Navigating Transitions with guest faculty Chip Conley
Test – Learning to Love Midlife
Jul 15 - Jul 20, 2023 in Baja, Mexico
Led by: Chip Conley, Thérèse O'Neill, Teddi Dean
Nature can set you free and help you find the wisdom and deep sense of connection you yearn for.
But right now, you may be feeling stuck at the crossroads between your past and future, uncertain where you want to go or how you’re going to get there.
Maybe you’re transitioning between jobs or exiting a business or career. Maybe you’re ending a long-time relationship or have become an “empty nester” and are wondering how to fill the sudden gap in your life.
No matter what kind of change you’re facing, our Navigating Transitions five-day workshops will help you gain the insight and clarity you need to embrace the unknown and step courageously into your new reality.
In this Owning Wisdom workshop co-facilitated with EQUUS founder, coach, author, and “CEO whisperer” Kelly Wendorf, you will be invited to enter through Nature’s doorway into a deeper, more profound relationship with yourself and the world around you.
What You’ll Gain
Through a combination of our MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum and Kelly’s nature-based practices involving ritual, mindfulness, and equine-assisted activities, you will:
By the end of your five days with Kelly and the MEA faculty, you will feel more awake, inspired, peaceful, and empowered, knowing that you’re an integral part of the world, intrinsically connected to everything around you – and that you have dominion over your own capacity for wisdom and impact.
Meet Your Faculty
Kelly Wendorf
Author of Flying Lead Change, Founder of EQUUS, CEO Whisperer
Kelly Wendorf is an author, executive and personal coach, disruptor, and socially responsible entrepreneur. Her work has been featured in such publications as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal Magazine, Vogue, and the Huffington Post, and has been the inspiration inside several award-winning documentaries.
She spent 15 years of her life immersed in the field of neuroscience and neuropsychology and its relationship to social justice and transformative cultural change, and has studied with spiritual and Indigenous leaders in India, Africa, Indonesia, and Australia. Her immersion in multicultural perspectives has broadened her understanding of the human condition and what we really need to live happy and meaningful lives.
In her role as an executive and personal coach, she has worked with a wide spectrum of clients and organizations – from top Fortune 100 companies, such as Amazon and Microsoft, to some of the nation’s most underserved communities. As founder of EQUUS, her mission is to liberate the leadership capacities of the conscientious, empathetic, accountable, and kind individuals who are most qualified to guide humanity into a future where we live in greater communion and connection to nature and to ourselves.
As seen in
Forbes, the Wall Street Journal Magazine, Vogue, and Huffington Post
This workshop is for you if...
You’re yearning for greater connection to something larger than yourself.
You’re a truth-seeker wanting to deepen your connection to your own “inner sage” so you can make better choices for yourselves and others.
You’re ready to expand beyond your own limited perspective and broaden your understanding of the universe and your place in it
You’re feeling called to do something more with your life and are looking for insight and clarity on what that path might look like.
You’re ready to expand beyond your own limited perspective and broaden your understanding of the universe and your place in it
You’re feeling called to do something more with your life and are looking for insight and clarity on what that path might look like.
This workshop is for you if...
Baja, Mexico
El Pescadero Resort
A stunning oceanfront property offering all of the amenities of a luxury hotel with beautiful beaches perfect for swimming or surfing. Located on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, just a short drive from Todo Santos, the “Pueblo Magico”.
Meet Your MEA Facilitators
In addition to the powerful sessions conducted by Kelly Wendorf, you will be guided through the core MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum by our faculty members:
Thérèse O'Neill
MEA Facilitator Lead
View Bio
Thérèse O’Neill is the Facilitator Lead for MEA’s Baja campus. She is a longtime educator in California and in Mexico, working with Nest Global to provide education access to young asylum seekers and refugees. She holds degrees from UC Berkeley and Stanford, with a background in trauma-informed education and psychology. She is a resident of Baja, where she makes textiles and travels in her free time.
Teddi Dean
Head of Mindfulness and Movement
View Bio
Teddi Dean is the Head of Mindfulness and Movement here at MEA. He offers a fun, accessible and wisdom filled approach to both mediation and yoga. Teddi loves working with beginners and has a gift in showing that each and every one of us is capable of dropping into stillness.
Teddi Dean grew up in Southern California where he was immersed in surf and skateboard culture. He was part of skateboard royalty as a team member of the infamous Powell and Peralta Bones Brigade.
Larry Smith
Creator of 6-Word Memoirs
Larry Smith is founder and editor of the personal storytelling community SMITH Magazine and creator of the Six-Word Memoir project, a creative short-form to unlock the essence of who you are and what matters most, along with the bestselling book series based on the project.
An original content innovator, Larry has built his career around inspiring people, young and old, to tell their stories in fresh and enriching ways. Described in Oprah Magazine as “on a quest to spark self-expression in everyone,” his passion is to help people tell stories, individually and in groups, playfully and productively.
