Sand squished under Melanie’s feet as the sun danced across the Pacific ocean. Clear blue waves lapped at the Hawaiian shore where she stood, holding the handles of a giant kite that would pull her across the water. She was a long way from her home in Australia.

Standing here on the beach was a stark contrast to all of the hours she’d spent sitting in front of a computer, building her dream company from the bottom up.

Now, she needed money so she could share her idea with the world. She’d already asked so many people to support her in her goal. But every one of them had said:

No. [door slam]
Not for us. [door slam]
No, thanks. [door slam]

Without money, Melanie’s dream would flop like a fish out of water.

This trip was her last hope. A man named Bill Tai had invited her all the way across the ocean to join him here. According to Bill, lots of people who liked to invest in new companies also liked to go kite surfing, a sport where a giant kite pulls a surfboard across the water. The riders have to cling on tight, navigating the waves and trusting the board will carry them where they need to go. It’s risky, challenging, and exhilarating. Not unlike the experience of starting a business!

Now, standing on the edge, the wind lifted Melanie’s long black hair and tugged at the wings of the kite. She had never imagined the guts that starting a business would take. She took a few steps and let the kite pull her across the water on her board, the future coming at her… fast and unknown.

I’m Jes Wolfe, entrepreneur and CEO of Rebel Girls.

And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. A fairy tale podcast about the real-life rebel women who inspire us.
On this episode: Melanie Perkins, technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Canva.

Melanie grew up in Perth, Australia, where the Swan River meets the southwest coast. Her mother was an English teacher and her father was an engineer, so Melanie grew up with a love of both creativity and problem solving.

From an early age, Melanie was very focused and loved to throw herself into new hobbies. When she decided she wanted to be a figure skater, she woke up every morning at 4:30 AM to practice. And when she was working on an art project, few things could pull her away before it was finished. Melanie loved working towards a goal and feeling herself get better day after day.

One day, Melanie found herself with a new goal: she wanted to start a business. Melanie began to make fashionable scarves and sell them around her town. People loved them! Melanie decided she would would give the money she earned to charities she admired.

With a little bit of creativity and problem solving, Melanie had found a way to combine her love of art with her deep desire to make the world a better place. And once she got a taste for starting her own business, more ideas started coming faster and faster.

Melanie continued to practice art and design, and at 19, headed for the University of Western Australia to study communications. With her mind full of shapes, colors and fonts, it was easy for her to jump on the computer and put together fabulous presentations for her classes. But she noticed that other students were having a hard time with the design tools that were available. The professional software took time to master, and could be very expensive. It seemed silly for students to spend so much time learning how to use the programs, and so little time getting to create.

Melanie shared this frustration with her boyfriend, Cliff Obrecht. Cliff was studying Arts and Education at the university, and they talked for hours about the hurdles Melanie noticed when she tutored fellow students.

Melanie wanted more people to be able to create art, and thought that maybe some new tools would help. Melanie and Cliff decided to start with one design project that students and teachers dreaded – the yearbook. Every year, students and teachers around the world pulled together thousands of images and descriptions, which could turn into a design DISASTER! Melanie had even seen her own mom struggle to make yearbooks for her school. This seemed like a problem Melanie could help solve.

Melanie was just 19 and Cliff was 20, and neither of them had any real business experience, aside from Melanie’s scarf company in high school. The two borrowed some money from friends and family and launched their first business together – a web-based design tool for making yearbooks.Their goal was for students and teachers to be able to go to a website and move photos and words around easily, making yearbook designs look however they wanted. This was huge! And totally new.

They called their business Fusion Books, and within five years, hundreds of schools across Australia and as far away as France were using their tools.

Fusion Books was a success. And Melanie realized how much she loved starting a business and being an entrepreneur. But Fusion Books was just the beginning. They had succeeded in making design easier for students and teachers. Next up, the world!

Melanie’s dream started to take shape. She wanted her new computer tool to be free, available on the internet, and easy to use– a revolutionary combination in 2010. Melanie knew her idea was different. And SHE was different. When she looked around at other entrepreneurs in the tech world, she saw mostly men, and white ones at that.

But Melanie wasn’t going to let anything stand in her way. The buzz about how she and Cliff wanted to change the world of design eventually led them to Cameron Adams, a designer who had worked for Google. The trio joined forces and called their vision “Canva,” which means “canvas” in French.

Their first problem was funding. The people who give money so that entrepreneurs can start businesses are called investors – because they’re investing their money in the company. Melanie and the Canva team went to hundreds of investors across Australia, but none of them thought that Canva was a good idea.

Another problem was geography. Melanie and Canva were based in Perth, Australia. But most tech investors were over 9,000 miles away, across the world in California’s Silicon Valley.

Even after so much rejection, Melanie never gave up. She remembered the classmates she’d tutored – who wanted to express themselves but didn’t have the tools. Then she thought about all the students and teachers who had made beautiful yearbooks with Fusion Books software.Every time an investor said “NO” to Melanie, it made her go back to her presentation and make it even stronger, more colorful, more bold, daring, and persuasive.

And then one day, after years of hearing “NO,” the Canva team pitched their idea to an investor named Bill Tai, who asked Melanie if she liked kite surfing. “Sure, I love it!” she lied. And then she was off, flying across the ocean to Hawaii for a kite-surfing party, knowing this could be her big chance to meet someone who would believe in her idea.

Melanie had worked so hard– spending time and money, traveling across the world, and even going out on open waters to get the chance to build her dream company.

She had proven success from Fusion Books, the wisdom of an excellent team around her, and knew exactly what customers wanted. This idea could succeed, Melanie just needed someone to give her a chance!

And finally, after a long day of kite surfing in the blue waters, and a little bit of schmoozing afterwards, the right investor said “YES” to Canva.

At long last, Melanie had wind in her sails, AND 3 million dollars of investor money in the bank to make her dream happen. It was time to build this company for real.

Today, the colorful canvas of Melanie’s mind is woven into millions of designs that people create every day. Thanks to her, millions of cards, posters, memes, presentations, and works of art exist that may not have otherwise! In fact, more than 300 designs are made every second. And true to Melanie’s original vision, Canva is easy to use and available for everyone.

Thanks to her perseverance, Melanie is one of the most successful entrepreneurs and founders in the world. And under Melanie’s leadership, Canva has become one of the most valuable, woman-led technology companies ever.

And remember how 14 year old Melanie donated her scarf money to charity? She’s doing a similar thing today. She and Cliff have pledged to donate the vast majority of their wealth to charity over their lifetime, meaning hundreds of millions of dollars will go to good causes.

Melanie did not give up, even after countless rejections. She kept reworking her idea and doing what she does best – using her problem solving skills and creativity! And now thanks to her, millions of people around the world can use their creativity, too. One design at a time.

CREDITS

This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It’s based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This story was narrated by ME, Jes Wolfe. It was produced by Haley Dapkus with sound design and mixing by Mumble Media. It was written by Gina Gotsill. Fact-checking by Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal. Our intern was Arianna Griffiths. Our executive producers were Joy Smith and Jes Wolfe. Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A special thanks to Melanie Perkins and the whole Rebel Girls team who made this podcast possible. Until next time, stay rebel!