven books on life, business, spirituality, and more. His professional accomplishments include revolutionizing the boutique hotel industry and helping Airbnb become the global brand it is today.
In 2018, Conley took on another challenge - changing the conversation around aging. He founded the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) with the goal of reframing midlife and beyond as a time of potential, not limits. MEA and its teachings emphasize that, for older adults, this phase of life is one in which there is immense scope for growth as well as an opportunity to redefine one’s own purpose.
Early Life
Conley’s career began in a way that is common to many great business leaders - he spotted a market opportunity that others had either disregarded or didn’t notice at all. At the age of just 26, starting with a single San Francisco motel, Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality and grew it to become the second-largest boutique hotel brand in the United States. The company, later acquired by Hyatt Hotels, was built around the idea that aesthetics are connected to the mind, heart and spirit, so each property in the firm’s portfolio should thoughtfully reflect the culture and identity of its surroundings in order to deliver an authentic experience for guests.
After nearly a quarter of a century leading the company, Conley pivoted to a related but somewhat unexpected new role. At age 52, he was invited to join Airbnb as Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy. While not possessing a deep background in technology, the appointment made sense given Conley’s entrepreneurial streak and enthusiasm for disruption. In this role, he found himself (like many older professionals) working in a startup environment where the average employee was much, much more junior in both age and experience.
Diving into this new world, he took on the role of both teacher and student. Conley shared with the company's young leaders the knowledge and wisdom he had acquired over decades in the industry, while simultaneously learning the language, sensibilities, and structure of the digital space. This two-way process of education informed Conley’s next step and became the foundation for arguably his most influential work to date.
Founding MEA
Conley's experience at Airbnb inspired his concept of the "Modern Elder," a person who is both learner and mentor, and who recognizes that wisdom and curiosity are not just compatible, but actually reinforce one another to create a fuller understanding of the world. He argues that the traditional, linear narrative around aging no longer applies given the ways in which people want to live their lives today. Instead, he advocates for a new approach that celebrates the valuable experience of older professionals while embracing their potential for continued personal and professional excellence.
This is Conley’s conception of the "Wisdom Worker," someone who brings not just knowledge but a lifetime of relationship building, emotional acuity, and fully-rounded thinking to the workplace. His work challenges age bias by highlighting the immense value of intergenerational collaboration, showing how a symbiotic relationship between an elder's wisdom and a younger person's digital fluency can accelerate innovation.
To put this philosophy into practice, Conley founded the Modern Elder Academy, the world's first midlife wisdom school. With campuses in Baja California, Mexico and Santa Fe, NM, the MEA offers immersive workshops and programs designed to help individuals navigate midlife transitions, develop a renewed sense of purpose, and build a path to a fulfilling "second half" of life. Through his books like Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder and Learning to Love Midlife, as well as his speaking engagements, Conley has become a leading voice in a global movement to redefine aging not as a time to slow down, but as simply the next phase in a productive, enterprising, and vibrant life.
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