Dream Crazy Big

How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Things, The Story of Canva

By: Rebekah Campbell, Melanie Perkins

“I hope this story can inspire others to dream big, set goals, and make them happen.” –Melanie Perkins, Canva CEO and co-founder

When Australian teenager Melanie Perkins set out with her boyfriend, Cliff Obrecht, to backpack across India, she had no idea the journey they were beginning—not just across continents, but toward building one of the world’s most influential technology companies.

In their travels, Melanie and Cliff confront a world of economic injustice and despair. One night, staring into the darkness from her bed, Melanie makes a quiet but audacious promise to herself: she is going to do something to help.

That promise becomes the spark for everything that follows.

Melanie decides she will build a different kind of business—one that exists to empower others, and to use its success to make the world better. Armed with little more than determination, optimism, and a relentless work ethic, she and her team turn that conviction into Canva: a platform now used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, and one of the most valuable companies of its kind, whose success funds social impact around the world.

Told in conversation with Melanie Perkins and recounted by her close friend—an author and former New York Times columnist—Dream Crazy Big offers never-before-told stories, exclusive access, and an intimate front-row seat to the relationships, principles, and decisions that shaped Canva. It reveals how its leaders think and act—and the crises, setbacks, and near-failures that threatened to undo everything.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, creator, leader, or someone standing at the edge of a dream that feels impossible, this book offers inspiration, principles, and lessons for the path ahead. It shows there is more than one way to succeed. You can be caring and strong. Quiet and determined. Creative and powerful.

You can stay true to yourself and your values. You can come from an ordinary place, live an ordinary life—and still change the world.