Fail Forward: The Mindset That Drives Innovation with Marjorie Abdelkrime
In this inspiring episode, Jillian Kaplan speaks with Marjorie Abdelkrime, a seasoned technology leader who has built her career by challenging norms, empowering others, and innovating from the inside out. From her early days learning code on a Commodore 64 to leading customer success at VMware, Marjorie shares the deeply personal and professional moments that shaped her as an innovator.
Marjorie opens up about the mentors and sponsors who helped her see her own potential, how she learned to “ask for forgiveness, not permission,” and why she never sees setbacks as failures—only lessons. If you’re a technologist, a people leader, or someone navigating a career in innovation, this episode is full of practical wisdom and honest reflection.
Key Takeaways:
• Innovation thrives in curiosity—and sometimes in getting in trouble for “talking too much” in class.
• Mentorship and sponsorship are career accelerators, especially when they show you potential you haven’t seen in yourself.
• Leading innovation is easier with air cover and support—culture matters.
• The best way to co-innovate with customers is to understand their end users’ needs and build from the outcome up.
• “Failure” isn’t failure—unless you refuse to learn from it.
Episode Highlights:
• Moving from coding to infrastructure to customer success leadership
• Creating one of the first SharePoint-based knowledge management systems in her company
• How VMware’s infrastructure powers technologies we all use (like Coca-Cola Freestyle machines!)
• Designing customer innovation workshops to align technology investments with business impact
• Why being supported doesn’t mean you’re not growing—it means you’re thriving
Quotable Moment:
“The moment you view something as a failure, you stop learning. But if you see it as a lesson, you’ll grow every time.” – Marjorie Abdelkrime