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

by Shellye Archambeau, Ben Horowitz (Foreword)

Full of empowering wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs, this inspiring leadership book — named  a   Best Business Book of the Year by Fortune and Bloomberg — offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals, now with a bonus chapter-by-chapter planning guide to walk readers through thoughtfully applying its lessons to their own lives in concrete, actionable ways. 

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 Each chapter lays out key takeaways and actions to increase the odds of achieving your personal and professional goals, and this paperback edition also includes a new chapter-by-chapter guide to walk readers through building their own ambitious plan for success. Through a series of prompts to direct readers to think more deeply about the book's content, the planning guide will help them apply the lessons to their own life in a concrete and productive way. 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.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Leadership, Personal Development, Professional Development, Audiobook

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2020

About the author

One of high tech's first female African American executives, Shellye Archambeau is an experienced CEO and Board Director with a track record of accomplishments building brands, high performance teams, and organizations. Ms. Archambeau currently serves on the boards of Verizon [NYSE:VZ], Nordstrom [NYSE: JWN], Roper Technologies [NYSE: ROP], and Okta [NASDAQ: OKTA]. She is also a strategic advisor to the Royal Bank of Canada, Capital Markets Group.

She is the former CEO of MetricStream, who Reid Hoffman, the co-founder and former Executive Chairman of LinkedIn, describes as the woman who pulled off the most incredible Silicon Valley turnaround you never heard of. Ms. Archambeau built the company into a global market leader with over 1200 employees serving customers around the world. Under her leadership, MetricStream was recognized for growth and innovation over the years and was named in the top 10 of the "Deloitte Technology Fast 50" and named a global leader in GRC by leading independent analyst firms for 9 consecutive years.

Ms. Archambeau has over 30 years of experience in technology leading organizations focused on business-to-business, as well as business-to-consumer. She is a recognized expert in marketing and co-authored "Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Profits to Any Sized Company." She has held EVP of Sales and Chief Marketing Officer roles for two public companies and as President of Blockbuster.com, launched the entertainment retailer's first online presence.

She was named the second most influential African American in IT by Business Insider, and she was ranked one of the "100 Most Influential Business Leaders in America" by Newsmax.

She is the author of "Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms" (Published by HBG Grand Central 10/2020), a book that will help professionals achieve their aspirations and create the life they want and which has received endorsements from luminaries including John Thompson (chairman of Microsoft), Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn), Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), Thasunda Brown Duckett (CEO of Chase Consumer Banking) and more.

Shellye is also a Forbes Contributor and sought-after speaker on governance, risk and compliance as well as marketing and entrepreneurship. She has guest lectured at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and The Wharton School of Business. She has been featured or referenced in major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and the Financial Times.

In her spare time Shellye enjoys exercising, the performing arts, entertaining and cooking.

Reviews

[Sharon McCarthy · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 from a man's playbook circa 1960. So in 2020, it doesn't seem inspiring or noteworthy. Just old fashioned. And exhausting.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 you can just ask somebody who's done it before?"
Make sure everybody around you knows what you want.
Get mentors by asking simple straightforward questions then circling back to say what happened. Over time a bond is built.

I appreciated the time spent talking about partners. I think so often we ignore that without a solid partner your career will be straight uphill. Talk about lifestyle and what the rest of your life looks like to you.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, timely, and inspiring!

Unapologetically Ambitious is the informative, intriguing story of Shellye Archambeau’s life, including her professional experiences, struggles, successes, and accomplishments as a university student, employee, wife, mother, and CEO.

The writing is clear and precise. The characters are intelligent, driven, and relatable. And the novel is a compelling, introspective tale of one woman’s life and the planning, strategies, and goals she implemented and continues to execute to achieve success and happiness.

Overall, Unapologetically Ambitious is undoubtedly an impressive novel full of valuable, insightful information about making conscious choices, having confidence, and finding success.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m having a hard time placing this one and what to rate it. There was some really great advice and I liked reading the author’s personal stories interwoven into the typical “self-help” information. I had a hard time relating to her life story and how she literally planned her entire life out. Maybe it would have helped more if I had read this earlier in life or was looking for a path. I also really didn’t like how at the end she says something to the point of “life doesn’t always work out the way you want it” when she spent the entire book talking about how she planned and worked so hard so that her life went according to her plan. As far as self-help books go, this was one of the better ones if you’re looking for direction in your life.

[Rachel Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was incredibly annoying. First of all, I just found this person's life story unrelatable. It's one thing to write a book about your life experiences and the things you've learned, but another to pass it off as a self-help book to others.

