Chip Conley

The iconic boutique hotelier who helped Airbnb’s founders turn their fast-growing tech start-up into a global hospitality brand, Chip Conley is a New York Times bestselling author whose manifesto on reframing aging, “Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder,” is inspired by his experience of being both a mentor and an intern in his 50s. After selling the company he started as a rebel entrepreneur at age 26, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Chip wasn’t sure what was next. He could have retired at age 52. But the young founders of Airbnb came calling. He served as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality & Strategy for four years — while also being CEO Brian Chesky’s mentor — and continued as a Strategic Advisor to the company’s leadership. While writing “Wisdom@Work,” Chip was inspired to build the world’s first “midlife wisdom school,” the Modern Elder Academy, with a 5-acre oceanfront campus in Baja California Sur, Mexico. MEA will be opening up their first two U.S. Academies and Regenerative Community in Santa Fe, New Mexico soon. Chip is an active mentor to six young CEO founders in the hospitality/tech world, and serves on the board of Encore.org and the advisory board for the Stanford Center for Longevity. He believes curiosity is the elixir of life and started learning Spanish and surfing at age 58. www.ChipConley.com