Whole Earth Provision Co.: More Than a Store

Holland Jones, Vice President of Whole Earth Provision Co., has done it all. From being raised in the store to now revamping the idea of what it means to be outside, Holland is more than just a businessman: he’s a nature guru. Our Catherine Groff met with him to discuss what Whole Earth means to him, and where it’s going next.

Catherine: Hi Holland! How are you today?

Holland: Doing well, how are you doing?

Catherine: I’m doing okay, thank you! Can you tell me some more background into your undergraduate time at TCU? How did this prepare you for your position with Whole Earth?

Holland: I grew up in Austin around UT. I loved UT, but when an opportunity arose at TCU, I took it. I really enjoyed my time at TCU. In regards to my degree, no one in Whole Earth has a business degree. Certainly no one in ownership or management. You would be hard pressed to find anyone on the tree with a business degree. There is a lot of thinking outside the box, always has been since the ‘70s and before and this comes with different fields of education. For me, I got a degree in what I was interested in. Whole Earth is an open culture of a lot of ideas and concepts and pushing boundaries and thinking differently. Having a different degree gave me a new perspective. 

Catherine: I love that. You can really see these different perspectives in the merchandise in your store. I’ve loved learning about the rich history of the store, and the founders. Can you tell me about them?

Holland: Yes! There are the four owners. Jack and Linda Jones, Joe Jones, and Walter Wakefield. Joe is my father, Jack is my uncle and Linda was my aunt. 

Joe and Jack grew up in Del Rio, Texas. Boy Scouts, outdoors, camping, and early respect for nature were a big part of their life. They were in a rural ranching and agriculture community, so there is curiosity about nature there too. Two different perspectives of nature growing up.

 Linda grew up in Texas and Canada. Canada’s big wide expanses of nature gave Linda a great love and respect for the environment. 

Walter grew up in California in a rural town and he and his father had gone every year to go and camp for a month. They went out in the forest, which was way ahead of the curve in terms of camping and hiking. He was involved with the Sierra Club and was more into backpacking and gear.

 They all met at UT. They all brought different perspectives. Whole Earth is about... a lot. It is an “outdoor lifestyle”, but there is more to it.

Catherine: What do you find to be unique about Whole Earth as opposed to other stores with similar merchandise?

Holland: Something about Whole Earth is we really put the customer’s needs first; we’re here to help you, not push a sale. Everyone at Whole Earth loves when a customer comes in and we get to help them solve a problem; we even get excitement from vicariously enjoying the fun they are about to have. Sometimes customers don’t buy anything at all. As long as their needs are met, we feel we’ve done our job to help them. Anyone who has worked in our shoe department has adjusted countless pairs of Chaco Sandals that a customer purchased elsewhere or online and could never adjust; we’re happy to help dial them in and make sure they have the best experience splashing around the creek or paddle boarding the lake. In the end we know if we are good to them then they will be good to us and we will all be happy.

Catherine: When it comes to activities in nature, the “outdoor” trends are always changing. How has Whole Earth adapted to these trends? How do y’all keep up?

Holland: We for sure have adapted. Not only in outdoor but across all lines of business. There are areas we have moved out of. We used to carry beekeeping equipment but we have adapted through the times. We are always curious about what is happening in the outdoors and staying up to date.

I mean our staff works to go on vacation. When they go on vacation they take their kids and go do this stuff. They do all these different things. In a way, we are the same as our customers. A running joke is try to go into the store and not buy something… and we work there. We will meet people there before we take them to the office and we come back with a bag full of stuff we didn't even know we have. We keep up with the trends because it is important to us as well as the customer.

Catherine: Now that you are involved in the offices of Whole Earth, I am sure you see first hand how philanthropic your company is. How would you say Whole Earth adapts to local and community needs?

Holland: It is dynamic and always changing. We get a lot of requests and try to fill as many as possible. We want to be good stewards and make sure that we do our research. We get a lot of requests from staff, their kid’s school or their own projects. We also prefer things that involve the local community. What’s great is each store location can have their own budget for their specific community. 

Our staff travels to various state parks so we also like those. Our biggest partnership is with Texas State Parks. We also host The Banff Mountain Film Festival. We started hosting this event because it was a fun, neat and exciting idea. When we started, we just ran it for fun; but it turned into one of The Banff Mountain Film Festival’s largest events in North America. Later, Texas State Parks came to us and they appreciated our work and wanted to partner to help raise funds for the parks. There is so little public land in Texas so we jumped at the opportunity. We wanted to link Texas State Parks with The Banff Mountain Film Festival. We felt the customers would love it and appreciate it. We have been running Banff as a fundraiser ever since. With ticket sales and customer donations we have raised over $250,000 over the years we have done this.

Catherine: So, growing up in Austin I am sure you are well versed in the nature spots. Do you have any favorites?

Holland: Oh man. I don't know if there is a favorite. Everyone loves the Greenbelt. From growing up in Austin to now, the Greenbelt is a different place, there is a ton more traffic and people. But I see this as a good thing as the more people learn to love nature and the outdoors the better. We do need to be careful not to love a place to death, and everyone needs to make sure to leave a place as they’ve found it: take your trash out, respect others, etc. Having this resource so easily accessible to so many is a great thing. The more that people have a connection to the outdoors is fantastic and hopefully leads to better lives and a better environment. To find the real secret spots you’ll have to come in and ask our staff!

Catherine: What are some of your favorite aspects of the Whole Earth Fan Base?

Holland: The community has really rallied around us during Covid. The love we have shown for them, they have shown back. We try to be a good steward to our community and now our community has come back and supported us in this time that is hard on small businesses. 

We try to do the same thing. We take good care of our staff. Through the ice storm everyone got paid for their shifts. The stores were closed but our staff was hurting so everyone got paid. It is a family and we want to keep it that way

As a local company we love interaction, and bringing modern online interaction to our business. We love interactive events. My mother does a weekly story time; she sits on the couch in our office and reads a kids book. Even her two new puppies come on air.

Catherine: Any Last words to The UT Community?

Holland: We were founded right next to UT. Everybody in the founding community was a recent grad or a current student at UT at the time. For many years we had our original store right next to campus. UT, the beating heart of Texas has always been a big part of the store and still is. Tons of UT students work at our stores. Our goal is getting people to get out and enjoy and follow their passions in nature. It is not just about one trip, but about living your whole life. Your afternoon jog, taking your dog to Zilker is just as good as going on a camping trip. Take a minute and breathe and roll your windows down while you drive. It’s everyday.  

You heard him, Drifters, get out there and enjoy nature! In need of some suggestions around Austin?

Try:

The Greenbelt

Mueller Lake Park

Outdoor markets on South Congress (Weekends)

Boggy Creek Farmstand (Wednesday-Saturday)

And of course, Zilker 

Photos by Doris Tang

Art by Avery Herring