Whole Foods Founder John Mackey Is Taking On Longevity Next With Love.Life

“We are not destined to be a product of our genes,” John Mackey, the co-founder of organic grocery store Whole Foods, tells me. “We have the power to shape our health and well-being through the choices we make every day—whether it’s lifestyle habits like diet, exercise, and sleep, or our mindset.”

After selling Whole Foods to Amazon in 2017 and retiring in 2022, Mackey didn’t stay inactive for long. Both literally—he’s an avid hiker, practices pilates and yoga, and plays pickleball—but also when it came to his next move of conscious capitalism. This month, the plans finally came to fruition—a 45,000 square-foot wellness community space in El Segundo, California named Love.Life.

Exit the California 1 highway (a less scenic part, not directly located on the Pacific coastline) and enter a shopping center with—yes, you guessed it—a Whole Foods, and that’s where you’ll find the first Love.Life location. As I pull up in my Uber, I’m surprised by how unassuming, even a bit residential, it appears all the tech-driven body biohacking that’s said to be going on inside. My morning plans look like this: Meeting Dr. Christina Miller, who is double board-certified in emergency and integrative medicine, and have blood drawn; tour the facility; exercise, which I’m not particularly thrilled about; get a Dexa Scan; and try PEMF device for the first time. That’s something that makes the Love.Life model unique—you can visit doctors, trainers, physiotherapists, and more in the same place, and they all interface on the same software and communicate with each other.

“I’ve had this idea for a long time, and I almost created a similar business in 1985 called LifeWorks,” Mackey says. “While I am very proud of the impact Whole Foods had on bringing healthy natural and organic food mainstream, there are limits to the impact a grocery store can have on improving health. That’s why I am so excited about Love.Life! It’s a continuation of my 40-plus year calling that takes the power of nourishing food and marries it with functional medical care, fitness, and wellness for a holistic approach to health that’s focused on helping people become the healthiest, best version of themselves.”