Chip’s Wisdom Weekend: Turn Experience into Impact
Is a partial scholarship for you?
We believe in making personal growth and education accessible to everyone, which is why we offer partial scholarships on a needs-aware basis for many of our programs.
These scholarships support individuals facing financial challenges, including — but not limited to — members of underrepresented communities. If financial stress might prevent you from attending a workshop, we encourage you to apply.
Partial scholarships, provided through the Association for Growth and Education, are limited to 2–3 seats per workshop and reviewed in the order received. We recommend applying as soon as possible, as scholarship decisions are typically confirmed 90–120 days before the workshop date.
Chip Conley
MEA Founder, Hotelier + Hospitality Entrepreneur, Bestselling Author
You’ve spent years gathering knowledge, playing roles, and meeting expectations. Now, something deeper is calling.
Not to hustle or prove, but to live with more truth, alignment, and presence.
Maybe you’re ready to speak more boldly – to mentor, write, or lead. Or maybe you’re turning inward in search of stillness, wisdom, or spiritual connection.
At this stage, wisdom isn’t just what you know. It’s how you live.
It’s what awakens when you slow down, pay attention, and let yourself be moved by awe – by beauty, by insight, by the mystery of becoming.
But without devoting intentional time to fully metabolize your experience into insight, it can be challenging to access the wisdom that's already inside you – or discover how it wants to be expressed in this season of your life.
And without that integration, you risk spending the rest of your life living at a fraction of your depth – knowing you have something to offer, but never quite trusting yourself to step forward.
It’s time to turn your lived experience into insight – and shape the impact you want to have now.
What if you had deep clarity into what you've learned from your life, and confidence in how to use it in the world and share it with others?
Imagine moving through the world with the kind of presence that comes from truly knowing yourself. You could speak, create, or mentor from integration rather than striving – offering what only you can offer because of the path you've walked.
That's what you can unlock within yourself over the course of a transformative weekend with MEA founder Chip Conley.
Chip's Wisdom Weekend invites you to integrate your lived experience, reclaim your voice, and choose how you want to show up in the world: with courage and conviction.
Join us in Santa Fe for a transformative experience that helps you live from the inside out – and channel your experience into impact.
Chip Conley has become one of the world’s leading experts on developing wisdom - both individually and with teams.
After eight years of teaching many 5-7 day workshops on wisdom, he’s distilled down the essence of his wisdom management method to a powerful weekend, knowing that some busy people don’t have time for a week’s program.
Based upon his definition that wisdom is "metabolized experience mindfully shared for the common good,” Chip will take you on an accelerated journey of exploring how your painful life lessons are the raw material for your future wisdom.
Wisdom is what happens when your experience finally catches up with your ambition, but how often do you take the time to reflect on what you’ve learned?
This is your opportunity to do that with a wisdom master.
During your three days with Chip, you will…
Excavate the wisdom already embedded in your life experience – identifying the pivotal moments, painful lessons, and hard-won insights that have shaped who you are today
Learn Chip's "metabolized experience" framework – a proven method for transforming lived experience into wisdom you can access, articulate, and share
Discover how your hardest moments have prepared you to serve – reframing challenges not as setbacks but as the raw material for your greatest contributions
Cultivate practices of reflection and meaning-making – creating spaciousness to slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with what's sacred and true for you
Clarify how your wisdom wants to be expressed – whether through mentoring, writing, teaching, leading, or simply showing up more fully in your daily life
Experience the power of awe as a pathway to wisdom – learning how beauty, wonder, and mystery can deepen your presence and perspective
Connect with a community of fellow seekers – being witnessed in your depth, sharing your insights, and discovering you're not alone in this work of becoming
This Workshop
Is For You If…
Meet
Chip Conley
Modern Elder Academy Founder | Pro-Aging Midlife Activist | Wisdom Seeker
Chip Conley is the founder and CEO of Modern Elder Academy, the world's first midlife wisdom school. After founding Joie de Vivre Hospitality at age 26 and growing it into the second-largest boutique hotel company in America, Chip was recruited at 52 by Airbnb's young founders to help scale the company, serving as Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy for four years.
That experience sparked a realization: midlife isn't about decline – it's when your experience finally catches up with your ambition, creating the conditions for true wisdom to emerge.
In 2018, he founded MEA to create a space where people in midlife could slow down, integrate their lived experience, and discover how their wisdom wants to be expressed. Since then, Chip has taught hundreds of multi-day workshops on navigating challenges, finding purpose, and owning wisdom in your next chapter.
Supported By the MEA Team
Daniel 'DL' Landes
Experience Facilitator
Before joining MEA, Daniel “DL” Landes spent decades as a restauranteur, author, and publisher. As the owner of multiple restaurants in Denver, CO – and then a hostel in Mexico – he dedicated himself to creating environments where people could work out their humanity whil ...
View BioWhat You'll Gain
Deeper Connection to Your Inner Compass
Strengthen your ability to listen inward, discern what’s true, and move through life with grounded self-trust.
Wisdom Carried Forward
Weave together the insights, questions, and experiences that have shaped you – and begin living from the whole of who you are.
Spaciousness for Meaning-Making
Slow down enough to reflect, realign, and reconnect with awe, stillness, and the deeper truths that are calling you now.
Clarity on How to Share What You Know
Whether through writing, mentoring, creating, or simply showing up more fully, discover how your wisdom wants to be expressed in this season of life.
