531: In Retrospect - From Startup to Amazon: John Mackey on the Whole Foods Story

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're diving into another episode from the Foundr Archives to revisit our interview John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods. In this episode, John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, shares the story of building one of the most recognized brands in the organic and natural food industry. From humble beginnings to being acquired by Amazon, John discusses the evolution of Whole Foods, the principles of conscious leadership that shaped its growth, and the challenges of leading a company through the COVID-19 crisis. He provides insights into how businesses can create value for all stakeholders, the importance of leading with purpose, and why love and integrity are essential in business. This episode is packed with wisdom for entrepreneurs on how to build a brand that resonates with both customers and employees. In this interview you will learn: - The founding of Whole Foods and its rise in the natural foods industry - The principles of conscious capitalism and leadership - Leading during challenging times like the COVID-19 crisis - The importance of creating value for all stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers) - Integrating a company culture based on purpose and integrity - How Whole Foods thrived after its acquisition by Amazon Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders. If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam. Today we're diving back into the archives to bring you one of my favorite episodes with John Maggi, who's the co-founder of Whole Foods.
0:07.9	In this interview, he shares his insights on leadership from navigating the complexities of running a business as an Amazon subsidiary to attracting and retaining great talent during challenging times and everything in between. This is a huge
0:22.4	101 on leadership and leading teams. All right, let's jump in. Here the stories. Learn the proven
0:29.2	methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder
0:35.4	podcast with Nathan Chan.
0:45.1	The first question that we ask everyone that comes on is, how did you get your job?
0:55.8	I created my job, right? I mean, entrepreneurs don't really have jobs. They have passions.
1:00.2	They have something they're trying to bring to life,
1:01.4	something you're trying to create.
1:03.4	So I've never thought of as a job.
1:06.4	I always thought it was more of a passion,
1:08.6	a mission, a purpose, you know,
1:10.5	meaning for my life largely.
1:13.2	I've done Whole Foods for 42 years.
1:19.5	Yeah. And how did that come about? How did it start? Like, you know, everyone knows Whole Foods.
1:24.9	My mom was excited. Like, every time I go to the state, she always, she loves supermarkets and she always wants to check out hold birds because you got like
1:27.6	she finds it an interesting thing when you travel to a country.
1:31.2	So very well known.
1:33.2	Obviously I do the same thing when I travel.
1:35.0	I go look at, I look at a few stores.
1:37.6	Try to get some ideas.
1:40.1	I mean, you know, it's always a tricky thing to when you want to start an origin story
	...

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