Minneapolis resident and Tires Plus founder Tom Gegax isn’t a car guy

Tom Gegax had an admirable midlife crisis.

“I was a toxic CEO. Profits over people,” the Tires Plus co-founder and longtime Minneapolis resident says near the beginning of “Confessions of a CEO,” a new documentary that details his transformation into a leader who prioritizes environmental issues, health and being kind to others over making money. To find out how to watch the film on demand, visit confessionsofaceomovie.com.

Radiation from treatment has made his voice weak, but the 78-year-old cancer survivor still plays tennis a few times a week and travels extensively with his wife, Mary Wescott.

When we visited the couple at their Lake of the Isles home earlier this month, he seemed to be embracing every joy in life — except coffee.

Q: Wait. You’ve never had coffee?

Gegax: Never had a cup in my life. It’s the smell. I have almond milk and apple juice in the morning. I’m kind of a health nut.

Q: Do you have a cheat food?

Gegax: Mary makes quasi-healthy pancakes. They have egg and buttermilk. For me, that’s cheating.

Q: I was hoping you’d say something like Taco Bell. Isn’t there something that you really miss?

Gegax: I used to love red meat. I have sugar every now and then. But I’m an addict. I haven’t had chocolate in 30 years. Well, there was one exception. It was my granddaughter’s birthday, and she convinced me take a bite of her cake. For some people, sugar is OK. For me, it’s poison. But I love the taste of chocolate.

Q: What local restaurants do you like?

Gegax: We like Crave, Salut and Hazelwood Food+Drink. Our first date was at Cafe Brenda.

Wescott: We recently had local chef Robin Asbell cook a bunch of stuff for us. She’s really good.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to?

Gegax: I like electronic music. Satin Jackets, Empire of the Sun, Miami Horror. [Pulls up one of Miami Horror’s songs on his computer.] We recently saw Dionne Warwick in concert.

Wescott: One time, we went to a concert at Berry Gordy’s house. Amazing. Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder all performed. We were sitting by Barbra Streisand. The neighborhood had a noise curfew, so Diana thought she wouldn’t be able to sing. But Barry told her to sing a cappella. We all sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” with her. We were in awe. I don’t need to go to any concerts after that.

Q: What about movies?

Gegax: We watch one almost every night. Because of my condition, it takes me a long time to eat, like an hour and half, so we’ll watch a movie at dinner. My favorites are “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Doctor Zhivago.” We recently saw “The Catcher Was a Spy.” It didn’t get great reviews, but I enjoyed it. We like stories based on real lives.

Wescott: Movies are one of our favorite subjects. We recently rewatched “Cinderella Man” and “Awakenings.” We also saw a documentary on the history of Warner Bros. and lots of great stuff on Marilyn Monroe. We enjoyed the recent documentary on Yogi Berra. We like stuff we can relate to and remember from our time growing up.

Q: Tom, you played a lot of sports as a kid. Favorite sports movies?

Gegax: “Hoosiers” and “Rudy.” They’re both based in Indiana, which is where I grew up.

Q: How do you stay in shape?

Gegax: I go to Life Time when I’m in Minneapolis. I still play a lot of tennis. My goal is to still play at the age of 100. It’s probably not going to happen, but that’s the dream.

Q: Since you started Tires Plus, I’ve got to ask what kind of car you drive.

Gegax: I’ve had the same Smart car for 17 years. I don’t know anything about cars. Before my transformation, I had a Jaguar and a BMW, but that was all about ego. Right now, we only have two cars. Mary has a Mercedes.

Q: “Confessions” shows your close relationship with several politicians, including Al Gore and Robert Kennedy Jr. Which political leader have you admired most?

Wescott: [Former U.S. senator] Paul Wellstone. He sat in this very living room.

Gegax: He cared about people. He had courage, but he was also humble.

Q: Where do you two like to go to get away?

Wescott: We’ve been to some exciting places, like Uluru in Australia. We were in India for the wedding of Deepak Chopra’s daughter. There were painted elephants. We happened to be in the south of France when it was Veterans Day and we met some French veterans who called Tom’s dad to thank him for his service.

Gegax: Right here. There’s no place like home.

The Minnesota Interview is a feature in which we dive deep into the personal side of public figures with special ties to our region and readers.