Shellye Archambeau

Shellye Archambeau One of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs. Fortune 500 board member and author.

When negotiating a new role, it’s easy to focus on one number: “What’s the base salary?”But salary is only one part of y...
09/01/2026

When negotiating a new role, it’s easy to focus on one number: “What’s the base salary?”

But salary is only one part of your compensation.

Your total package can include bonuses, equity, retirement contributions, healthcare, paid time off, flexible work, professional development, and more.

That’s why you need to understand the total value of the offer.

Before negotiating:

→ Know what the market pays for your skills and experience
→ Understand the value you bring
→ Look beyond base salary
→ Ask where there’s flexibility

If salary isn’t negotiable, something else might be.

The goal isn’t simply to ask for more money. It’s to advocate for a package that reflects your experience, contribution, and market value.

You have to know your worth before you can negotiate it.

Want to get better at these conversations?

Join me for our upcoming Ignite Ambition cohort on Compensation Package Negotiations, where we’ll discuss what to negotiate, how to approach the conversation, and how to advocate for your value with confidence.

📅 September 3
🕔 5 PM PST

Join here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/posts/106081311

As a teenager, I once told my mother, “I’m not going to have children.”I had watched how hard she worked raising our fam...
08/31/2026

As a teenager, I once told my mother, “I’m not going to have children.”

I had watched how hard she worked raising our family of six. She cooked every meal, sewed our clothes, managed the household, volunteered, and somehow always seemed to get the smallest piece of pie.

I told her, “You work harder than anyone I know, and you always get the smallest piece.”

She smiled and said something I’ve never forgotten:

“Shellye, I don’t care about the pie. If I cared about the pie, I wouldn’t have the smallest piece.”

Then she told me: “The key in life is figuring out what matters most to you, and letting go of the things that don’t.”

Years later, I understood exactly what she meant.

My mother had always wanted a horse. Despite not having much money, she quietly saved until she could buy one.

She knew what mattered to her. She made room for it. And she was willing to sacrifice things that mattered less.

That lesson has shaped how I define success.

Success isn’t about having everything. It’s about knowing what matters most to you and intentionally building your life around it.

It’s also one of the reasons I created Ignite Ambition—to help people build careers and lives aligned with what they truly value.

If you’re looking for a community committed to growing with intention, join us here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/spaces/14496176/events

The toughest career choices I made were often saying yes to the hardest jobs.Throughout my career, I took on roles that ...
08/27/2026

The toughest career choices I made were often saying yes to the hardest jobs.

Throughout my career, I took on roles that stretched me—turnarounds, unfamiliar challenges, and positions where there wasn't always a clear roadmap.

I rarely knew exactly how I would succeed. I simply believed I could figure it out.

I've always thought about careers like investing. If you keep your money somewhere completely safe, you may protect it but you shouldn't expect much growth.

Your career works the same way.

If you only choose roles you already know how to do, you'll stay comfortable. But comfort rarely accelerates growth.

Some of my greatest opportunities were the ones that made me ask: "Am I really ready for this?"

That doesn't mean taking reckless risks. It means being willing to take calculated ones that stretch your capabilities and expand what's possible.

Looking back, the roles I felt least confident taking were often the ones that propelled my career the most.

Growth and comfort rarely exist in the same place.

Sometimes, moving forward means choosing the opportunity that stretches you.
•
•
•

For more than 25 years, Lisa Davis has built a career across government, academia, high tech, and healthcare—including a...
08/25/2026

For more than 25 years, Lisa Davis has built a career across government, academia, high tech, and healthcare—including as a Fortune 100 technology executive.

Throughout that journey, she often found herself the only woman in the room.

But Lisa didn’t just learn how to navigate those spaces. She began questioning why they looked that way in the first place.

Those experiences became the foundation for her #1 Amazon bestselling book, The Only Woman in the Room: How to Win in a Workplace (Still!) Built for Men.

The book explores finding your voice, building influence, navigating career growth, challenging systems that limit diverse talent, and turning inclusion into stronger organizations.

But Lisa’s story isn’t about celebrating being the only woman in the room.

It’s about making sure the next generation doesn’t have to be.

That’s why we’re bringing her book to the Ignite Ambition Book Club.

Our community will read, reflect, and discuss the lessons together and then have the opportunity to hear directly from Lisa herself.

Read the book. Learn from the journey. Then hear directly from the author.

📅 Today, August 25
🕔 5 PM PST

Join us here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/posts/101588636

What if you could finish a book and then ask the author your questions directly?That’s what makes the Ignite Ambition Bo...
08/24/2026

What if you could finish a book and then ask the author your questions directly?

That’s what makes the Ignite Ambition Book Club different.

For the second half of each Book Club, we bring the author into the conversation so our community can go beyond the pages—asking questions, hearing the experiences behind the ideas, and exploring how those lessons apply to their own careers.

