TruthWorks · 2026-07-28 · 56 min
What does it actually take to build the people function at a company that went from a design tool to a global platform of 5,500 people? Jennie Rogerson, Chief People Officer at Canva, joins Jessica Neal and co-host Peter Clarke on Truth Works for a conversation about culture as an operating system, not a perk. Jennie's path into the role is one of the more unlikely ones in tech. She came up through hospitality, running restaurant floors where 220 covers a night meant 220 individual experiences to manage. She moved into hospitality tech, then got dragged to an after-work Canva workshop on making better presentations - and walked out convinced she had to work there. She applied. She didn't get the jobs. A colleague told her to look elsewhere. She ignored the advice. When the executive assistant role for co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht opened up, thousands of people applied, and Jennie had no experience in the domain. So instead of a resume, she built a website. Canva launched Canva Websites the night before she planned to send it, so she rebuilt the entire thing on the product overnight.
Only 65,000 H-1B visas exist per year! This is what decides it - Jeff Joseph82 / 100The Modern-Day Napoleon Hill: Why Most People Don't Believe in Themselves! Evan Carmichael48 / 100Rubrik CEO: From A $1,000-A-Month Garage In San Francisco To A Public CompanyThe Groupon PM Who Built A Supersonic Jet: "I Couldn't Find The Reason It Was A Bad Idea" | Blake SchollThe CEO Who Saved Homebuyers A Billion Dollars: Why Founder Mode Is A Lie | Glenn Kelman