For the people who say they wished they read this when they were younger: For a brief moment in the first quarter of the book, I though that too. Then I thought "what good is it reading about these 'life lessons' now?" I've also learned similar lessons to her, but I had my own journey of how I came to those same conclusions.

Secondly, her relationship with the dude is gross and creepy. I don't even care that they are still married. As a former rape crisis worker, I've heard a myriad of stories from women about the creepy older dude at work who hits on them while they are just starting their careers in their teens/early 20s (let's not even mention the bad idea of getting engaged after three month of being together). This author is the only woman I've heard from where that actually "worked out" for them.

Third, there was a part of the book where after the birth of her first child she went back to work right away because this was "the plan" she made when she was in highschool. That is crazy. Why can no body see that? But, in addition to that, she has a work conference/retreat coming up 5 weeks after giving birth so the moment she could start working out again she did -All because she wanted to get ready to look good in a bikini. I am seething inside to all of this. These are arbitrary decisions made when she was in highschool. And can we leave women's bodies alone, especially the ones that just gave birth?! This book only reaffirms sexist notions that women have to do and be everything. This is one woman's account of the lengths she went to accomplish that and the capitalist patriarchy rewarded her for it. I am giving no fucks or applause.

Additionally, this book makes it seem shameful if you don't stick to your original plan, when in reality the ability to adapt to changing circumstances can be the smart move.

[Kyle McChesney · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing I got out of this that I resonated with is something along the lines of: Life is unfair, it's all about what we make of it.

I am a planner. She is a planner. I love that she planned out everything, from her career goal to how she was going to get there. Props to her for doing that successfully(?). She clearly made a lot of sacrifices along the way, and to be honest, as I kept reading, I don't think I want that for myself. She did many things at the expense of family time, and just hearing it from her perspective makes me wonder how it really must have felt for everyone else.

This is definitely a really good inspirational story for any career oriented young adult needing that jumpstart in their life. I did enjoy it up until the last couple chapters, when I started to worry more about her sacrifices than admire her accomplishments. But still, there were some good takeaways and tips from her career journey, which was, practically her whole life.

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shellye Archambeau (b. 1962) is an American business and technology executive who spent decades climbing the corporate ladder at IBM, then NorthPoint Communications, then Loudcloud, and finally as CEO of Zaplet and MetricStream. After stepping down from her CEO role, she began the next phase of her career, serving on corporate boards, conducting speaking gigs, and writing this book, which is part memoir, part career advice aimed at young people. Though this is a crowded genre, I enjoyed this read. I've seen criticism saying that Archambeau is essentially advocating for behaving like men in the corporate world (case in point: she meticulously planned out her career, hustled unabashedly was vocal about wanting to be promoted, and had an agreement with her husband before marriage that *he* would transition to being a stay-at-home dad once their kids were school-aged, which was followed), but at the same time, I applaud her for those choices. I appreciate that she was candid about her intentions, and enjoyed tips like:

- when moving around a lot (something I've done too), make it a point to meet your neighbors by asking to borrow things you can't find when you're unpacking, and then make a point to invite them to a get-together at your house within 2 months of moving in (to give you added incentive to finish unpacking -- I know I still have stuff I never unpacked from my most recent move 2 years ago)
- carefully study the resumes of people who've succeeded at your company/in your field to find common denominators to pattern your moves from, if possible -- Archambeau worked backwards from her goal of being at CEO at 40 and made many good strategic moves to achieve this ambitious goal

Further reading: high yield career advice retrospective memoirs:
Strategize to Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career by Carla Harris | my review
Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure Is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths by Erika Ayers Badan | my review

My statistics:
Book 70 for 2025
Book 1996 cumulatively

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 about how Archambeau took on a very difficult CEO role BECAUSE OF the challenge. I expected to learn a lot about her discipline, her approach to making and following through on plans and other CEO-type advice. And I found a lot of good advice, the kind you'd expect from someone as successful at breaking down barriers and achieving goals as Archambeau.

But I also found it to be a much more personal read, a thoughtful memoir She talks extensively about her marriage and how her husband supported her career. She shares many moment from her childhood and from her own parenting. The way she is always reflecting her longterm goals and short term tactics while focusing on both family and career is inspiring.

This is that rare book that could double as a "professional development" read and a beach read. It's that helpful and that fun.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Shellye Archambeau is an unusually ambitious, disciplined, and focused person, who was also lucky enough to have parents who set big goals for themselves, had strong core values, and also ensured their children were well educated, her success story holds many lessons and insights that you can apply to your own life, whatever your background.

