Episode 495: John Mackey: From Living Above a Store to $13.7 Billion Exit - The Whole Foods Story

Habits and Hustle

Jen Cohen

Education, Health & Fitness, Business, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What really happened behind Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods? In this episode on the Habits and Hustle podcast, John Mackey, founder and former CEO of Whole Foods, reveals why he walked away from the company he built over 44 years. We dive into how Whole Foods went from a single vegetarian store to a 540-store empire that revolutionized American eating habits. We also discuss why only 0.5% of Americans are vegan despite the plant-based movement, why protein obsession is misguided, and how Erewhon is disrupting the company he created. John Mackey founded Whole Foods Market in 1980 and served as CEO until 2022, growing it from a single store in Austin to a Fortune 250 company. He's the author of "Conscious Capitalism" and "The Whole Story," and now leads Love.Life, a revolutionary wellness center combining health, fitness, and medical care under one roof. What We Discuss: 03:27 - Why Erewhon has become "the new Whole Foods" and John's strategy to compete 07:46 - How John built Whole Foods with zero business education 14:50 - From pickles on hamburgers to vegetarian: John's food awakening at age 22 21:21 - The 100-year flood that almost destroyed Whole Foods after 9 months 26:50 - The hostile takeover attempt 29:17 - Meeting Jeff Bezos: The six-week whirlwind romance with Amazon 51:56 - Why John only took $1 salary for his last 16 years (and never got paid) 59:26 - Conscious Capitalism: The four pillars of building a purpose-driven business 01:09:00 - Love.Life: The one-stop wellness center that's "Whole Foods for health" 01:21:14 - Why only 0.5% of Americans are vegan and vegan restaurants are failing 01:24:42 - The protein myth: Why Americans eat too much protein and not enough fiber …and more! Thank you to our sponsors: Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off Air Doctor: Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code HUSTLE for up to $300 off and a 3-year warranty on air purifiers. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. Momentous: Shop this link and use code Jen for 20% off Manna Vitality: Visit mannavitality.com and use code JENNIFER20 for 20% off your order Prolon: Get 30% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their 5-Day Program! Just visit https://prolonlife.com/JENNIFERCOHEN and use code JENNIFERCOHEN to claim your discount and your bonus gift. Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from John Mackey: Instagram:@iamjohnmackey Website: https://johnpmackey.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, guys. It's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. On today's podcast,
0:07.6	I have somebody, John, by the way, that I have been dying to get on the show because of who he is and what he's done and all the things in between.
0:18.4	We have John Mackie, who is the, was the, is the founder and CEO,
0:23.5	was the CEO of Whole Foods, a place that I've been obsessed with for, I don't know, 25 years in my life.
0:29.7	And he's on today. We're talking about all the things about Whole Foods, Amazon, his new
0:36.9	project, Love Life, and I'm really happy to have you.
0:40.9	I'm happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
0:42.8	Oh my gosh. This is like a pleasure. This is, this is my dream come true. Because like
0:47.0	the amount of times I've I've said to people, the one person I think would be really
0:51.9	interesting to interview is a guy who found
0:55.1	at Whole Foods since I'm like spending half of my life and most of my paycheck, as you know,
1:00.3	at Whole Foods. On this show, by the way, we do healthy shots on here, not alcoholic shots.
1:06.6	So we do these magic minds. Are you cool with that?
1:09.5	You want me to do a shot? Is what you're saying?
1:10.7	Yeah. I want you to do a shot? Is what you're saying? Yeah.
1:11.1	I want you to do a shot with me.
1:27.3	These are, they're healthy though. Macha, ashriganda, passion fruit. Well, it looks like it's got lions, me, cordyceps. All right, let's do it. I have to do with the founder of Whole Foods. Let's do it. a big day for, well, big day for magic mind.
1:28.2	Bottoms up.
1:28.4	Cheers.
1:46.3	Do you like it? Mm-hmm. I wonder if they're sell at Whole Foods. I know they're at Arrow One. I don't know if they're at Whole Foods. Oh, you know. Sorry. You're the nemesis. I mean, it's like if I were still CEO, Whole Foods, we'd be approaching Irwin differently than current management.
1:46.9	Let's put it that way.
1:52.6	Let's just start with that because that was one of my questions down the road on my many questions to ask you.
	...

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