Small Business

9 Questions for Whole Foods' John Mackey

By Lindsay Blakely

Updated on: May 24, 2011 / 1:08 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

By Jason Del Ray

John Mackey co-founded Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas more than 30 years ago. Today, as co-CEO, Mackey presides over a $9 billion company that has brought organic and natural foods into the everyday lives of millions of Americans. He recently talked to OPEN Forum about where he does his best thinking, why he still considers Whole Foods a work in progress and the promise his mother asked of him on her deathbed
Q: What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
A: That you should always learn and try new approaches--keep experimenting, keep growing and keep evolving. That you should commit to doing what you most love and what you are most passionate about. Through it all, always follow your heart. If you are able to listen to your heart, it will be your best guide in life.

Q: If you could do one thing over, what would it be?
A: Even though I have close to 120 hours of college credit, I never graduated and that always really troubled my mother. In her mind, a diploma was what constituted success back when I was 21 years old. Unfortunately she died back in 1987 and never really got to see the success of Whole Foods Market unfold. On her deathbed, she asked me to promise her that I'd go back to school and get a college degree. She thought I was wasting my life creating and growing Whole Foods Market instead of pursuing a more conventional career in medicine, law, or business. I was honest with her and told here that I would never finish college and that Whole Foods Market would someday be a large and successful company. She didn't believe that was possible. My failure to promise her that I would return to school greatly disappointed her and if I could do it over again I would have comforted her and reassured her that I would certainly return to school--someday. That would have eased her mind and her feelings of concern about my future.

Q: What personal trait has been most critical to your success?
A: Being a truth seeker. I always want to get to the heart of the matter. Sometimes it's not the easiest path, but being truthful and honest (especially to oneself) really is the best way. It's important to me to tell the truth in all business dealings, right down to each interaction we have with our customers. For example, I think being transparent about our products and what's in themâ€"and what's NOT in themâ€"has been critical to our success. We have created a niche for those who want alternatives to conventional foods.

Q: What's your biggest weakness and how have you tried to overcome it?
A: I see so much potential in people and have great faith that they will live up to my expectations and achieve great things. Most of the time this faith in people is one of my strengths, because people often do overachieve in order to not disappoint me. However, in some circumstances it has proven to be a weakness because I am often slow to remove someone who is failing and hurting our business. I've tried to overcome this weakness by having other executive leaders on my team who are more skeptical about people's potential and who aren't afraid to confront me to make necessary changes in leadership positions much sooner than I would ordinarily want to. One very important key to success in business is to create a great team of leaders to work closely with, whose strengths help overcome your own weaknesses.

Q: Where do you do your best thinking?
A: I very much enjoy daily walks and long hikes. I take one to two long hiking trips every year and I always come back to work recharged and full of ideas. For example, I've hiked all of the Appalachian Trail, (twice) the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Colorado Trail, among others. I just recently hiked the Ouachita trail in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Q: If you were going to start another type of company, what would it be and why?
A: I would probably take the Wellness Club idea that we will soon be pioneering in our stores as an independent business. We aren't going to solve our health care crisis with more pharmaceutical drugs or new vaccines. The challenges in health care that we face today are lifestyle diseases and they will only be solved through radical changes in our lifestyles, particularly our diets. I believe this business has tremendous potential and I'm very excited that Whole Foods will be creating it and growing it over the next several years.

Q: Who has been your greatest mentor?
A: My father. He was a professor of accounting at Rice University in Houston for 19 years while I was growing up and then went on to head up a very successful hospital management company. He invested some of the initial seed capital for Whole Foods Market and served on our board for many years. I learned more from him than anyone else.

Q: At what point did you recognize that Whole Foods could become the company it is today?
A: We certainly didn't start out with the idea that we'd be as large and successful as we are today. That took many years to develop. However, it is important to realize that the Whole Foods story is still very much in development and we are far from completing our growth and evolution. While I recognize that Whole Foods is a success, we still have so much to accomplish to really make as big a difference on our planet as we want to. I think a lot of people think we are larger than we actually are. We are just reaching the 300-store mark in the U.S. There are lots of markets we're not in yet. So growing the business while continuing to work towards our higher purpose is a challenge that keeps unfolding.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: Well, right now, I'm very proud of many things, but three things stand out: Helping millions of people eat healthier foods. Let's face it, we are nation struggling with lifestyle diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes that could be avoided for most people if we changed our diets to whole foods and plant-strong. We opened our first store more than 30 years ago to sell whole foods and organic foods, and to provide alternatives to the increasing amounts of highly processed foods. However, over time we have come to realize that providing the healthiest foods available is simply not enough. To deepen our commitment to healthy eating and help solve the health crisis we face, we have launched a company-wide initiative called Health Starts Here to provide education and support tools to inspire interest in foods that help improve and maintain health and vitality. We will be evolving our efforts greatly over the next few years as we open Wellness Clubs in our stores to help people get the knowledge and healthy food they need to optimize their health and longevity.

Creating a very unique company culture that has helped so many of our Team Members to learn, grow, and flourish. I'm very proud of the fact that Whole Foods has been named one of the Hundred Best Places to Work for 14 consecutive years.

Creating the Whole Planet Foundation to help end poverty on planet earth. In just five years, we have loaned nearly $16 million in small micro credit loans to about 200,000 really poor people in 35 countries around the world (92 percent of the loans have been to women) and have offered innovative entrepreneurial assistance in developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. We seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human being we work with to create wealth and prosperity in developing economies.