Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

When Shelmina Babai Abjil was growing up, she never saw anyone in her shoes become successful. She saw hard-working people barely scraping by. So, when she got old enough to secure a job making $27,000 a year, she thought she made it! Abjil was able to have her own place and deemed her arrival in that role as the pinnacle of success.

“Because of that mindset, it took me ten years to ask for my first promotion,” she said.

Abjil was the keynote speaker for the annual Knoxville Women in Tech conference. This year, the sold-out event was hosted at the Knoxville Convention Center. There were more than 300 women in attendance, filling up every nook and cranny in the ballroom.

Abjil’s keynote helped women think differently about their corporate roles, positions, and abilities to achieve transformational, generational success.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, humble beginnings or not,” she said. “It’s all about the energy you bring to the table. Stop going on autopilot in the workplace and instead, be strategic and intentional.”

So, how do you move from incremental success to transformational success? The first question Abjil asked the crowd was “How many women in the room are strategic and intentional in their workplaces every day?” About five out of the 300 women in the room raised their hands.

The second question Abjil asked the crowd was “How many of you have watched other people, who are strategic and intentional, pass you up for a promotion?” Many, many more women raised their hands.

 

Women are high achievers. In 2024, more women go to universities than men, more women obtain higher level degrees, women get better grades, and generally better test scores. However, men lead the corporate sector in Chief leadership roles. Abjil asked why?

“What made us successful in college will not make us successful in the workplace,” she said. “We need to stop making ourselves ‘busy,’ for the sake of being busy, and focus on strategy and intentionality.”

There are a few steps Abjil laid out for women to follow:

1. Become essential to the success of your organization
2. Grow your competence and confidence
3. Thrive in personal and professional lives
4. Build Relationships that will support your success
5. Become known as a leader
6. Ask for a promotion

“When you become essential, it becomes very hard to replace you,” she said. “If you’re not adding value to every room you walk into, and every interaction you have, you are missing an opportunity.”

Following her own lived advice, Abjil is now a TEDx speaker, board member, former vice president at IBM, and an active angel investor. She started her career as a software engineer and then moved into sales, leading global teams to deliver over $1B in annual revenues and serving as a key decision-maker in hiring and promoting hundreds of professionals.

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