Originally posted on Atlanta Inno by Zach Armstrong on January 10, 2023.
Stephanie Nadi Olson, founder of Atlanta-based on-demand marketplace We Are Rosie, is stepping down as CEO after nearly five years of building her fast-growing business.
The announcement comes as Olson has received multiple accolades within the past year for the quick success of her company. In August, she was named a Most Admired CEO by Atlanta Business Chronicle. She was named one of Atlanta Magazine‘s 2022 Women Making a Mark in June. In August, We Are Rosie was ranked No. 232 on Inc.’s 5000 list for having 2,267% growth over three years. Atlanta Inno named We Are Rosie a 2022 Startup to Watch.
She is succeeded by Jeff Levick, a former executive of multiple tech companies. Olson will lead the company’s board of directors as executive chair. The move was effective Jan. 9.
Levick has spent over 20 years working in media, marketing and digital growth companies. Most recently, he was chief operating officer of venture firm studio Redesign Health after being CEO of The Players’ Tribune, a digital media founded by Derek Jeter. He was Spotify’s chief revenue officer from 2011 to 2016 and was president of global advertising and strategy at AOL from 2009 to 2011.
The leadership change comes about a year after Ohio-based Align Capital Partners made an undisclosed investment into the company that valued it at $110 million. That investment was used to hire 30 employees and bolster the company’s tech operations.
Olson, a mother of two, has referred to herself as a corporate refugee. After working inflexible hours for years at Microsoft and AOL, she saw an alternative to the usual day-to-day workflow. Inspired by her daughters, she wanted to help create a work environment that accepts every lifestyle.
Founded in 2018, We Are Rosie is meant for marketing professionals. Customers are paired with teams or individuals for projects and get to choose their own hours. It also provides career development and forums for professionals to connect with each other.
“I wanted to gather up all the corporate refugees, the moms, the caregivers … the people who have been discriminated against so they don’t want to go into the office … and I’m going to give you work that respects what you need in your personal life,” Olson told Atlanta Inno in 2021.
While companies were skeptical about the platform’s flexibility at first, Olson believes the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the trend of flexible work.
We Are Rosie currently has over 20,000 clients and 53 full-time employees, according to the company. It works with over 25 Fortune 500 businesses such as Bumble, Meta, IBM and Microsoft.