Chip Conley

Chip Conley is the founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, California’s largest boutique hotel company – and America’s #2. Starting out in 1986 with virtually no industry experience, Chip opened his first hotel, The Phoenix, in San Francisco’s edgy Tenderloin district on a wing and a prayer. The company now consists of over 40 award-winning hotels, restaurants and spas across the state. Each unique property is designed to produce what Chip calls “identity refreshment” for his guests. The company gleans inspiration for each hotel from popular magazines such as Rolling Stone (The Phoenix), The New Yorker (Hotel Rex), Real Simple “meets” Dwell (Vitale), Wired (Avante) and others. Chip and his company’s time-tested techniques have been featured in INC, People, TIME, and other leading publications—so many magazines, so many new hotel possibilities!

A popular speaker and innovative leader, Chip is regularly consulted by corporate, civic and academic institutions for his opinions, guidance and wisdom on building and maintaining a successful and transformative enterprise—in areas such as organizational leadership, creative business development, corporate social responsibility and spirit in business. In his bestselling new book, PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow, Chip shares his unique prescription for success based on the iconic Hierarchy of Needs. His new theory illustrates how Employees, Customers and Investors are ultimately motivated by peak experiences—and he demonstrates how to create these for each using real-world examples from his own company and others.

Chip has received the top hospitality industry awards and was honored by the San Francisco Business Times’ as 2007’s Most Admired CEO in Innovation. He is a committed philanthropist who founded San Francisco’s Annual Celebrity Pool Toss, which has raised over 3 million dollars for inner city youth programs that now thrive in the troubled neighborhood where he launched his first hotel. Chip is a member of the Global Business Network and Young President’s Organization and received his BA and MBA from Stanford University. 

For more information on Chip, please visit www.chipconley.com