How to survive a life quake with Chip Conley
How to survive a life quake with Chip Conley  
Podcast: Worklife with Molly Graham
Published On: Tue Sep 22 2026
Description: We all know the stereotypical story of the midlife crisis: leave your spouse, buy the red convertible, start from scratch and blow up your whole life. But for most people, the transitional period of midlife is a little more complicated, and it doesn’t have to feel like a crisis. Chip Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in his 20s, and built it into one of the largest boutique hotel companies in the country—but then the Great Recession, a near-death experience, and other personal tragedies forced him to reevaluate his ambitions. Now Chip is the founder of the Modern Elder Academy, where he’s spent the last eight years working with people in the middle of their lives who are trying to figure out what the next chapter of their work and life is supposed to look like. In this episode, Chip and Molly explore different ways to frame the midlife crisis as a joyful and important transition. Chip shares a “midlife atrium” framework to promote taking time to step back, ask bigger questions, and curate the second half of your life, and Molly reflects on how she broke out of the success scripts prescribed to her in her youth. Chip also shares a “wisdom hack” for reflecting on what he’s learned throughout his career, and breaks down the three stages of a healthy transition.Take our WorkLife Audience Survey!Featured guestFollow Chip Conley on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at his websiteBuy Learning to Love MidlifeConnect with the teamFollow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/Subscribe to Molly’s Substack LessonWatch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPodsFollow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTokLet us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.