Whole Foods Market, a $20 Billion-Plus Creation Born in Austin, Wholly of Love
All of life, including what we will value upon our deathbeds, really comes down to love, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO emeritus John Mackey explained in our conversation about his life and new memoir, “The Whole Story”.
Half a century ago, my good friend, mentor, and fellow Austinite John Mackey envisioned the future — and then built it. What began as a funky health food store in a Victorian building grew into the $20 billion-plus powerhouse we know today as Whole Foods Market. That’s what John does: he invents the future. And he’s doing it again — this time with his new company Love.Life, his enduring commitment to shaping the next chapter of capitalism through Conscious Capitalism, and his latest book, The Whole Story, which brings it all together.
John and I recorded a podcast on The Whole Story last week before a live dinner audience at the Burt Kunik JAMen Forum, a periodic gathering at Austin’s Jewish Community Center (JCC) that I have been long associated with on the steering committee (thanks to Burt and Jay Rubin, the prior CEO of the JCC). John graciously wrote the Foreword to my own book, The Entrepreneurs Essentials, and we’ve collaborated on a lot over the years, most notably his namesake movement of Conscious Capitalism (where I used to serve alongside him as a Board director). You can listen to the full conversation and podcast here on Apple, or here on Spotify, or here on SoundCloud. The transcript, should you prefer, is here.
I can imagine no better summary of our conversation, however, than that from a friend who listened to the gathering, Evan Chrapko (founder and CEO of Trust Science), who I was honored to be with recently on an inaugural Men’s Retreat of Henry Crown Fellows (HCF). He wrote me and our HCF group afterward:
- You’re both passionate about Texas and Austin in particular.
- The “unlock” that comes from reading voraciously (and following one’s passions.)
- Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate.
- Love. Love. Love. In all forms and forums. Never stop: on your deathbed, it won’t be all the other stuff that matters.
- Write a memoir (already on my bucket list). A huge gift to your family, whether or not it gets published/public.
- Entrepreneurism is BOTH elation & despair. Amen to that, brother, especially if one is fundraising!
- If you’re being protested, as John/Whole Foods had been at a past junction, simply:
a) Invite ALL stakeholders to the table, to come up with new standards and common understanding, and
b) For the people who can’t/won’t reconcile, invite them to go off and do things their own way; you’re busy doing things the best way you can/yourself.
- Conscious Capitalism* is still Capitalism.
- And his new business in El Segundo sounds amazing….from my limited knowledge, it seems very “Noom” in one sense, Saeju Jeong! (Note: here Evan was referencing Saeju, the founder of Noom, who has been phenomenally successful and was also with us on the Retreat.)
- I can hear/sense why Brett & John both get along so very well. Spiritual and Kind. And Loving. And super smart. And Austinites.
It was a beautiful way for us to close out such an incredibly busy year. Minute by minute, John gives us a lot in this wisdom-packed interview. And it all starts, and ends, with love.
I love my friend, John, and I love my team at data.world. And, of course, I love conscious capitalism — we’ll need it more than ever in this age of AI, as laid out so thoughtfully in Henry Kissinger’s last book Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit, a book I’m currently reading. At data.world, we are proud to be a Certified B Corporation and Public Benefit Corporation. I think we became the first PBC in the data and analytics space when we made that fateful decision over eight years ago. And now so many others have followed that are helping lead the AI charge, from Anthropic, to xAI, and to the ultimate expected conversion of OpenAI.
I wish you a very happy and soulful holiday break with your family and friends.
With much love,
Brett
P.S., If you want more wisdom from John Mackey, I highly recommend him on Rip Esselstyn’s podcast, who is a close mutual friend and amazing plant-based entrepreneurial pioneer, as well as on David Senra’s Founders podcast, which John turned me onto. John has already listened to over 150 episodes of Founders and I’m trying to catch up — it’s my favorite new podcast binge of 2024, thanks to John’s recommendation a few months ago.
