A Khoja woman based in Pakistan leads in setting examples for women in IT all by herself, with her award-winning software development company Genetech Solutions and CodeGirls. Read our exclusive interview with her as she shares her experiences and struggles of being a successful woman entrepreneur.
About Shamim Rajani
Shamim Rajani was born in Karachi and raised in Bahrain. She completed her primary education in Bahrain, but before she could finish high school, she got married; however, that did not stop her from pursuing education. She completed her high school as time permitted. A few years later, when her daughter turned 4 years old, she enrolled in a 2-year coding diploma program in Karachi. She also has a diploma in Entrepreneurship from IBA, Karachi and has done an executive training program in Blockchain from Draper University, San Mateo, as well as other certifications and courses. She is a certified Professional Scrum Master and has introduced and implemented an Agile mindset across her organisation in 2017.
What is Genetech Solutions?
In 2004, Shamim decided to try Freelancing, and Genetech Solutions was born as a result. Today, Genetech Solutions is an award-winning software solutions company with over 15 years of experience in delivering top-notch end-to-end services and solutions to its clients worldwide.
They are a team of over 70 technologists, including architects, engineers, designers, testers, and project managers with expertise on a very up-to-date and diverse tech stack. They love working with businesses that require end-to-end solutions for optimising and expanding their business operations and require high-performance implementation and maintenance services.
Genetech Solutions is an active member of a few tech-related local and global bodies and have recently won a Pakistan Software House Association’s award for being the most gender-diverse company in Pakistan.
What is the CodeGirls Initiative?
According to Shamim, the aim behind CodeGirls is simple – to improve gender diversity in the IT domain for three reasons:
- Diversity in Tech brings in different ideas and perspectives that lead to better problem-solving and delivers robust software solutions. Working in diverse teams opens dialogue and promotes creativity.
- With CodeGirls, we aimed to train girls in coding to ensure that they join the fastest growing industry in the world, generating a lucrative monthly income for themselves and adding to the export revenue for the country as well.
- In Pakistan, most women, especially girls, find it hard to commute to work every day for various reasons. IT is the only industry that gives them the leverage to work from the comfort of their own homes and still earn a very decent living.
She says that “I have always believed that women can earn the respect of others once they learn to respect and value their own tribe. When you have a force behind you, it’s difficult to push you around. The courage to soar to great heights is inside all of us; it’s just a matter of providing women with the right set of gears and then watch them fly… When Hasnain Bhai Walji approached me with the offer to sponsor 100 girls in coding, I grabbed the opportunity without giving it a second thought.”
Journey and Experience at CodeGirls as a Founder
Shamim describes her journey and experience as a founder for CodeGirls in 3 words:
- Eye-opening: Khoja girls in Pakistan have quite a strong (if not an excellent) academic background thanks to community-run education networks like Fatimiyah and Al-Murtaza. It was much easier to groom Khoja girls compared to girls from other communities in the program.
- Agile: Like any other start-up, since we were solving basic problems, new opportunities kept popping up, and we had to be agile to be able to identify and adopt the right ones.
- Gratifying: Watching these girls go from strength to strength gave us the satisfaction that we’re giving back to the community in some capacity.
Struggles and Challenges faced
Shamim says that she faced immense challenges throughout her journey. “Nothing comes easy, especially for women in a male-dominated vertical (IT and ITeS). Since I entered the race early in 2004 when women were rare in the sector, unlike men, I had to prove my worth at every step of the ladder. Initially, the local corporate sector would not let me penetrate. Thus I had to look for business outside of Pakistan. Starting with the US, I have also worked with countries in Europe, Australia and Canada. This, in turn, polished my work quality, ethos and communication skills. Thus, when Pakistan was more accepting of women in board rooms, I was warmly welcomed and sometimes sought for.”
She adds that “Another major struggle when you’re a start-up and a woman founder is work-life balance. I believe that there is no formula to have a better work-life balance, and it varies from individual to individual depending on their priorities, also in what part of life they are. I have been blessed, Alhamdulillah, as I received immense support from my parents to partner to children. However, we have to remember that it is always a 2-way street; you have to be equally generous and forgiving.”
Shamim’s Achievements
The last few years have been very busy for her. She is currently serving as the Vice-Chairperson at Pakistan Association for Software Houses (P@SHA). It is a licensed trade-body association for the IT and ITeS industry in Pakistan and is the single, official voice of the private sector engaging with the Government regulators and is consulted in policy-making for the IT industry. She is also chairing the Diversity and Skills committees at P@SHA and running Candid with P@SHA, an initiative wherein they identify industry pain points and call in experts to answer questions and guide our members.
In 2017-18 she was able to bring Blockchain training to Pakistan for the youth free of cost in collaboration with CryptoChicks Canada and BlockGeeks. She is now the Pakistan Chapter Lead for CryptoChicks. She has also been on the board of the Agile Development society of Pakistan and the IT committee for the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
She is also an adviser at WomenInTechPK, a women-only community offering a platform where members can talk freely about professional and career-related issues, seek advice and opportunities, find mentors, and forge organisational alliances and individual collaborations.
A few words of advice for our female readers
We asked her to give a few words of advice for our female readers; Shamim says, “Kill the imposter syndrome in you, then help other women around you do the same. Once you are more aware and confident about yourself, you will not only raise better children but a better community and a better nation. Deen does not create obstructions; culture does. Food for thought.”