Whole Foods grew to 540 stores
Under Mackey's 44-year tenure, Whole Foods grew from a single Austin, Texas store to 540 locations across the US, UK, and Canada with $22B in annual sales.
Snapshot · On Purpose with Jay Shetty
John Mackey: Not Sure You're on the Right Path In Your Career? (Use THIS Framework When You Feel Lost About What's Next)
Explore episode
Jun 24, 2026
Where this was said
Intro
At 2:05 · chapter starts 0:00
The episode kicks off with back-to-back network promos — Kal Penn's EarSay audiobook club and a CarMax pre-qualification ad — before Jay Shetty drops a brief, compelling preview of what's to come: Mackey reflecting on whether he ever believed Whole Foods would fail, and his two-word formula for employee retention. Shetty's formal introduction follows, tracing Mackey's transformation of a single Austin store into a 540-location, $22 billion enterprise, and noting his co-authorship of several books including Conscious Capitalism and today's subject, The Whole Story. It's a warm, high-energy opening that frames Mackey as both a business titan and a philosophical thinker.
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