In this episode, Chip Conley sits down with Christine Sperber, co-founder of MEA and master experience designer, to explore how awe, ritual, and community can bring us back to life in midlife.

Drawing from ski town culture, life in Baja, and years of building transformational experiences, Christine offers a hopeful reframe of aging as something to design, not fix.

In this conversation, Chip and Christine explore:

Why purpose matters more than productivity in midlife
How simple rituals create meaning, resilience, and belonging
What nature, movement, and community teach us about vitality
Why transitions like perimenopause and loss call for compassion, not hustle

If midlife feels like a pause, a question mark, or an invitation to something more, this episode will leave you feeling seen, grounded, and hopeful.Listen now and rediscover what it means to feel fully alive in midlife.

Timestamps:

03:22 Christine Sperber’s background

06:55 Leaving Colorado for Baja

08:49 First experience of Baja and Pescadero

10:59 Freedom and living in rhythm with nature

15:15 Experience design and creating meaningful gatherings

17:48 Baking bread as ritual and collective practice

22:14 Origin story of MEA

24:02 Early doubts and building a local economy

26:07 Lessons from the first MEA beta cohorts

30:38 Ski towns, purpose, and longevity research

33:46 Aging, vitality, and midlife perspective

40:49 Introversion, ritual, and reclaiming time

46:19 Third vault conversations and authentic community

48:26 Moral beauty as a pathway to awe

54:11 Transformation through deep connection

56:19 Designing belonging and social bonds

57:28 Wisdom bumper sticker

Learn more about MEA at ⁠https://www.meawisdom.com/

How Ritual, Awe, and Community Bring Midlife Back to Life | Christine Sperber

The Midlife Chrysalis

How Ritual, Awe, and Community Bring Midlife Back to Life | Christine Sperber