John Mackey

In 1978, John Mackey and Renée Lawson Hardy opened SaferWay, a small vegetarian store in Austin. Two years later, they joined Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to create Whole Foods Market. The company expanded through new stores and acquisitions while bringing natural and organic food into mainstream retail. Mackey remained at its helm through that expansion and the eventual combination with Amazon.^1,2,3,4

Mackey is also a leading advocate of “conscious capitalism,” an approach in which a company operates from a purpose and creates value for multiple stakeholders rather than shareholders alone. After leaving Whole Foods in 2022, he carried that approach into Love.Life. The new venture aims to connect nutrition, preventive medicine, movement and wellness within a single service.^2,5