Our Agenda at a Glance
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
4:00 PM: Arrival / Check-In
5:30 PM: Welcome Reception & Dinner
7:00 PM: Orientation Session
9:00 PM: Free Time
Friday:
7:30 AM: Mind + Body
8:30 AM: Breakfast
10:00 AM: Classroom Time
1:15 PM: Lunch
2:00 PM: Free Time
3:00 PM: Classroom Time
6:30 PM: Dinner
Saturday:
7:30 AM: Mind + Body
8:30 AM: Breakfast
10:00 AM: Classroom Time
1:15 PM: Lunch
2:00 PM: Free Time
3:00 PM: Classroom Time
6:30 PM: Dinner, Dessert & Graduation
8:00 PM: Evening Gathering
Sunday:
7:00 AM: Breakfast
10:00 AM: Checkout / Departure
*Please note that not all “classroom time” activities take place in the actual classroom.
*Please note all times are estimates as some activities go longer or shorter depending on the group. This agenda is meant to give you an idea of the general flow of activities.
Step into transformation in the high desert
Rising Circle Ranch | Santa Fe, USA.
Our spectacular Santa Fe campus is located on an upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
PLUS: Gourmet from-scratch meals, snacks, and drinks featuring locally sourced ingredients, made by our in-house chefs
Explore the ranch
on horseback
Our Rising Circle Ranch spans 2,600 acres of New Mexico high desert, offering guided horseback riding for all experience levels through diverse terrains under the vast Southwest sky
You’ll experience highlights like:
Horseback riding is an optional add-on activity you can book once you arrive on the ranch. Whether you’re seasoned or brand new to horseback adventures, this guided experience lets you discover the ranch’s natural wonders alongside our gentle horses.
Your Workshop Also Includes:
Your experience has shaped you. Now it's time to let it guide you.
You've spent decades gathering knowledge, navigating challenges, and becoming who you are. But without intentional time to integrate what you've lived, that wisdom stays untapped – and you keep moving forward without the clarity, grounding, or sense of purpose you're seeking.
This weekend gives you:
The life you're being called to live is waiting – but only you can claim it.
Book your spot today
Chip’s Wisdom Weekend: Turn Experience into Impact
Is a partial scholarship for you?
We believe in making personal growth and education accessible to everyone, which is why we offer partial scholarships on a needs-aware basis for many of our programs.
These scholarships support individuals facing financial challenges, including — but not limited to — members of underrepresented communities. If financial stress might prevent you from attending a workshop, we encourage you to apply.
Partial scholarships, provided through the Association for Growth and Education, are limited to 2–3 seats per workshop and reviewed in the order received. We recommend applying as soon as possible, as scholarship decisions are typically confirmed 90–120 days before the workshop date.
The program was spectacular. It really surpassed my expectations. I was really surprised about how the course was curated. There was such a warm intensity and personal touch to it.
I experienced MEA as a newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cancer patient, and as a result of the things I’ve learned - I’ve banished the anxiety of being a cancer victim, am in remission, and living with a newfound energy and purpose.
Just know how grateful I am for the joy fuel you all put in my rocket ship. When I want to feel loved or just need a good smile I can think of my time at MEA, which came at the perfect time to encourage me on my journey. Thank you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is this workshop for?
This experience is for anyone in midlife who has lived a full life and is ready to integrate what they’ve learned. Many participants feel called to mentor, teach, write, or lead – but aren’t sure how to articulate their wisdom or where to begin. Others are seeking time to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with their deeper knowing. This workshop meets you wherever you are in your relationship with your own wisdom.
Do I need to know what I want to do with my wisdom to attend?
Not at all. Some participants come with a clear vision – writing a book, starting a mentoring practice, or stepping into leadership. Others simply know they want to make sense of their experience and discover how their wisdom wants to be expressed. This weekend helps you clarify what’s next, even if you’re starting from uncertainty.
Is this workshop religious or spiritual?
MEA welcomes people from all walks of life, beliefs, and backgrounds. Chip’s Wisdom Weekend draws on psychology, reflection practices, and lived experience—it’s not religious, though it may invite contemplation of meaning, awe, and what matters most to you.
What if I don't consider myself wise?
You don’t need to feel wise to benefit from this workshop. Wisdom isn’t about being an expert – it’s about metabolizing your lived experience into insight. If you’ve navigated challenges, made hard decisions, and learned from what life has thrown at you, you have wisdom. This weekend helps you recognize it, access it, and trust it.
What's included in the tuition?
Your tuition includes all programming, three nights of accommodations at Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe, chef-prepared meals, snacks, drinks, and access to all ranch amenities. The only additional costs are transportation to the venue and any personal incidentals.
How do I know if I qualify for financial aid?
We offer financial assistance on a needs-aware basis. Our goal is to make MEA accessible to those who may face financial barriers to attending. If you’re experiencing financial stress that could prevent your participation, we encourage you to apply for assistance.
What if I'm not sure if this workshop is right for me?
We’re happy to help. Book a free call with our team, and we can help you decide based on where you are in your life, what you’re seeking, and whether this weekend aligns with your goals.
Still deciding or have questions?
Connect with our helpful team of Advisors
Our Advisors are all MEA alumni who can offer genuine insights into our programs. They’re passionate about helping you finding the right fit to make your next chapter the best one.
Daniel Booz
Lucas Erie
Leslie Bartlett