The Beyond the Board podcast was created to deepen Whole Foods Market’s storytelling by moving beyond short-form content into an intimate, long-form audio format that elevates the voices behind the brands on our shelves. Building on the success of two initial video interviews in 2024, the idea driving the work was simple but powerful: meaningful, purpose-driven stories are best told directly by the leaders living them.
The primary objective was to create a branded podcast platform that strengthens trust, credibility, and emotional connection by showcasing founder- and CEO-led conversations with Whole Foods Market leadership, including CEO Jason Buechel. By positioning these discussions as leader-to-leader dialogues, the series aimed to authentically highlight innovation, values, and social impact across the food and wellness ecosystem.
The series was designed to strengthen emotional connection with Team Members through a more personal internal storytelling channel, while simultaneously extending Whole Foods Market’s cultural relevance externally by meeting audiences where they already consume long-form content. By amplifying diverse, purpose-driven supplier voices, Beyond the Board brings the brand’s values to life through credible third-party storytelling. From the start, the platform was built to be both scalable and efficient, allowing Whole Foods Market to maximize existing content capture while increasing frequency, reach, and long-term impact.
Beyond the Board was executed as a highly intentional podcast designed to integrate seamlessly into existing business moments. Episodes were recorded when suppliers and partners were already onsite during industry events, leadership travel, or scheduled meetings. This allowed the team to increase volume and consistency without adding production burden. This approach enabled the series to scale quickly while maintaining a relaxed, conversational tone that feels authentic.
To bring the podcast to life, the team developed a repeatable production and distribution model: light-touch audio production to preserve intimacy; a consistent episode length to fit into busy schedules; and a flexible hosting structure featuring Whole Foods Market’s leadership team. Each episode was supported by media assets including short audio and visual clips, still imagery, and newsroom content, allowing stories to travel across internal channels, executive social platforms, guest-owned channels, and earned media.
A challenge was designing a podcast that could serve both internal Team Members and external audiences without fragmenting the story. This was addressed by centering every episode on leadership, purpose, and impact, themes that resonate regardless of audience, while tailoring amplification by channel.
Beyond the Board successfully met its core objectives by establishing a new, trusted storytelling platform that deepened connection, expanded reach, and elevated supplier voices through authentic, long-form conversations. Officially launched in 2025 as Whole Foods Market’s first podcast, the series concluded its inaugural year with 20 episodes featuring founders, chefs, and industry thought leaders shaping the future of food and wellness.
Internally, the podcast created a more personal and accessible way for Team Members to engage with leadership and supplier stories, reinforcing Whole Foods Market’s purpose and values through voices they already trust. The long-form audio format enabled greater depth and emotional resonance than previous short-form content, strengthening connection.
Externally, Beyond the Board extended Whole Foods Market’s cultural relevance by meeting audiences on major podcast platforms and through earned media, executive social channels, and guest amplification. By launching with high-profile, purpose-driven guests and maintaining a consistent release cadence, the series positioned the brand as a credible convener of leaders driving innovation in food and wellness. The podcast has also deepened supplier relationships, with more than 50 suppliers requesting to appear as guests over the past six months.
Performance results underscored the podcast’s impact. Since its May 2025 launch, Beyond the Board has ranked in the top 25% of podcasts overall using Buzzsprout’s measurement guidelines. The series also demonstrated strong listener engagement, achieving a 54.1% conversion rate from interest to consumption on Spotify as of November 2025.