Some of the sections I thought were particularly valuable covered:
* Making the most of your college years and internships (in the Learn the Ropes chapter)
* Asking for advice and how to build relationships with people who can help you
* Planning with your partner (she was exceptionally lucky with Scotty)

Some favorite quotes:

Every time you take a giant leap forward, you will land at the bottom of your next learning curve. That's okay. That's just how it goes. You might not know everything you need to know yet, but you can trust your ability to learn the ropes.

We all know life isn't fair. "That's not fair!" is one of the early complaints children make. Instead of trying to fix situations to make them seem more fair, I was raised to accept that as a matter of truth: Life isn't fair. It never has been. It never will be. That's a fact and you can't change it. so we couldn't use it as an excuse. When things happened, we had to figure out what we were going to do about it.

[if you get a case of imposter syndrome) Realize you're in good company. Many accomplished people live with imposter syndrome. Its sly tendrils still sneak into my life at times, even today.

I've known many women who have gotten stuck in their careers because they were unable to master a skill they could have delegated, unwilling to delegate a task someone else could do, or unwilling to seek guidance when they needed it.

Overall, a good book for recent graduates and people early in their career.

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 her strength was able to break barriers and create her own success.

I love the way this book was written that truly inspired me and pushed me to become motivated in looking at myself as a other and a career woman. I was always intrigued by people who are able to break barriers and succeed in their personal and professional life. Shellye is one of them to aspire to and her very generous sharing of her story really is not only so gracious but also very awe inspiring to me.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to succeed or be inspired and motivated to succeed in their personal and professional life.

[Julika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why haven't I had this book in my twenties?
One of the best motivational books I have ever read.
To all my ladies out there - please read this one.
To all of you who are at a loss now - please read this one.

[Mackenzie Newcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I wish I read this when I was a little bit younger. Shellye's level of planning an ambition is truly unmatched, and a little unrelatable.

[Hayley Hu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very inspiring story full of positive vibes. I was amazed at the simplicity and smoothness of Shellye's life. But behind all her strong-willed decisions, she has a surprising amount of confidence in herself despite the odds. Unfortunately the confidence seems mature to her but difficult for me.

[Algert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, it happens that you feel a little stuck in your personal life, and the best way to get out of it is to wear the shoes of someone else and walk their story. This is what this book felt like for me. It felt like a free ride into the life of a very hard-working and well suffered ambitious lady. I am thankful to the writer for writing this book. I dont agree on the huge emphasis of planning your life. The right word for me should be "preparing." The difference is that planning seems to assume an outcome while from experience life is unpredictable as much as outcomes are. That said, this book will have the power to enable many that are lacking a framework to push forward, and that is a net positive add to the world.

Recommended for people unable to se beyond the obstacle in front of their eyes but that still believe a better world exists and is within reach.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Blinkist*

This is all advice you’ve heard before. If you haven’t, maybe Shellye’s experience will speak to you. For me, there wasn’t anything compelling enough to want to read the whole book.

Highlights:

“Even if you have to fake confidence until it feels real, there will be people who believe in you and advocate for you. Shellye calls these your cheerleaders. And when combating impostor syndrome, it’s important to check in with your cheerleaders and believe them when they recognize your worth.”

“You never know who has the power or connections to make things happen. By broadcasting your intentions, you up the chances of finding opportunities.”

“Another factor that enables risk-taking is developing confidence and resilience, which happens when people repeatedly embrace risk. The resulting successes teach them that they’re capable, while failure demonstrates that they can always get up again.”

[Niranjana Sundararajan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's taken me a while to write a review for this book. Couldn't quite pinpoint why I disliked it because the author's life and accomplishments are indeed inspiring and insightful.

I think on a personal level, I have a vastly different personality than the author, and that if I were to follow everything she says/does to accomplish her goals, I'd have to change every bit of who I am- starting with my personality, my interactions with people, to the way I plan my life. (being a planner was the only part where I strongly related it her, but even in that, she had a more rigid approach than I would ever be comfortable with).
On the whole, I just couldn't put myself in her shoes and being happy. While I'm strongly committed to pushing myself out of my comfort zone, I'm tired of trying to be someone else. Definitely not the authors fault, but yah, unfortunately not for me.

PS- I still gave it 2 stars because I think it can a good book for some people.

[Wellington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shellye made a plan to be a CEO and made it! Congratulations! This is the first time reading a memoir of someone wanting to be a boss without any opinion on the company.

I think it does take a certain personality to become a CEO and that does not mean the person should write a book about themselves. The book just feels out of touch and maybe more like an extended brag of a Christmas letter.

[Brendan Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 though as it is a story of a groundbreaker, and a ceiling breaker. Always good to take the opportunity to learn from successful people.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book made me feel like I was burning out just by listening. Some other parts are reasonably good advice.

