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January 20, 2023 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2022 Women in Digital Awards Customer Experience Leader of the Year, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rebecca Mitrevski!

Rebecca (Bec) is a Product Lead at Canva – an online design and publishing tool with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design anything and publish anywhere.

Rebecca was crowned the Customer Experience Leader of the Year for her work on Canva’s Creator Marketplace, a space built for creators to give Canva users a truly localised experience when they come to Canva.

Executing such a global project of this scale was ambitious and bound to be challenging. Throughout this project led by Rebecca, she demonstrated a totally different level of thinking and creativity, brilliantly leveraging internal resources and talent across Canva to build an efficient, scalable solution to help creators create more local content faster.

The judges were really impressed by the project’s return on investment as well as Rebecca’s ambition, leadership, and mentorship of women in CX.

We were thrilled to talk to our 2022 Customer Experience Leader of the Year about her winning entry, career journey and thoughts on diversity in digital.

Click here to meet all the 2022 Women in Digital Award Winners.

Congratulations Bec! We are so impressed by your entry and obviously so were our judges, but tell us, who is Rebecca Mitrevski?

Well first up, I’m only called Rebecca if I’m in trouble. Otherwise, everyone calls me Bec. My team has also recently given me other nicknames including T-bex, and chew-becca. When in doubt, though, just call me Bec.

Now that that’s out of the way, in a nutshell… I’m Bec, I am a Bikram yoga fanatic, I have a co-dependent relationship with my dog, Bella (pics below, you can see why I’m so attached), and I love building things. At work, that manifests in building products and teams, in my personal life it manifests in mentoring start-ups, and students.

 

What is something that not many people know about you?

I haven’t been to a hairdresser in 4 years. The last time I went, I was in shock after I got the bill and I haven’t been back since. Not proud of it. Part of me admitting this to someone is me reminding myself to get over it.

Who is your professional inspiration?

Mel Perkins. She is so good.

‘Product’ is still largely an emerging discipline. You can’t yet go to university to study a Bachelor in Product and often, people pivot into Product once they are in industry. Tell us, what did your journey to becoming Product Owner and now Product Lead look like?

Yessss this is so true.

First up, I didn’t study tech. I don’t come from a tech family. Both parents were from migrant families, my parents didn’t go to university – my mum didn’t finish high school, and my dad was a bus driver. I grew up in South Western Sydney (Campbelltown, 2560 represent).

Tech was not on my radar when I was growing up and if someone had suggested I go into tech, I would have been waaaaayyyyyy too intimidated. I am here because people opened doors that I didn’t know existed.

When I decided to go to university, I was convinced I was going to be a child psychologist so that I could help children from underprivileged backgrounds. I went to an interview for a psychology scholarship, and afterwards, Nicola Ronan from the university called me and said “Hey, I’m going to put you forward for a double degree scholarship. Take on a commerce degree too. I think you’ll like it.”

And so I studied psychology and commerce and I loved it. In my final year, I did a forensic psychology subject and realised that I probably didn’t have what it takes to be a child psychologist. That was a scary realisation after 5 years of study and when it was time to find a job. 

I then went into Human Resources but realised that also wasn’t for me.

Thankfully, a mentor called George Robinson then took me under his wing and invited me to spend time with his team, which did due diligence on internal transactions >$10m. This is where I learned about the tech space. I remember George saying to me “Go where the money is – Digital or Mandatory, Compliance-led projects”. Digital was way more “Me.”

From there, I spent time in a Strategy and Operations role before I went into Product. And I found my fit. I’ve been in Product since.

About 5 years ago, I was with another very influential leader in my life, Stephen Bowen. We were building a team in India, from Australia. And it was hard. The tech wasn’t great, we could barely hear people in India when we were in video conferences with them, we didn’t understand each others’ culture, and we hadn’t chosen the team leaders to ensure their values and way of working aligned. It was hard. Stephen suggested I head to India and spend 6 months there building the team from the inside. I lived in Pune for 8 months, building that team and product and we achieved great, unprecedented things together.

From there I moved to Canva. I was one of those people who was told they were crazy for joining a startup during Covid. I couldn’t be dissuaded, though, I’d found my people. And here I am, still at Canva. It’s a place where I’ve been able to do my best, most impactful work yet.

