In the promo materials for the book, my publisher hyperbolically proclaimed that I was the “boy wonder” of the hotel industry. Twenty years later, I’m the “modern elder” of the lodging industry, someone as curious as they are wise, and who’s now been a hospitality disruptor twice, first as a boutique hotelier and then as a home-sharing exec.

Thanks to MEA alum Jennifer Cole Phillips and Daniel Frumhoff for this simple, elegant way of visually expressing my path from rebel to elder. Fortunately, the roles are interchangeable now. I also want to appreciate one of our Wisdom Well readers Marc Posch, who recently wrote that my Rumi quote about our stages of life being “raw, cooked, then burned” could be reconsidered as “raw, cooked, then well-done.” Well-done, indeed, Marc! Thanks to all of you for sharing your journey with me.