Next, we’re excited to welcome Lisa Davis, author of The Only Woman in the Room: How to Win in a Workplace (Still!) Built for Men.

Lisa will join us to share the stories behind the book, explore its lessons more deeply, and answer questions directly from our community.

Because sometimes the most valuable learning begins after you turn the last page.

📅 August 25
🕔 5 PM PST

Join us here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/posts/101588636
•
•
•

Today, we’re excited to welcome Caroline Webb to Ignite Ambition for a powerful conversation on becoming a more effectiv...
08/20/2026

Today, we’re excited to welcome Caroline Webb to Ignite Ambition for a powerful conversation on becoming a more effective leader.

Caroline is a leadership coach, economist, bestselling author of How to Have a Good Day, and former Partner at McKinsey & Company.

During the session, we’ll explore her Leadership Intelligence System —principles designed to help leaders bring their best thinking to the challenges they face.

We’ll talk about how to:

✨ Think more clearly
✨ Navigate complex challenges
✨ Make better decisions
✨ Lead with greater effectiveness

If you’re looking for practical ideas you can apply to your leadership right away, join us.

📅 Today, August 20
🕔 5 PM PST
👉 Join here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/posts/68510911

To me, success is a goal, not a destination.I’m learning Spanish. And by the end of this year, I want to be able to lift...
08/17/2026

To me, success is a goal, not a destination.

I’m learning Spanish. And by the end of this year, I want to be able to lift my body weight on a lat pulldown.

Someone could look at my career and say, “You’ve been a CEO, served on boards, written a book—you’ve done it all.”

But I’m not done growing.

Years ago, a mentor gave me an exercise that changed how I think about what comes next:

Look at your life in 10-year increments. Write down the experiences that brought you joy, gave you energy, or made you feel fulfilled. Then look for the patterns.

Those patterns can tell you a lot about what you should pursue next—not because of the title or recognition, but because of what genuinely gives you purpose.

I think about growth like a plant. As long as it’s growing, it’s healthy. When it stops, it begins to wither.

The same is true for us.

Success isn’t reaching a point where there’s nothing left to accomplish. It’s continuing to set goals that stretch you, learning new things, and pursuing the kind of growth that matters to you.

If you’re wondering what’s next, sometimes the answer starts by looking back at what has always made you feel most alive.
•
•
•

08/13/2026

When BK Fulton joined us for our Executive Leader Series, he shared a lesson from Arthur Ashe that has stayed with me:

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Simple, but powerful.

Too often, we delay starting because we think we need more experience, more resources, or more certainty.

BK’s reminder was to stop focusing on what’s missing.

Start where you are.
Use what you already have.
Take the next step.
Then rinse and repeat.

That’s agency.

Leadership and growth rarely begin with having everything figured out. They begin when you recognize that you already have the ability to move forward.

Here’s a short clip from our conversation with BK. I hope it encourages you to take that next step.
•
•
•

What does it mean to be the only woman in the room?It’s a question that still matters.For the first half of our Ignite A...
08/12/2026

What does it mean to be the only woman in the room?

It’s a question that still matters.

For the first half of our Ignite Ambition Book Club, our community is reading and discussing Lisa Davis’ #1 Amazon bestseller, The Only Woman in the Room: How to Win in a Workplace (Still!) Built for Men.

Drawing on more than 25 years of leadership experience, Lisa shares what it takes to navigate spaces where women and diverse talent have historically been underrepresented—while challenging the systems that created those environments.

What I appreciate most about Lisa’s perspective is this:

She isn’t celebrating being the only woman in the room. She’s working toward a future where no one has to be.

And that makes this a conversation for everyone.

Join us as we read, reflect, exchange perspectives, and explore what more inclusive leadership can look like.

📅 August 12
🕔 5 PM PST
👉 Join us here: https://tinyurl.com/4mtebmpm
•
•
•

I was recently asked why we started the Ignite Ambition Book Club.My answer is simple:Some of the best career conversati...
08/11/2026

I was recently asked why we started the Ignite Ambition Book Club.

My answer is simple:

Some of the best career conversations don’t happen in a classroom.

They happen when people come together, share experiences, challenge each other’s thinking, and learn from one another.

That’s what our Book Club is about.

And for our next read, we’re exploring an important conversation around women, leadership, inclusion, and navigating spaces that weren’t always designed for everyone.

📘 The Only Woman in the Room: How to Win in a Workplace (Still!) Built for Men by Lisa Davis

Drawing from more than 25 years of leadership experience, Lisa shares lessons from navigating technology, healthcare, government, academia, and traditionally male-dominated spaces.

But we’re not just reading the book.

We’re discussing it. Questioning it. Sharing our own experiences. And turning its lessons into conversations that can help us grow.

📅 August 12
🕔 5 PM PST
👉 Join us here: https://ignite-ambition.mn.co/posts/101588636

Address

Palo Alto, CA

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Shellye Archambeau posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Shellye Archambeau:

Shortcuts

Share