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From Skeptic to CEO: My Unexpected Journey to MEA


* Chip’s Note: As I recently mentioned, I’ve moved from CEO to Executive Chair of MEA and am so honored that Derek Gehl has elevated from Chief Marketing & Technology Officer into my former role. Here’s how his life has transitioned over the past year. *

Twelve months ago, I’d never heard of a “midlife wisdom school,” and now I’m the CEO of one. File this under “things I didn’t see coming.”

Like many of you, I found MEA at a turning point. With my youngest son in the home stretch of high school and preparing to head off to university and me preparing to exit my business, my wife, Coralynn, and I found ourselves asking, “What now?”

And that’s when MEA showed up with the answer…

In October 2017, I received an email from a client from a decade ago. She said, “I’m working for a midlife wisdom school called the Modern Elder Academy, and we’d like to hire you for a day of consulting.”

After a quick Google search, I was hit with two emotions:

First, I was skeptical. After 25 years adjacent to the personal development and anti-aging industries, I’d seen behind too many curtains. I’d seen too many personal development gurus and longevity companies preaching authenticity while practicing something entirely different.

But I was also curious because the deeper I looked, the more my skepticism was challenged. Chip Conley wasn’t your typical personal development personality. Here’s an extremely successful guy that could’ve retired years ago, battling cancer, working his butt off, and investing his time, energy, and money into something he truly believed the world needed. 

So, despite having a “no consulting policy” for the past 15 years, I said yes. In December, I jumped on a flight to meet Chip Conley. Shortly thereafter, I visited MEA’s magical Baja campus as a participant in the Navigating Transitions workshop, facilitated by MEA’s two incredible co-founders, Christine Sperber and Jeff Hamaoui.

Over the next five days, any lingering skepticism I had was erased.

This was not your typical personal development workshop in some crappy airport hotel, jammed with hundreds of people desperately looking for a quick fix to their unhappy lives.

Instead, I met 27 caring, thoughtful, and intelligent people charting their paths through midlife, each on their own unique journey.

There were retirees charting new adventures, parents preparing for empty nests, professionals looking to reinvent their careers in midlife, people navigating divorce or the loss of a loved one, and entrepreneurs looking for their next thing. These were interesting, intelligent, unique people, each with their own story and reason for being there.

Over the coming days, the conversations weren’t polished, but they were real—vulnerable, sometimes uncomfortable, always meaningful. 

And what I witnessed over those five days and nights was incredible. What I experienced was transformational.

I walked into this workshop to learn more about MEA, but I left learning more about myself. It was the workshop I didn’t know I needed and the workshop that made me want to be part of this incredible organization.

Today, I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to help steer MEA and to be part of an incredible team of people who are truly trying to make the world a better place.

And for those of you who might be worried about what this means for the future of MEA, you can rest easy knowing that I’m not here to change the MEA magic. I’m here to work closely with Chip and the team to amplify that magic. 

Today, we have an incredible alumni community of over 5,000 people and nearlyover 60 alumni chapters worldwide, and we’ve barely scratched the surface.

We’re on a mission to build a global pro-aging community of MEA alumni, giving you the connection and support you need to thrive in your second adulthood.

We will continue connecting you with the thought leaders and academics leading the research into midlife.

As we begin this next chapter, I invite you to help shape MEA’s future. Share your ideas. Tell us what you need. Whether you’re an MEA alum, a curious explorer, or someone sensing it’s time for a change, there’s a place for you in this story.

Let’s reimagine midlife, together.

With genuine excitement for what’s ahead, 

-Derek Gehl

Derek Gehl is the CEO of MEA. A serial entrepreneur with 25 years of leadership in digital marketing, human transformation, and wellness ventures, he’s dedicated to shifting the narrative from anti-aging to pro-aging, helping people harness the power of their lived experience.

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