Episode · The Rich Roll Podcast · 2025-04-24
Books mentioned on The Modern Elder: Chip Conley On Reframing Midlife, Cultivating True Wisdom & Finding Purpose In Life's Second Half
Chip Conley is a hospitality maverick, founder of Modern Elder Academy, and the entrepreneurial sage who helped transform Airbnb from a startup to a global phenomenon. This conversation explores midlife as a chrysalis rather than a crisis—a transformative journey from ego to soul.
Chip Conley recommended Seek by Scott Shigeoka, and discussed Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Awe by Dacher Keltner, and The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. Rich Roll discussed From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E.
Discussed“My favorite book of all time is man's search for meaning. And it's partly because uh what Victor Frankle tried to get across in that book was the ideas that meaning is the fuel of life.”
Where to get it
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From Strength to Strength
From Strength to Strength by Arthur C.
Discussed“Your your fellow uh midlife activist Arthur Brooks, who's who's obviously he's been on the show a couple times. He's a friend. His book Strength to Strength really gets at the heart of these ideas that that you're talking about.”
Where to get it
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Seek
Seek by Scott Shigeoka is a non-fiction book that explores the transformative power of curiosity and how it functions as an essential, learnable skill.
Recommended“Um there my friend of mine Scott Shagyoka has a great book called Seek all about curiosity. Uh curiosity is is a skill.”
Where to get it
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Awe
Awe by Dacher Keltner is a thoughtful exploration of the psychological and emotional concept of awe, detailing how everyday experiences of transcendence can transform human well-being.
Discussed“Learning how to seek out awe is an important piece of it. Um, Derer Kelner, who I think you should definitely have on your show, um, UC Berkeley professor, started the Greater Good Science Center, also on the MBA faculty, um, wrote a book a couple years ago called Awe. Cultivating awe.”
Where to get it
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The Little Engine That Could
Why people recommend it: The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper is a classic children's picture book that teaches the enduring values of optimism, perseverance, and hard work through the mantra of a determined little steam engine.
Discussed“I a few years ago um at we had 3,500 employees in my company and Janeviv I gave every single one of those employees at our holiday party a copy of the book the little engine that could because that was that was the book that defined me”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I actually talk about this in my book, Finding Ultra, which came out 13 years ago. And it's a brand that I've remained unwaveringly loyal to because their products are best-in-class”
“So thinking that your your worst stories are wisdom is probably ill advised. So you don't lead with the war stories and you don't definitely don't lead with saying here's how the world works. What you lead with is curiosity and and an openness to like what it is the other person wants to learn. And and I wrote a”
“To learn more about today's guest, including links and resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at richroll.com, where you can find the entire podcast archive, my books, Finding Ultra, Voicing Change, and the Plantpower Way”
“To learn more about today's guest, including links and resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at richroll.com, where you can find the entire podcast archive, my books, Finding Ultra, Voicing Change, and the Plantpower Way”
“To learn more about today's guest, including links and resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at richroll.com, where you can find the entire podcast archive, my books, Finding Ultra, Voicing Change, and the Plantpower Way”