CEO Transition
April 28th, 2022
CEO Transition
OUR CEO IS STEPPING ASIDE
Gabe and Bronwen after making the announcement to the team.
At the end of this week I’ll be stepping down as CEO, marking another transformation to relieve stress in my lifelong pursuit of health, happiness and stepping aside.
I had a functional medicine doctor tell me years ago that I probably couldn’t be healthy as a CEO in the Bay Area. I had been working two taxing jobs when I got this prognosis. I was running Fare Resources (before we changed our name to Just Fare) in the margins of working the other most demanding job of my career - leading the Global employee food program at Airbnb. I’d been getting multiple infections, barely sleeping and generally neglecting myself in every respect. The final straw was the day before I was set to fly internationally for my first time for Airbnb, I thought I had a stroke. I was in an SF Whole Foods talking to my mom, buying plane snacks, and my vision started to blur. I couldn’t see straight or focus. I stupidly drove home, got in bed, only to awake a few minutes later with the left side of my body numb. I panicked even more yet knew I had to rely on calming my breath to work up energy to get to the other room and call 911. After five hours in the ER and loads of cognitive tests they diagnosed my first migraine and said I was clear to fly to Ireland the next day, which I did. A few hours after leaving the ER, when I got on the plane, I realized my life had become all about work and little about self. I wasn’t yet capable of managing stress and that job was stressssful. At the time I thought my work and career were the most important aspects of life. I vowed to not settle until I got healthy. Just Fare and Airbnb are two of the best things that have happened to me professionally for a number of reasons, but they’ve also taken significant tolls on my health.
I’ve struggled with emotional, physical, spiritual and mental health my entire life. I’ve had terrible allergies, sinus and sleep issues, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal challenges, mental and emotional diagnosis’ and a general feeling of lethargy and inadequate healthy conditions in most environments since childhood. I’m an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and have the gene mutation MTHFR (40% of us have it but most don’t know). This mainly means I don’t process and expel toxins at the same rate of people who don’t have the mutation. And believe me, toxins are everywhere. My commitment to finding healthier pathways, in every aspect of the way I live, is a lifelong process and priority I’ve taken to extremes. Recently I moved back to VT to live in a rural, serene place where I feel I can do my ‘other’ life’s work - healing while seeking happiness and wholeness farming and homesteading.
Announcing my CEO transition 10 years after that doctor’s assessment is one of the final (and largest) decisions I’ve made to reorient life to meet the goal of optimal health. And while I do believe I’m well on my way to being the healthiest I’ve ever been I’m scared shitless of the unknowns on the other side of many major life transitions. Entrepreneurs take huge risks, as do so many of us everyday in ways big and small, and this is no exception. I’m not stepping down from this role to start another company or job, I’m doing so to prioritize health and let someone else lead.
Fortunately and by design we’ve created a culture at Just Fare where we prioritize health and wellness and support one another in finding pathways there. My colleagues have been encouraging of my move, stepping down from the role and upcoming sabbatical. It doesn’t come easily for most of us as we’ve been conditioned to ignore our health in the interests of career, compensation, status or American standards. Whether we’ve learned this through the culinary and hospitality profession or it’s systematically built into our families, communities and society - many of us are in pursuit of unlearning how to be careerist as our primary goal. Especially in the Bay Area where most assume your profession defines your person. Instead, what if we started and sought companies and careers in food and hospitality (or any service-oriented sector) as serving the purpose of giving to our wellbeing first and foremost. That’s the opposite approach the industry I’ve loved and worked in my entire career has shown me. However, Just Fare’s carving a new path that is tasking many of us to test our edges and imagine the opposite systems we’ve been led to believe are a priority.
The path to a CEO transition has been a long time coming and has become more clear as Bronwen has grown and evolved in her role as Chief Business Officer over the last four years, though she’s worked here for six! The company is also in a better place financially, operationally and culturally. That’s in large part because of the work of my co-founders, Bronwen and Gavin and countless colleagues (current and former) that have made Just Fare a great place to work. I’m able to focus on my health because the business has prioritized its health and vitality and done amazing things over the last two years.
We’re very proud that we’ve retained over 70% of our colleagues last year while generating an additional 17% wealth for people as we’re already positioned to rebound to pre-pandemic production volumes! We’ve continued on our mission to create healthy and beneficial career paths, provide a great working and growth environment and generate wealth and dignified jobs and food for employees and communities. We’ve become clearer about our identity as a social enterprise after launching our Community Kitchen which has now fed over 405,000 dignified meals!
I’ve realized for some time that I would eventually step down as CEO, as I've become more aware of my white male privilege and the desire to guide us towards a more diverse and inclusive organization. I’m giddy to hand the reins over to Bronwen who is one of the most capable, compassionate, dedicated and intelligent people I’ve had the opportunity to work with. We’ve been friends and colleagues for a decade and have always bonded around food, community and people (our companies guiding principles). She’s the best, I love her and she’s going to thrive in the CEO role! And in order for Bron to thrive she must also prioritize self-care and family above all else. What if that was each of our number one career goal?!?
To give space and voice to new people, whom have maybe never been given the opportunity to hold a position of leadership because of their gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity is paramount. I hope more white male founders and leaders will consider doing so as an important part of their career path. We must create more inclusive and equitable companies and societies. If we are to move away from a culture of individualism and dehumanizing systems we can give rise to people and perspectives that don’t look like ours. That’s a very good thing. We know that most societies function because of the tireless, physically and emotionally demanding work of people who provide service, care for others and do jobs that are taxing on our health. More control and power should be given to those that have often not had a seat at the table and can speak to these challenges. Just Fare continues to fulfill our vision to build a more just world where food is a force for social change by rethinking standards rooted in sexism, classism, racism, capitalism and patriarchy.
As I officially transition out of the CEO role I’ve held for the better part of 13 years, and Bronwen takes the helm, I’ll be embarking on a sabbatical. I plan to focus on rest, holistic health and digging into the earth. I’ll stay within the company in a different position and to serve a couple key programs that we have going or start new initiatives we yearn to launch. I’ll be taking a digital detox so please send a postcard or better yet stop by if you happen to be in the Northeast, reach me at my personal email farmergabrielc@gmail.com or give me a call or text on my cell.
May we always be in pursuit of the true source of our health and happiness!
<3,
Gabriel
Gabe with one of his work besties, T.
AND NOW A FEW WORDS FORM OUR NEW CEO!
What a gift it is to be able to hit a professional and personal milestone at the same time: taking on the CEO role at Just Fare while allowing my dear friend and colleague to fulfill a lifelong dream and do what is best for him. We should all be able to make these sorts of decisions - ones that balance professional goals and personal ones that positively impact both ourselves and those in our communities - and is something we continue to strive to make a reality for everyone who works at Fare. Gabe and I are great examples of what having a workplace that prioritizes sustainability in all its many forms, from bottom line performance to mental health, can allow a person to achieve. I am the mother of two small children and am taking on a position that I wasn’t sure would ever jive with that role and yet here I am with the utmost confidence that we have built a culture, team of people and support system that can make it work. I couldn’t be more excited about the future of Fare and the part I get to play in it and can’t wait to share more about the amazing things we’re doing and plan to do in the coming months and years - most likely accompanied by some great kid pics, too.
Xo
Bron
The Just Fare team at our recent gathering - a first in nearly three years!