John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, started in the grocery business as a Texas undergraduate seeking the keys to a happy life. The self-described “hippie” opened one natural foods store in Austin and scaled beyond imagination from there. In his 44 years as CEO, Whole Foods grew to more than 500 locations and to a $13.7 billion valuation. In conversation with Masters of Scale host Jeff Berman, Mackey shares how tapping into passion and purpose can align an entrepreneur with larger waves of change. Even as traditional grocery chains cut costs and streamlined, Whole Foods focused on the in-store experience, and carefully selected locations for successful growth. Mackey shares lessons in being put to the test around politics and activist investors, and his belief in creating value for all stakeholders. Hear how and why he sold Whole Foods to Amazon, and how tapping into purpose led to a new venture, the health and wellness brand Love.Life.
Chapters:
00:00 Regrets over the Amazon acquisition
00:29 Feeling lost as a young person
04:15 John Mackey’s “food awakening”
06:21 The early days of John Mackey’s first grocery store
09:13 The merger that led to the first Whole Foods
12:10 The explosive launch of Whole Foods
16:21 What you want vs what the market wants
18:22 Why John Mackey fired his dad from the board
23:40 How Whole Foods geographically scales
27:55 What is conscious capitalism?
36:12 Should business leaders speak out on social issues?
40:30 The Amazon acquisition
48:26 Stepping down from Whole Foods
51:32 John Mackey’s newest venture: Love.Life
54:45 What would John Mackey teach?