Background:
John Mackey was born on August 15, 1953 in Houston, Texas. His parents are Bill and Margaret Mackey. For being a person who is a firm believer in healthy, clean eating, his childhood did not consist of a healthy diet rather he had an American diet. He ate many processed foods and hamburgers and French fries. He wasn't a vegetarian in his early years of age. But that was the beginning of his awakening of his food consciousness.
John Mackey was a student of philosophy and religion at the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University in the 1970s, and worked at a vegetarian co-op.
Previous careers John Mackey worked in was in 1980 when he and his then girlfriend Renee had $45,000 of the $50,000 needed to open a store. They called it Safer Way. It is now Cabelli's School in Austin. It lasted two years. They slept upstairs and ran business downstairs. That's when his politics shifted.
The company:
Whole Foods Market is an American foods supermarket chain specializing in natural and organic foods. September 20, 1980. John Mackey believes that we all have the right to know how the food we eat is raised and treated.
Philosophy:
John Mackey believes that the best things in life do not require money. Which is why he cut his salary to $1 and would donate his stock portfolio to charity, and set up a $100,000 emergency fund for staff facing personal problems. In the letter he wrote when announced to reduce his salary, he wrote: "I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart."
"Every business has a potential to have a higher purpose besides making money." Mackey said.
Mackey calls it a no brainer.
"Happy team members, result in happy customers, which result in happy investors –viola, your business flourishes and is successful," he said.
Sources Cited:
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/22577705/getting-personal-with-whole-foods-ceo-john-mackey
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/person/john-mackey
John Mackey was born on August 15, 1953 in Houston, Texas. His parents are Bill and Margaret Mackey. For being a person who is a firm believer in healthy, clean eating, his childhood did not consist of a healthy diet rather he had an American diet. He ate many processed foods and hamburgers and French fries. He wasn't a vegetarian in his early years of age. But that was the beginning of his awakening of his food consciousness.
John Mackey was a student of philosophy and religion at the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University in the 1970s, and worked at a vegetarian co-op.
Previous careers John Mackey worked in was in 1980 when he and his then girlfriend Renee had $45,000 of the $50,000 needed to open a store. They called it Safer Way. It is now Cabelli's School in Austin. It lasted two years. They slept upstairs and ran business downstairs. That's when his politics shifted.
The company:
Whole Foods Market is an American foods supermarket chain specializing in natural and organic foods. September 20, 1980. John Mackey believes that we all have the right to know how the food we eat is raised and treated.
Philosophy:
John Mackey believes that the best things in life do not require money. Which is why he cut his salary to $1 and would donate his stock portfolio to charity, and set up a $100,000 emergency fund for staff facing personal problems. In the letter he wrote when announced to reduce his salary, he wrote: "I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart."
"Every business has a potential to have a higher purpose besides making money." Mackey said.
Mackey calls it a no brainer.
"Happy team members, result in happy customers, which result in happy investors –viola, your business flourishes and is successful," he said.
Sources Cited:
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/22577705/getting-personal-with-whole-foods-ceo-john-mackey
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/person/john-mackey