Again, I am only here because people opened doors for me and I could not be more grateful to Nicola, George, and Stephen for lifting me into greater challenges.

How did you end up working in this industry?

After spending time in banking and telecommunications I wanted to flex different muscles by going to a much smaller company. I also wanted to be somewhere that was female-led and Canva ticked both of those boxes.

What do you wish people knew about a career in Product?

I’ve read the book “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work” maybe 6 times now, which is hilarious because I’m not married* BUT this book gives me so many tips for managing relationships. I’ve found the better I become at growing and improving relationships, the easier Product becomes.

*Unless you’re my mum or my grandmother, in which case, this is not hilarious.

What’s your go-to resource recommendation for Product people?

Lol. See above. It’s not a product manual but it’s the best thing any product person could read.

What has been the best career advice you’ve ever received?

It hasn’t been explicit advice but watching Mel lead Canva has been transformative for me.

She invests so much in storytelling and bringing people on the journey. She exudes joy. She’s kind. She’s empathetic. I feel like I have a model of the kind of leader that I want to be from watching her.

Welcome to our WIDAwards Alumni! We want to know… what does winning this award mean to you?

It’s been a good moment to pause, feel proud and then reflect “Ok, I’ve had a positive impact, am I doing the most that I can to amplify that and apply that where it’s needed most” and it’s inspired me to plug into schools and start-ups more so that I can help and support others’ growth.

Obviously, Canva is a game-changer in terms of design software (and our go-to at Women in Digital HQ)! But tell us why you think Canva is so important for creators (and the wider public for that matter)?

Canva is on a mission to empower the world to design and diversity and authentic representation are at the heart of that.

With our Creators, we are able to partner with designers, videographers, photographers and illustrators all over the world to provide truly diverse local content for every Canva user.

Users benefit from this, they can come to Canva and find content that represents their culture and use that to authentically express themselves.

Our Creators benefit too. The last 2 years have been turbulent for artists, worldwide. First, we had Covid hit. When this happened we had just started the Creators beta and it was at a good time because many designers had been laid off. Many of us were also locked down. The Creators product gave us a community to connect, learn, explore, grow and earn together. Even now we have Creators share how meaningful the partnership between Canva and Creators has been.

Tell us more about your journey with Canva! Do you have any key personal highlights?

There’s so much I could talk to here… the impact the Creators team has had is so wonderful. The biggest highlights, though, are notes that the Creators send us. 

Here are some of the highlights and stories, which make me smile, which I regularly go back to:

“Something that started as an extra, dedicating a little time when I could, became a very important pillar in my life.”

“I realized that it wasn’t just a job, it was something that fulfilled me. From the creative freedom it offers, the human quality of all those who are part of it and the joy of sharing my designs with many people, it really is something unique… Thank you #Canva for making my days happier and to all the team that accompanies us every week. Today we are a #canvafamily and we have a lot of love and templates to share”

“Just want to say thanks to the Canva team. I am going through the toughest time as my father is admitted in hospital for the last three months and has no insurance. It wouldn’t be possible for me to bear all the hospital expenses but Canva creator’s income helped me a lot. Canva is just not saving time it’s saving lives too.”

“At late evening, when the [baby] is asleep we both thank god that you found us. We are so happy to be with you guys on this adventure. Lifetime experience and feels like we are actually working with you guys, feels like we have a team! :)”

“I really, really appreciate all that you and the team are doing at Canva. This is my first time working with a company that really listens to and understands designers, and also takes quick action to make things easier! I really love the experience and can’t wait to see how things progress”

What do you consider the biggest challenge you faced while working on the Canva Creator Marketplace? How did you overcome it?

The war in Ukraine has been – by far – the greatest challenge that we have faced.

When the war broke out, we had a heartbreaking moment when we realised we had thousands of Creators in Ukraine and they were at risk. Some of these Creators I know personally and would consider a friend (Hi Ilona!). Canva quickly mobilised to distribute $500k to Ukrainian Creators via our Peacefund, knowing many would not be able to design at this time but would need money.

Seeing their appreciation filled our hearts with so much joy. Soon after that, Canva made the decision to exit Russia. 

