(by Myra Salzer)
I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on an interview with John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods, and Joe Polish, founder and CEO of Genius Network. Interestingly, Whole Foods and inheritors have something in common: people have preconceived notions about each. As it turns out, Mackey was a down-to-earth, soft-spoken surprise. I appreciated his direct honesty and indefatigable purpose. His focus is to provide high-quality foods, above all else, and to have it delivered by top-notch employees. He’s not afraid to pay his employees well and offer good benefits. He views his employees as “investments” rather than “expenses” or “overhead.” I appreciated that. He was also unapologetic for pricing items high enough to provide high-quality foods and service, and still make a profit. I appreciated that, too.
He was not above reflecting upon himself, admitting mistakes he made in the past, joking about the reputation Whole Foods has (even mentioning how some people refer to it as “Whole Paycheck”). He also talked about his personal life, his marriage (long-term and seems very secure), his diet (mostly grains and vegetables, with occasional fish), and his view on his competition (he feels competition is healthy and keeps him on his toes).
There aren’t very many publicly-traded-company CEOs who I think would be interesting conversationalists and with whom I might be interested in going out to lunch. John Mackey is one exception!
Myra and John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods