Chip Conley

Chip Conley

Founder & CEO, Modern Elder Academy, Bestselling Author

A middle-aged man with light skin, short thinning hair, and a light beard, wearing a light green shirt and a dark jacket, smiling at the camera against a plain background.

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. 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 fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world's first 'midlife wisdom school.' 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 is a globally-recognized thought leader on the future of work, the value of corporate culture, and the competitive advantage of a multi-generational workplace. 

A smiling man in a white shirt is centered in an abstract background featuring yellow and black graphics of interconnected neural networks and brain illustrations, symbolizing wisdom management.
Chip Conley — founder and CEO of JDV Hospitality and Airbnb’s former Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy — maps out an inclusive path from hindsight to wisdom.
An image of a brain with the words future proof on it.
9 min
He revolutionized hospitality, twice. Chip Conley shares his secrets to being able to evolve in an ever-changing world.
1 min
Did you know that shifting to a positive perspective on aging can add 7.5 years to your life? Or that there is a provable U-curve of happiness that shows people get happier after age 50?
Anxiety is the most prevalent emotion in most organizations in the United States today. 
I get fed by the human spirit by seeing the kind of art that is created there and the kinds of innovation.
3 min
Hotelier Chip Conley remembers what the LSD activist taught him about how to run a successful hotel.