We had so many stories of everyday Russians who weren’t supportive of the war but wanted to continue creating for Canva. We were incredibly sad that we could no longer continue that partnership.

We worked through both of these challenging times, by banding together as a team, as a company and as a community.  

It was the most challenging time for us, but we leaned on each other, we kept communication lines flowing and we worked tirelessly to respond in the way that was the most aligned with Canvas values.

What is next for you and Canva in 2023?

We’re really just 1% of the way there. It will be another massive year ahead as we continue doubling down on the huge opportunity for Canva, especially among teams and workplaces. We’re also continuing to hire around the world. Finally, we’re continuing to double down on innovation. We were the first to market with our Text to Image product which we announced at Canva Create. We’re excited to be working on lots more in this space like the recently released AI-text generator, Magic Write as well as continuing to build upon all of our new Worksuite products.

What’s your personal philosophy when it comes to customer experience design?

Don’t be afraid of doing things manually and hackily (is that even a word) first. In fact, have fun doing that, it’s how you learn what your customers actually need.

What would you tell someone interested or unsure about what a career in tech looks like?

It’s the way of the future.

If you aren’t in tech, you are cutting yourself off from the industry that has and will continue to have the greatest and most accelerated earnings opportunities. Women need to be in this space, or else, you will miss being in a space that is experiencing steady earnings growth.

What do you think can be done to improve diversity in the digital industry, particularly in more technical positions?

I mentioned Nichola Ronan and George Robinson earlier. What was probably a small gesture for them (suggesting I do a double degree and inviting me to join his team so I can explore a career out of HR, respectively), changed my life and career path.

If more people in leadership create these micro opportunities for the next generation, these tiny opportunities shape people and send them on a different path. Sure, you might be in a tech space and they probably won’t understand what’s going on but it matters. Every opportunity matters.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

It spurs so many convos about women in tech. Social proofing and opening doors.

And finally, Bec, if you could leave the Women in Digital community with one parting word of wisdom, what would it be?

Give young people micro opportunities. Have a work experience student shadow you for a week, volunteer in a mentoring program, suggest an intern spends time in your team – do something that opens students’ eyes to other spaces – esp if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds, they won’t even know that these areas exist.

Once again, congratulations Bec on this achievement and thank you for taking the time to chat with us!

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more stories on our LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our incredible list of 2022 WIDAwards here.


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January 12, 2021 Women in Digital

Introducing the 2020 Women in Digital Awards Digital Marketer of the Year, sponsored by Canva, Lauren Swidenbank!

Lauren is a digital marketing expert and paid ads specialist with a passion for analytics. As Founder and Director of Cali Social, she has a solid track record of helping small to medium-sized businesses level up their digital marketing. Lauren’s winning entry was based on the exceptional work she did for a client’s business in 2019-2020. Using a mix of Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram ads, Lauren planned, created, implemented and optimised the entire campaign achieving a 307.51% increase in revenue for the client in 12 months, shifting a 6-figure business to a 7-figure business. Um, talk about impressive!

We were excited to talk to Lauren about her winning-entry, career journey and diversity in digital.

Watch the live announcement of the Women in Digital Awards Digital Marketer of the Year here.

Congratulations Lauren! We already know you are as the digital marketing guru, but tell us, who is Lauren the person?

Thank you so much! I am so honoured to achieve this award! Starting with the hard questions! Okay, so I moved to Australia 9 years ago when I was a young 21 year old backpacker. I had originally meant to be here for just 6 months and had plans of travelling the world – but you know the story, I met a cute Aussie guy, rescued an even cuter dog and I never left. I love anything to do with the water so you’ll find me by the beach whenever I get the chance. I’m an adventurer at heart and love finding new places or new things to do. When we are able to travel the next two places on my visit list are Morocco and Tuscany!

What is something that not many people know about you?

I am known for making the best cob loaf. It’s seriously so good and I’m so proud of it haha! Invite me round and I will turn up, cob loaf in hand.

How did you get started in digital marketing and paid ads in particular?

