Expanding and Evolving the Faire Leadership Team for the Future of Independent Retail

This year, Faire has made significant strides towards our vision of empowering entrepreneurs around the world to build thriving independent retail businesses. Despite economic uncertainties, optimism for small business is on the rise. We have always believed in the resilience of independent brands and retailers, and we are thrilled to be playing a growing role in their lives as they navigate an ever-changing retail landscape. 

In support of our customers, we have been evolving by expanding our leadership team. In the first half of the year, we added two new members to our executive team – Dan Hockenmaier as Chief Strategy Officer and Thuan Pham as Chief Technology Officer – and introduced the new Chief Architect role for Marcelo Cortes. Today, we are announcing two more exciting updates to Faire’s leadership.

Lauren Cooks Levitan will be moving from her role as CFO to President, where she will lead several corporate functions and drive new business development. Lauren joined as our first CFO in 2019 and has skillfully developed our financial and legal teams. Her new role will be an important catalyst in helping us unlock more value for our global customers. Lauren’s depth of knowledge about our business, decades of experience in retail, and influence as a leader make her uniquely qualified to drive this important work for our company.

“I’m incredibly proud of what the Faire team has achieved in the five years since I joined. We’ve supported our customers through unexpected challenges like the early 2020 lockdowns and helped them capitalize on several brand new business opportunities to help them thrive. Along the way, I’ve built strong relationships with many of our brands and retailers and I’m grateful for the opportunity to apply my broad industry experience as we explore new ways to benefit all of our customers. The finance team is in great hands with Jason, and I look forward to collaborating with him to make an even greater impact on independent retail,” said Lauren Cooks Levitan, President of Faire.

Jason Lee, currently VP of Finance, will become the new CFO of Faire. Jason joined Faire 18 months ago after spending over a decade leading finance for Square and investor relations for Block. Since then, Jason has driven some of our most challenging financial and operational work and has helped us improve how we run the business. As CFO, Jason will ensure we are able to pursue the ambitions we have for our customers and ourselves.

“I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs – my parents started and ran an independent grocery business that my sister continues to grow today – and I know firsthand the value local retail provides a community. Faire has a special opportunity to scale a business that will positively impact so many independent brands and retailers around the world,” said Jason Lee, Chief Financial Officer of Faire. 

With these changes, our organization is in a strong position to improve how fast we are able to build and ship great products for our customers. We are well-equipped to fulfill our mission of empowering brands and retailers to strengthen the unique character of their local communities today and for many years to come.