Larry is also a contributing editor of ESPN Magazine and has been the articles editor of Men’s Journal, executive editor of Yahoo Internet Life, a founding editor of P.O.V., as well an editor at Dave Eggers’ Might magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Salon, Slate, and elsewhere.
Gordon Dveirin
Mentor & Strategic Thinker
Gordon Dveirin, Ed.D. is President of Dveirin and Associates, a human development consulting firm. His clients have ranged from the United States Air Force to hospitals, investment firms, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Gordon is also a spiritual educator and co-author of two books: Saying Yes to Change: Essential Wisdom for Your Journey (Hay House, 2006) and Your Soul’s Compass: What is Spiritual Guidance (Hay House, 2007).
Co-founder of The Claritas Institute for Interspiritual Inquiry, he is also a founding board member of the Passageworks Institute dedicated to the social, emotional, and spiritual learning of children and youth in our schools. Gordon’s passion is for the possible, helping individuals and organizations align with the most skillful vector of the emergent future.
Joan Borysenko
Best-Selling Author
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. is an internationally known speaker in integrative medicine and the mind/body/spirit connection. She is also the author of seventeen books, including, It’s not the end of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change and Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year.
Joan is an internationally known speaker in integrative medicine and the mind/body connection. She has a doctorate in cell biology from Harvard Medical School and is a licensed clinical psychologist as well as a journalist and radio personality. After her father died from cancer, she became more interested in studying the person with the illness rather than the disease itself, and returned to Harvard Medical School to complete a second postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine and become an expert in human potential.
Sara Vetter
Coach, Workshop Leader, Fundraiser
As CEO of the Soul of Money Institute, Sara Vetter works closely with founder Lynne Twist to achieve the organization’s goal of helping people heal their dysfunctional relationship with money and bring a new level of consciousness to the way that money impacts our life and society.
Sara is the Major Gift Fundraiser for the Pachamama Alliance and has led more than 40 immersion trips to the Amazon Rainforest. She is also a fundraiser for the Nobel Women’s Initiative, working closely with the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and has co-led delegations to Dharamsala the DRC and Liberia. She has raised millions of dollars for the Pachamama Alliance and the Nobel Women’s Initiative and is a consummate fundraiser and business leader.
Sara found her purpose in life after everything in her seemingly perfect life collapsed and she was feeling lost and rudderless. When she came across the Soul of Money Institute and the Pachamama Alliance, she realized there was a better way of showing up in the world. Now she and Lynn would love to help you find a larger purpose that inspires and fulfills you.
Lynne Twist
Author, Activist, Thought Leader
Lynne Twist is the founder of the Soul of Money Institute and author of the best-selling book, The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life. She is also a co-founder of The Pachamama Alliance — a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture.
From working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the threatened rainforests of the Amazon, Lynne’s on-the-ground work has brought her a deep understanding of the social tapestry of the world and the historical landscape of the times we are living in. Her 40+ years of global work are testament to her commitment to alleviating poverty and hunger, and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability.
Lynne has been interviewed by dozens of media outlets including The Huffington Post, Mehmet Oz Radio, Oprah and Friends Radio, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle and PBS.
Edward Sullivan
Speaker, Author, Investor, Executive Coach
Edward Sullivan’s twenty-five year career as an executive coach and political consultant has taken him around the globe coaching and advising start-up founders, Fortune 500 CEOs, and heads of state of foreign nations. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, INC., USA Today and more. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Edward’s clients include CEOs and executives from companies such as Apple, Google, Geico, Salesforce, DoorDash, Informatica, Mammoth Biosciences, AirTable, and more. Together with fellow veteran executive coach John Baird, he authored the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Leading with Heart: Five Conversations that Unlock Creativity, Purpose and Results.
He works mostly with technology leaders, CEOs, and company founders – many of whom who have experienced great success in their careers are looking for insight and support as they answer the question, “what’s next?” and clarify the kind of life and future they want to create.
Tapping into nature’s ancient wisdom doesn’t mean going back to the Stone Age and living in huts
It’s about returning to a sense of deep connection with nature that many of us have lost in modern society – and bringing that connection forward into a future where humans and the rest of the natural world co-exist in more harmonious equilibrium.
It’s not about giving up our quality of life, or our essential modern tools and conveniences. It’s about recognizing what’s really important and what we really need to live joyful and deeply fulfilling lives.
The good news is, even though it may sometimes feel like we humans are lost as a species, we are mere toddlers in terms of geologic time, and we are learning the hard lessons we need to learn to evolve beyond our current situation and create a world in which all of us thrive. We are right on track to where we need
to go!
During this five-day workshop with Kelly and the MEA team, you will find renewed optimism and the inspired commitment to help create the kind of world you want future generations to live in.