[Vanshika Agarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had always heard of work-life integration being thrown around as the best way to manage work & life. I finally understood the true meaning of it only through this book. While work life balance can feel limiting as it implies a fixed equilibrium, the concept of ‘integration’ is an open invitation to get creative with your time. It translates to operating from a ‘no time wasted’ position. How can we make room for things that are currently a priority? Who can help get it done? How can we accomplish multiple things in one action?

Although we can’t do everything, we don’t necessarily need to ‘sacrifice’ as sacrifice implies a sense of loss that engenders guilt. It paints us as a victim. Hence, we should instead think of it in terms of choices. Choices that we own- no one else to blame, no guilt placed. This point is brought out really beautifully in the book where Shellye saw that her mom made dessert, yet got the smallest piece.
Her mom’s reply is golden
- ‘Shellye, if the pie was what I cared about, I wouldn’t have the smallest piece. I have everything I care about. I don’t care about that piece of pie. The key is to decide what you care about. You go out there and live your life and do the work to get what is important to you.’

[Andy Mesecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unapologetically Ambitious left me in tears. Pitched as a self-help book, it's really more of an autobiography with advice sprinkled in. And honestly? I couldn't put it down. My book club is gonna be mad I finished it like a month early. Highly recommended for future graduates/parents; worker bees -- really anyone looking for some inspiration from a woman who's "carried a lot in her backpack." It's one short-coming, IMO, was the lack of advice for those who didn't come from a driven family who sought to improve their children's outcome.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Vulnerability is an unavoidable side effect of ambition. If you avoid taking risks, you limit your opportunities”

This book arrived just at the right moment of my life, i wish every young girl could read this before entering college, Shellye advice is just magnificent and just shows how strategy and hard work pays off.

[Zhivko Kabaivanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unapologetically Ambitious (2020) follows Shellye Archambeau’s journey to becoming one of the very few African American female CEOs in Silicon Valley.

These blinks outline some of the valuable lessons, attitudes, and strategies that helped her achieve her goals.

[Dewayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author, Shellye Archambeau, shares in this book an amazing life and career that will not only encourage, but challenge you to maximize your own life experiences. Her life, while still being written, carries with it the key tenets of being a trail blazer and one of a kind all due to ability to learn from others and make the most of decisions and experiences she would encounter. Written in an easily consumable format she reflects on her lessons and share practical advice you should consider. Chapter 33 Keep Learning was my favorite of them all. When you read this book you learn how Shellye was not only a great planner, but an even better executor. What made her this dual threat is her ability to keep learning from people and experiences all throughout life. This chapter captures that not only for her professional success, but even more for what type of person she is as wife, mother, daughter, etc. A must read for any current or aspiring leader.

[Erin M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Archambeau's book would be really beneficial for new graduates. I got some good insights out of it, but it would be perfect for someone, ahem, YOUNGER than me.
Mostly, I really enjoyed reading about someone who is as ambitious as I am and found a way to have it all - but not all at once. There is no shame in wanting to do big things, and I like how Archambeau approached her ambition in a healthy way.

[Sabeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights and suggestions, as well as reminders that it's good to continue to strive for successes rather than settle.

[Evelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.
Giving this book a 4 star, however, as book is too focused on young professionals and does not give a lot of advice for somebody in a middle of career.

[Synthia Salomon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yesterday, I shared my goals with a family friend and learned of her position to help. That's my takeaway from this book. You have to be honest and transparent about your goals to make them a reality. “Reaching your professional goals isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either. Even when it seems that the odds aren’t in your favor, you can set personal and professional ambitions, and strategize your way toward them. There’ll be times when you need to juggle or integrate priorities, change course, or even take risks, and having support and self-determination will help you stand behind those decisions.

Actionable advice:

Establish your reputation.

While a good degree from a recognized college certainly helps a career, at some point it takes second place behind the reputations people build for themselves. So, once you’re in the workforce, find training and education opportunities to improve your skills, and focus on making sure that the quality of your work makes you stand out.”

[Eleanor Thibeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a bookclub book -- but I also had the great fortune of seeing Shellye Archambeau speak at a conference. This isn't a memoir, it's a book about pursuing your goals in your professional (and personal) life. Because of that, at times it felt too "success in a linear motion" and less relatable to the diversions, disappointments, and derailments that many of us have taken on the path to our goals. I imagine this was strictly to keep to the message of the book, but the auto-biography style of writing made that challenging to keep in mind.

That being said, I've taken several pieces of advice from Archambeau and have started applying them in my planning. So if that was the whole point, and I think it was, then the message was delivered successfully.