How to Be a Better Leader

Chip Conley is a hospitality entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and the founder and CEO of MEA. His two most recent books, Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder and Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age, are the foundation for MEA’s curriculum.

Derek Gehl is a serial e-commerce entrepreneur, speaker, and author. After spending the first decade of his professional career growing one of world’s first Internet marketing companies to over $30 million in sales, he decided that leading a company of 100 employees in offices in two countries wasn’t for him – so he sold the company to a private equity group and refocused his life on the things he loved most: spending time with his family, pursuing his passions, and building and growing online businesses. In 2024, after doing some consulting for MEA, Derek had his own transformational experience at a Navigating Transitions workshop, which inspired him to join the company as Chief Marketing and Technology Officer and then take on the role as CEO, spearheading our mission to reimagine midlife and build a global pro-aging community that inspires people to thrive in the second half of life.