Like a lot of people, I actually ‘fell’ into digital marketing. It certainly wasn’t part of my plan! I graduated from university in the UK with an Economics degree and had big plans of moving to London and working on the stock market. Let’s just say that the idea of working in the financial industry was much better than the reality! I have been interested in social media ever since I can remember, and I started to research it more and more as it developed. My knowledge was all self taught and my experience in working with clients came from working in agencies. I am a very analytical individual who loves numbers and stats, I found that I could easily apply these skills to running paid ads, so paid ads was a natural direction for me to take!

Who is your professional inspiration?

Sara Blakely – founder of Spanx! I never get tired of hearing her story and my favourite quote from her is ‘ I did not have the most experience in the industry or the most money, but I cared the most’

You had worked in a number of digital agencies before Cali Social. What made you decide to take the leap?

I knew that I could offer a superior service where the client wasn’t just a number and that I could contribute to the wider strategy and take a more wholesome approach rather than just a ten minute phone call every couple of weeks. I pride myself on creating strong relationships and friendships with my clients, I know that they trust me fully and I never had the chance to get to this level of rapport when working in agencies as it was more of a ‘churn and burn’ way of working. I had clients from day one of taking the leap which was an amazing feeling.

What’s your most recommended Business/Marketing resource?

I have two recommendations for brilliant marketing resources. If you are new to the world of running Facebook ads, or lack the skills/knowledge to create campaigns, you can’t go further than Facebook Blueprint. It’s totally free and gives a basic overview of everything you will need to start your campaigns.
If you are in the marketing industry and looking for something a little more high level, my go-to would be Hubspot as there is such a variety and wealth of information

As you mentioned in your nomination, you originally struggled to relate to your winning campaign’s target market. Tell us a bit about that and how did you get into the mindset of this target market?

Yes, the biggest challenge throughout the campaign was definitely my own self-doubt – I had absolutely nothing in common with the target audience, I didn’t know anyone personally that fitted into the audience, I wouldn’t ever experience the products or buy any of the products so I had this niggling feeling that maybe another PPC specialist would be better suited for this client, but I love a challenge and thought that if it’s not me, it will be someone else so why not just give it a go?! I was so determined to make this campaign work that I attended several ‘Car Meets’ so that I could see the types of people that went along, what they were wearing, who they brought with them, what types of cars they drove and ultimately realised the insane amount of pride these guys have for their cars and that they just want show off. This formed the basis of my entire digital strategy – and it paid off!

How have you dealt with the challenges Covid-19 has thrown your way as a marketer and small business owner?

Covid-19 has been a really exhausting, strange time for my role and for my business! On the one hand I had a few clients pull the plug on their ads/digital marketing so I lost clients, but on the other hand I have been inundated with new enquiries as the world moved online. Covid-19 really highlighted the importance of the digital industry and the role it has to play in the future. Covid has taught me three things as a business owner:

  1. Some things are absolutely out of your control
  2. People experience things differently.
  3. Look for the opportunity even when you don’t think there is one. For me, Covid was the perfect time for me to read. Something I haven’t done in a long time because it always fell to the bottom of the list!

If you could go back 5 years and give ‘younger you’ any advice, what would it be?

Don’t be in such a hurry to have everything all figured out. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to have achieved big things before a certain age. I honestly believe that everything happens at the exact time that we are ready for it, so as long as you put the work in, don’t stress about the timing!
Oh and manifestation is real, so start earlier!

What tips do you have for students and graduates seeking a career in digital marketing?

Learn to understand and interpret data. A huge part of digital marketing is now focused on the data and how to use this data to make decisions. Having a qualification or further study in an analytical area will set you apart from other applicants.

Obviously, diversity in digital is important to you but what is your definition of diversity and why it is so important?

Diversity is being able to recognise and champion the differences in people, including being able to utilise their differing skills and approaches. It’s important as it bridges the skills gap to give a more rounded approach to digital.

What do you think can be done to improve diversity in the digital industry?

I think we need to start in schools. We need to introduce digital technologies and outline a clear career path into digital! The stigma around it being a male, nerdy subject needs to go! We also need to highlight inspirational businesses that champion women so that young people have people to look up to.

What do you believe is the importance of industry awards such as the Women in Digital Awards?

The importance of these awards is undeniable! As women, we often downplay our success or don’t give ourselves the credit we deserve. The women in digital awards gives women a platform to celebrate their wins and all that they contribute to the industry.

