The Midlife Manifesto – Interview with Chip Conley

What this episode covers

What if aging made you more desirable, not less? In this episode of the Love U Podcast, I sit down with Chip Conley—author, entrepreneur, and founder of the Modern Elder Academy—to talk about love, identity, and reinvention in the second half of life. We explore the difference between aging and “saging,” how men experience loneliness and intimacy, and why dating in midlife offers a deeper kind of connection. Chip shares his own lessons on grief, self-worth, and emotional fluency—and how women can stop internalizing cultural myths about becoming invisible. If you’ve ever wondered whether your best years in love are behind you, this conversation will shift your mindset and open your heart. 🌟 Join the Extraordinary Love Series: https://extraordinaryloveseries.com/ 🔥 Take my quiz to find out if you’ve been wasting time on the wrong men: https://www.evanmarckatz.com/quiz 💖 Book a Call: https://www.evanmarckatz.com/coaching 📷 Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realevanmarckatz/ About Today's Guest: 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 fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world's first ‘midlife wisdom school’ and has a 2,600-acre regenerative horse ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico which opened in May 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." Where You Can Find Chip: LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/in/chipconleysf/ Instagram: @chipconley Facebook: @chipconley Youtube: @TheMidlifeChrysalisPodcast Website: meawisdom.com chipconley.com