Unapologetically Ambitious: Interview with Shellye Archambeau

Shellye Archambeau — Silicon Valley CEO, Fortune 500 Board Member, Business Advisor and Author.

Shellye was one of Silicon Valley’s first African American female CEOs and pioneered a path in tech for others to follow. She started her career at IBM where she spent fifteen years, ultimately leading its Asia-Pacific business for the public sector.

Shellye later became the CEO of MetricStream in Palo Alto. She had joined tech company Zaplet which was going through some difficulties and was only months away from bankruptcy when she led it through an incredible business pivot, and merger with MetricStream. Shellye built the company into an award-winning global market leader with over 1200 employees serving customers around the world.

Shellye is the author of two books, the most recent being Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms which Fortune magazine named one of its top 10 business books of 2020.

In this interview, we discuss the many obstacles Shellye faced in her life (both personal and professional) and how she overcame them, as well as how she planned her successful career in tech.

Newnham: I wanted to start with your book. There are not many books where I think not only is it a great…