Female Disruptors: Janine Pelosi Of Neat On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Vanessa Morcom
You own your career. No one else does. Not your boss, not your colleagues, not your department head or CEO. You are the person responsible for figuring out how you get to the next level, for where you get to go, and you’re also the person standing in your own way if you don’t. If you can internalize that and act accordingly, then you’ll be unstoppable.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Janine Pelosi.
Janine Pelosi is CEO of the pioneering video device company Neat, bringing nearly two decades of experience in the technology industry to this role. She most recently served as CMO of Zoom from 2015 to 2023. During her tenure at Zoom, she helmed the company’s bold brand strategy, powerful demand engines, e-commerce business, and corporate social responsibility. She was a part of the early founding team and was a key executive navigating Zoom in its early stages, to its IPO, and through its massive growth during the pandemic.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I grew up in San Jose, California with strong, independent, and capable parents who made it clear that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. My father was in construction, and you can bet all three of his daughters contributed around the home, from mowing the lawn to grouting tile. I was taught that if I rolled up my sleeves and worked very hard, I deserved a seat at the table and I should take it.
In college, I started my career as an intern at Webex before its acquisition by Cisco. Early in my career, I was able to work on intricate marketing operations projects which gave me a deep sense of satisfaction and helped coin the “Pass the Ball” campaign. These experiences prepared me well for Zoom, where I joined founder Eric Yuan in 2015.
My time at Zoom was pivotal in my personal and professional growth. I spent more than eight transformative years there. When I joined, the company was relatively small, primarily composed of engineers and a handful of salespeople. I led my team in brand campaigns like “Video conferencing that doesn’t suck” and “Meet Happy,” which eventually transformed Zoom from a relatively unknown company into a household name. People don’t wake up thinking about your brand. I’m a strong believer in touching people with your brand throughout their days, from billboards to radio and airports, so at Zoom we went back to basics and embraced those practices while reinventing them by tying them closely to account-based and other metrics-oriented aspects of marketing. I was Zoom’s CMO, and I was one of four people on its executive leadership team at the time of our IPO. Together we made choices that impacted our company, and eventually, the world at large.
During my tenure at Zoom, I had the privilege of collaborating with a brilliant company out of Oslo: Neat. I believed strongly in its technology and team from the outset. When the opportunity arose after I left Zoom to assume the role of CEO at Neat, I felt an undeniable pull. I gravitate toward places where I believe I can make a difference, and I saw Neat embarking on an exciting new journey of growth. I have been working with our incredibly talented team to further operational excellence and revenue growth. I’m excited to bring my experience with scaling a global company while fueling the spark of innovation.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
At Neat, we’re enhancing how people meet and collaborate while fundamentally changing how we think about work and connection in the modern workplace. Our focus on simplicity and reliability addresses a critical need in today’s work environment: the need for technology that just works, without unnecessary complexity. This allows teams to focus on what truly matters — effective communication and collaboration — rather than struggling with complex video technology. By making our products intuitive and accessible, we’re enabling a more connected and productive workforce.
In essence, what’s truly disruptive about Neat is our approach to transforming the workplace. We’re creating better video conferencing tools that reimagine how work is done, how meetings are conducted, and how people connect and collaborate.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
On balance, disruption in business is a good thing. The biggest thing that stands in the way of progress is inertia, is “good enough.” I don’t see standing the test of time as contrary to disruption. Quite the opposite. Only companies that regularly disrupt can stand the test of time.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
I find my greatest inspiration in engaging directly with other people — family, colleagues, customers, and the like. That said, I do read a lot for nuggets of helpful advice; most of my books are riddled with little sticky notes. Some favorites include The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horwitz and Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
You own your career. No one else does. Not your boss, not your colleagues, not your department head or CEO. You are the person responsible for figuring out how you get to the next level, for where you get to go, and you’re also the person standing in your own way if you don’t. If you can internalize that and act accordingly, then you’ll be unstoppable.
How can our readers follow you online?
I’m not very active on social media. You can follow me on X @Janine_Pelosi , but better to follow Neat to see what I’m up to: https://www.linkedin.com/company/neatmeetings/ and https://x.com/neatmeetings.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media
