Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms

Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms

*Named a Best Business Book of 2020 by Fortune and Bloomberg*

Full of empowering wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs, this inspiring leadership book offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals.


Shellye Archambeau recounts how she overcame the challenges she faced as a young black woman, wife, and mother, managing her personal and professional responsibilities while climbing the ranks at IBM and subsequently in her roles as CEO. Through the busts and booms of Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, this bold and inspiring book details the risks she took and the strategies she engaged to steer her family, her career, and her company MetricStream toward success.

Through her journey, Shellye discovered that ambition alone is not enough to achieve success. Here, she shares the practical strategies, tools, and approaches readers can employ right now, including concrete steps to most effectively:
Dismantle impostor syndrome
Capitalize on the power of planning
Take risks
Developing financial literacy
Build your network
Establish your reputation
Take charge of your career
Integrate work, marriage, parenthood, and self-care
Each chapter lays out key takeaways and actions to increase the odds of achieving your personal and professional goals. With relatable personal stories that ground her advice in the real world and a foreword by leading venture capitalist and New York Times bestselling author Ben Horowitz, Unapologetically Ambitious invites readers to move beyond the solely supportive roles others expect them to fill, to learn how to carefully tread the thin line between assertive and aggressive, and to give themselves permission to strive for the top. Make no apologies for the height of your ambitions. Shellye Archambeau will show you how.

Title : Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms
ISBN : 9781538702895
Format Type :

    Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms Reviews

  • Zoe

    Fascinating, timely, and inspiring!Unapologetically Ambitious is the informative, intriguing story of Shellye Archambeau’s life, including her professional experiences, struggles, successes, and acc...

  • Alexandra

    For me this is another Lean in style book. BUT her narrative is just undeniably impressive. She has a direct approach that I haven't seen very often:"Why guess how to get from point A to point B when ...

  • Robbie

    I was lucky to get a review copy from the publisher.I tore through the book in a couple of days. The foreword from noted Venture Capitalist Ben Horowitz hooked me from the beginning, when he talked ab...

  • Kyle McChesney

    I find many of these business books written by CEOs are self-aggrandizing ego boosters with a few helpful reminders sprinkled in. Sadly, this fits that mold....

  • Sharon Mccarthy

    I was eager to hear the story behind Shellye's success and to be inspired by it. But the author reveals that every aspect of her life had an objective-strategy-and-plan. It seemed that she took a page...

  • Nursebookie

    What an inspiring and motivational read!Unapologetically Ambitious is the story of Shellye Archambeau’s life, her professional experiences, and the eventual story of her very ambitious career where ...

  • Evelina

    This is a super inspiring book by Shellye Archambeau about her journey, where she not only describes her way, but also gives practical tools.I really liked the chapter about the longterm planning. Giv...

  • ?? H

    # Apologetic Ambitious### Early Years- They just figured out how to make things work. They also held tight to their core values while making these moves.Now I am hooked. What will her mom do? “Not o...

  • Brendan Brooks

    One I will be keeping in mind for my daughters when they are starting to think about adult life and career. For me, I only found the last section of the book of interest. It is an important book thoug...

  • Steve

    This memoir was easy to read, engaging and had a few inspirational lessons. Archambeau describes her path to success and the values and approaches that helped her achieve her goals . It’s not the so...