Chris Stakich (Summit): The Lie of the Linear Path

Life is a Festival #183

What does it feel like to climb every mountain and arrive at the top feeling... nothing? Chris Stakich knows.

Chris is the new CEO of Summit, the 18-year-old community behind Summit at Sea. On today's show we talk about following the script until it breaks, the specific loneliness of high performers, what really happened with Powder Mountain, and what Chris is promising the community now that Summit has been acquired by events.com. This is a conversation about building a life around connection rather than achievement.

Chris Stakich is a Harvard graduate who spent two decades building Rustic Pathways, a global student travel company, into one of the largest of its kind before serving as Chief Experience Officer at YPO. He is now CEO of Summit, the community and events organization behind Summit at Sea, returning April 23-26, 2026 aboard Virgin Voyages.

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