The Midlife Chrysalis
The Midlife Chrysalis
Podcast Description
The Midlife Chrysalis is a one-hour podcast hosted by Chip Conley, bestselling author of Learning to Love Midlife and founder of MEA (Modern Elder Academy). Chip and his high-profile guests – including Maria Shriver, Hoda Kotb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Michael Franti, and more – dive into raw, vulnerable conversations about the profound transitions they’ve experienced in midlife.
Listeners get a rare look at how even the most successful individuals have to navigate life’s pivotal changes – and gain practical wisdom they can apply in their own lives for a more fulfilling and purposeful next chapter.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on themes of personal transformation, emotional healing, and the pursuit of purpose in midlife, with episodes discussing topics such as redefining success and letting go of past identities, exemplified by guests like Maria Shriver exploring identity beyond legacy and Michael Franti sharing his journey of emotional recovery through music.
The Midlife Chrysalis is a one-hour podcast hosted by Chip Conley, bestselling author of Learning to Love Midlife and founder of MEA (Modern Elder Academy). Chip and his high-profile guests – including Maria Shriver, Hoda Kotb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Michael Franti, and more – dive into raw, vulnerable conversations about the profound transitions they’ve experienced in midlife.
Listeners get a rare look at how even the most successful individuals have to navigate life’s pivotal changes – and gain practical wisdom they can apply in their own lives for a more fulfilling and purposeful next chapter.
What happens when success stops working and midlife hits hard?
Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, shares the story behind his most difficult chapter. After building a global brand and achieving massive success, Blake found himself facing a deep midlife reckoning marked by depression, loss of identity, and an urgent search for meaning beyond achievement.
Blake opens up about:
– How selling part of TOMS triggered an unexpected identity collapse
– Why midlife depression often follows success, not failure
– The treatments and inner work that helped him recover, including ketamine therapy and TMS
– The simple but life-changing realization that shifted everything: “I am enough”
– Why connection and community matter more than success or status
👉 Watch now to hear Blake Mycoskie’s most vulnerable and meaningful story yet.
Timestamps:
01:11 Blake’s early entrepreneur journey
02:49 Reality Central and first major failure
04:59 The business lesson that shaped TOMS
07:49 Creating the one for one model
08:43 Selling TOMS and losing identity
12:36 Depression behind the public image
16:23 Searching for relief outside himself
17:24 Medication fog and deep isolation
19:30 Why telling others saved his life
20:54 Moving beyond traditional medication
21:12 Ketamine and TMS
25:53 Discovering the core wound
28:49 India and lasting inner freedom
33:27 Launching the Enough initiative
35:58 I’m Enough ritual poem
37:57 How the nonprofit model works
38:47 The growing mental health crisis
43:13 Self compassion and flow state
46:28 How to support someone in depression
51:54 Living with fear of relapse
54:17 Wisdom bumper sticker
Learn more about MEA at https://www.meawisdom.com/
#BlakeMycoskie #MidlifeCrisis #MentalHealthAwareness #EntrepreneurMentalHealth #SuccessAndDepression #TOMSFounder #MidlifeJourney #DepressionRecovery #FindingPurpose #SelfWorth #MentalHealthPodcast #MidlifeTransformation #HealingJourney #MenAndMentalHealth #IAmEnough
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