{"id":249237,"date":"2024-07-30T13:55:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T13:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/30\/whole-foods-ceo-works-out-twice-a-day-and-fully-uses-up-his-pto-his-key-to-work-life-balance\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:13:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:13:36","slug":"whole-foods-ceo-works-out-twice-a-day-and-fully-uses-up-his-pto-his-key-to-work-life-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/30\/whole-foods-ceo-works-out-twice-a-day-and-fully-uses-up-his-pto-his-key-to-work-life-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Whole Foods\u2019 CEO works out twice a day and \u2018fully uses up\u2019 his PTO. His key to work-life balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jason Buechel, 46, took the top job in 2022, just five years after Amazon<\/a> bought the high-end grocer for over $13.7 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As chief executive, Buechel works on a tight schedule consisting of frequent business travel and a \u201cminimum of ten meetings per day\u201d\u2014but that doesn\u2019t stop him from taking care of himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Buechel loves to travel internationally and has a trip to Europe later this year.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF JASON BUECHEL<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI highly prioritize PTO<\/a>,\u201d Buechel tells Fortune<\/em> in a recent interview. \u201cSo I do use all of my allocation each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whole Foods\u2019 team members accrue PTO based on seniority and years spent at the company, but regardless of how many vacation days one has, Buechel emphasizes using all of it to \u201creplenish, relax, and unwind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the things we\u2019ve changed within Whole Foods Market,\u201d Buechel says, referring to the company\u2019s previous PTO policy which allowed employees to cash out their unused vacation hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the scheme often ended with employees opting out of their hard-earned time off, which Buechel believes can be detrimental to one\u2019s mental health. Under a Whole Foods Reddit thread, <\/a>one employee calculated that one team member was bound to earn up to $26,000 due to 2,000 unused PTO hours.<\/p>\n

To ensure staff are taking vacations<\/a> away from work, Whole Foods\u2019 new policy places a cap on how many hours can be banked, which Buechel argues \u201creally forces people to make sure they are taking PTO\u2026and ultimately having a great work-life balance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Skimping on taking PTO is a trend seen across corporate America. A 2023 survey<\/a> by CalendarLabs found that 80% of employees felt guilty about taking PTO and 38% of U.S. workers did not use all their time off.<\/p>\n

Buechel is bucking the trend and makes a point to \u201calways ask\u201d his team members about what they\u2019ve planned for their next vacation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important for me to help set that example,\u201d he says. <\/em>This principle helps Buechel lead a balanced life, and he gave Fortune<\/em> an exclusive look into his daily routine and wellness habits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whole Foods CEO\u2019s daily routine<\/strong><\/h2>\n

6:00 a.m.:<\/strong> After waking up \u201cno later than\u201d 6 a.m., Buechel does what most of us are guilty of.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst thing I\u2019m typically doing is, I hate to say it, I\u2019m checking my phone,\u201d he tells Fortune.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After skimming through his email inbox, he ventures out on a morning run<\/a> that averages around five to six miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"The
The Whole Foods CEO has run six marathons.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF WHOLE FOODS<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Whole Foods chief, who has also completed six marathons, \u201cloves\u201d finishing his workouts with a smoothie breakfast consisting of mushroom, vegan, and vanilla protein powder<\/a>, plus oatmeal, bananas, peanut butter, and chia seeds.<\/p>\n

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\"Jason
Buechel \u201cloves\u201d to finish his workouts with having a smoothie.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF WHOLE FOODS<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

8:00 a.m.: <\/strong>Work begins with attending to more emails, catching up on news, or listening to a podcast while he gets ready to commute to Whole Foods\u2019 headquarters in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n

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\"Whole
Buechel says he has a \u201cminimum\u201d of ten meetings per day.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF WHOLE FOODS<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A lunch of \u201cwhole foods\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Being the CEO of one of the biggest grocery stores in the country comes with its perks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI happen to work above one of the best places to eat in Austin, which is our flagship store,\u201d says Buechel, which makes it easy for him to walk down and pick his own lunch from the grocer\u2019s lavish salad bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Jason
Jason Buechel getting lunch from Whole Foods\u2019 salad bar.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF WHOLE FOODS<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI really care about what I\u2019m putting in my body,\u201d he tells Fortune, <\/em>noting that he typically eats a vegan <\/a>diet for breakfast and lunch. \u201cI ultimately see the impacts of how it impacts my performance, my happiness, my well-being, and even my sleep<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

6:00 p.m.: <\/strong>Buechel wraps up work by 6 p.m., unwinding with a second workout session at the gym or a simple walk <\/a>to \u201cstay active,\u201d followed by a second round of grocery shopping at Whole Foods to prep for a dinner consisting of animal proteins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

12:00 a.m.:<\/strong> To ensure \u201ca solid six hours\u201d of sleep, Buechel hits the hay no later than midnight, just after reading a book in bed.<\/p>\n

Saunas and plunges<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Like many CEOs who swear by the benefits of cold plunges<\/a>, Buechel also touts a \u201cgreat protocol hack\u201d he started doing several years ago: 30 minutes of infrared sauna followed by two to three rounds of alternating three-minute cold and hot plunges, ending with a cold plunge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the cold is definitely painful while you\u2019re doing it,\u201d says Buechel, \u201cyour body feels amazing afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n

An \u201cenriched life\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\"Jason
Jason Buechel hiking with friends.<\/figcaption>

COURTESY OF JASON BUECHEL<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When Buechel is not working, he\u2019s traveling, hiking, doing outdoor challenges with friends, watching sports, or enjoying Austin\u2019s live music scene. \u201cI look at it as having an enriched life,\u201d he tells Fortune.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s making sure I always have time to unplug and that I\u2019m taking care of myself.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

View the new Fortune 50 Best Places to Live for Families list. Discover the 2024 top destinations across the U.S. for multigenerational families to live, thrive, and find community. Explore the list<\/a>.<\/div>\n

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[ad_1] Jason Buechel, 46, took the top job in 2022, just five years after Amazon bought the high-end grocer for over $13.7 billion.\u00a0 As chief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}