How a former self-proclaimed socialist turned a tiny market in an old Victorian house into a healthy-food juggernaut and became one of America’s most beloved capitalists.

John Mackey, a driving force behind the blockbuster growth of Whole Foods Market, opens up with Center for Social Capital’s Chris Benguhe about his book — released just this week — The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism. As he does in his book, his conversation with Chris digs into some very deep personal reasons, not just for how and why he founded the company, but on his life and the direction he took with it.

“The title, The Whole Story, connects to Whole Foods,” John explains, “but the subtitle, Love, Life, and Capitalism, the ‘love life’ refers to my new business that I’m starting up called Love.Life. So, I’ve tied these two together in the title and the subtitle.”

His reasons for writing the book are as enlightening as the book itself. “It completes me with Whole Foods,” he shares. “It’s my final gift, and that’s the first reason. The second reason is that I wrote it for myself because … you learn a lot about yourself when you write a book like this.”

Like any great story, it’s full of surprising twists and turns. “I think the important thing to understand is that I had absolutely no background in business whatsoever,” John shares. “In fact, I disdained business when I was in my early 20s. I thought of myself, in my college days, as a democratic socialist, and that business was greedy and selfish.” Initially focused on a degree in philosophy, his move into a vegetarian housing co-op introduced him to organic natural foods, which sparked a new excitement.

Combining his “food awakening” and a growing closeness with his dad, John built a success with the Whole Foods business. In fact, as becomes obvious in this interview, one of John’s driving reasons for writing the book is to honor the man who, he says, was “absolutely essential” to his success.

In this interview, John also shares how seriously he took his responsibility to all the friends and family who had invested in his company, and what it meant to him when Whole Foods was finally publicly traded.

As he gets into a discussion of  “good capitalism” and “bad capitalism,” he acknowledges that there are bad actors in business but points out that business has no monopoly on evil people. In fact, he notes, “Most of the judgments about business are, ultimately, judgments about people.” Observing that “capitalism is inherently good,” he says, “Business makes the world go around. … If you do it consciously, you can make it a lot better.”

Now, having exited Whole Foods, John has combined forces with a number of former Whole Foods colleagues to found Love.Life. and disrupt healthcare delivery through one-stop holistic health centers. Noting that, with Whole Foods, “Not only did we have our own customers and our own very successful business, but,” he says, “other businesses copied what we did. That’s going to happen with Love.Life.”

Take a few minutes to share the half-century journey with the man who says he started college as a “seeker looking for the meaning of life and the purpose of life,” and click on the link below for this exclusive interview with John Mackey.