John Mackey, the co-founder and former CEO of Whole Food Market, shared his views of capitalism as a force for good from the stage of Blackwell Auditorium at the Center for the Performing Arts on March 11.

The lecture and following Q&A session led by business professor Berina Yerkic-Husejnovic were part of the Arthur McKinley Reynolds Speakers Series. The evening began with introductions from RMC President Robert R. Lindgren and Tyler Steigerwald ’26, a finance and economics double-major with a minor in accounting.

Mackey opened his talk with a robust endorsement of capitalism as an economic model and pointed to a history of economic freedom leading to prosperity and declining poverty.

“When entrepreneurs can innovate, that’s when societies make progress,” Mackey argued.

Mackey went on to discuss “conscious capitalism,” a concept in which he is a thought leader and best-selling author. The ethos of the movement also helped Whole Foods grow from a single organic grocery store in Austin, Texas to 540 stores in the U.S., U.K., and Canada with annual sales exceeding $22 billion, while transforming the grocery store market along the way.

In detailing his successes, Mackey expressed pride that for 20 straight years Whole Foods was named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, and that providing workers with purpose and love was crucial. He also explained how business leaders should consider all stakeholders (though not necessarily equally) when making decisions and seek win-win-win solutions.

Other tentpoles of Mackey’s conscious capitalism model include integrity in leadership and purpose for businesses beyond simply making money. He pointed to Whole Foods as an example of a business whose purpose is “to nourish people.”

When fielding questions from the audience, Mackey was asked what advice he would give himself if he could go back in time. “I wouldn’t tell him anything,” Mackey responded. “I’ve made a ton of mistakes, but they made me who I am today.”

Before the lecture, Mackey also spent time speaking with and answering questions from RMC business students. There, he spoke on how every person must answer a personal call for a “hero’s journey” and urged those with an entrepreneurial spirit to answer the question “what’s missing for you that you’d like to have?” He also emphasized how being a lifelong learner—studying things like philosophy and religion in college—helped him succeed in business.

About the Reynolds Lecture

The Reynolds Speakers Series is made possible by the generosity of the late Arthur McKinley Reynolds, Jr., a retired ophthalmologist who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from RMC in 1947 and a degree in medicine from VCU School of Medicine, and his wife, Janet Reynolds.  The fund is dedicated in memory of Mack’s parents, Arthur McKinley Reynolds, Sr., a 1925 alumnus of RMC, and Susan Minton Reynolds. 

The Reynolds Speakers Series supports individuals of learning and practical accomplishment, exponents of a philosophy favoring free markets, limited government, and individual freedom and responsibility, and who apply those values to illuminate contemporary social, political, and economic issues. Past speakers have included Chris Wallace, Ben Stein, Moira and Steve Forbes, and Newt Gingrich.