What technology development is most exciting you at the moment?

I really love watching the technological developments that are happening in the health industry. The ability to increasingly predict and treat health issues in people even before they experience any symptoms is fascinating. The more data that technology can collate in regards to a particular individual, the better the outcome for each patient. This has to be a win for everybody!

What is next for you and for Cali Social?

We’re growing and niching into the luxury space! We’re going to be offering a one of a kind service that no other ‘agency’ is offering and I cannot wait to share this with the world! I’ll also be adding to the team over the next few months to include more ad specialists to keep up with client demand

Congratulations Lauren on these incredible results and thank you for taking the time to chat with us!

Want to get involved with the Women in Digital AwardsBe sure to subscribe here so you never miss an update

To read more Q&A blogs from our line-up of Women in Digital Award Winners, head over to our blog and keep an eye out for more success stories on our Facebook and Instagram. You can also see our list of other winners here.


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February 27, 2018 Women in Digital

By Phyllida Yeo

To be big, you need to think big. Canva, the hugely successful online design platform empowering everyone to unleash their creativity and design anything, is doing just that. In four short years, it’s grown from a small Sydney start-up to a $1 billion valuated business — and according to Liz, Head of PR and Communications, Canva, the journey has only just begun!

With 250+ innovators propelling this newly crowned “tech unicorn” into its future, we asked Liz about the business’s latest achievements and what it’s like to be part of the Canva team.

What was the team’s reaction to the new $1 billion valuation and $40 million round of funding?

This new funding round is a great vote of confidence for our vision to empower everyone to design anything and publish anywhere. No matter what you’re creating, we want Canva to be the one-stop place that makes the whole experience seamless. 

Our achievements so far have given everyone even more motivation for the huge journey ahead — everyone here is super excited to play a huge role in it!

What helped the team achieve success so quickly?

One of our values is to “Set Crazy Big Goals and Make Them Happen”. While chasing after them can be intimidating, it pushes you to try harder and dream even bigger. Without this value, our most recent achievements and projects such as Canva Print, Canva for Android and Canva Animations wouldn’t have happened. And, we wouldn’t have helped millions of people all over the globe collectively create 400 million designs since launch!

How is this new funding going to help Canva achieve the rest of its “crazy big goals”? 

Just recently, we launched in 100 languages, which brings us one step closer to making our product accessible to everyone. This new funding will enable us to implement even more enhancements and give us the ability to scale, so we can bring Canva to more people around the world. 

Our number one focus is creating a product that users continue to love, while scaling our team and culture — this chapter is definitely the most fun! 

How does it feel to work in a place where innovation and breaking the boundaries is at its core?

I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by super smart people, all of whom share the same big dreams and plans for Canva — especially our CEO, Melanie Perkins.

She is one of the most visionary, yet down-to-earth and approachable CEOs I’ve ever worked with. She leads by example, setting a company culture and approach to teamwork that really sets Canva apart. When you see someone as dedicated as Melanie — always willing to roll up their sleeves and help out — it’s hard not to get infected by her drive for success!

Speaking of success, what helped you achieve yours?

Perseverance, bravery and learning to deal with negative feedback positively so you can forge ahead with your new learnings. This also means having a strong locus of control — you need to understand what you can control and accept what you can’t.

Also being willing to do the grunt work despite what your title says.

Lastly, where do you see the future of online design platforms and Digital Marketing going?

We continue to see a strong trend toward visual communication. Marketers will have to continue to explore new visual ways of getting people’s attention. This is why I think the trend for more personalisation will continue to grow. We’re already seeing super tailored video content become the norm. It’s that personal touch that makes all the difference.

Whether it’s creating marketing collateral or a killer presentation, the Canva team is continually pushing the boundaries to provide the best experience for all members of their design community. With no dream too big, they are well on their way to achieving even more success locally and on a global scale.

This article was contributed by our star blogger, Phyllida Yeo. Phyllie is a driven digital marketer based in Brisbane. Since she started her career in a graduate program, she has developed a passion for all things digital. Whether it’s content marketing, search marketing or simply getting inspired by others, she enjoys building her skills across all areas of the industry. She is currently a Digital Marketing Coordinator at Signet.

Read more interesting stories on Inspiring Women in Digital here.