Wouldn’t it be great if you could be audaciously ambitious and happy at the same time?

You can, and you will.

“I’m here to tell you that all of your priorities—personal and ambitious career goals alike—can fit together harmoniously. I’ll show you how, like thousands of women I’ve worked with over the years, you can make more money, earn the credit and recognition you deserve, have more power, and be as ambitious as you want to be. I’ll show you how you can be ambitious without compromising your ethics and integrity. I’ll show you that you can feel worthy and entitled to all of this without fear that you risk sacrificing your desire to have a full, happy personal life and without being afraid that you’ll be less of a woman. It’s worked for me. It’s worked for countless ambitious women I’ve advised. It will work for you.”

—From Ambition is Not a Dirty Word: A Woman's Guide to Earning Her Worth and Achieving Her Dreams

We women aren’t advancing in our careers the way we should. We’re not making the money we deserve or getting the fulfillment we desire. And this time it’s not men who are holding us back. This time we’re doing it to ourselves, because ambition—for us—is still a dirty word.

Debra Condren has coached thousands of women at every level—from those just starting out to the most powerful female executives in the United States—and each one possesses the same fear: if she goes after her dream, she’ll be seen as selfish, bitchy, a bad wife, or bad mother. But it’s exactly this fear of ambition that has forced women to leave the best part of themselves—their dreams, their great talents—by the roadside, rendering them less able to be the whole people they should be in every area of their lives.

Condren has a new message and mission: to remind women that ambition is a virtue, not a vice. Ambition is the best of who we are.

The real way to have a great life is to see ambition as a part of your value system to which you must give equal attention, along with the other priorities you hold dear, including your spouse, your children, and your friends. In Ambition is Not a Dirty Word, Dr. Condren offers fresh, powerful tools for reclaiming your dreams. Her eight Ambitious Rules provide concrete, innovative solutions to the everyday struggles we as women face, like taking credit, deflecting detractors, and handling confrontation, so that you can become more powerful and fulfilled at work and more satisfied at home. You can redefine your ambition in the face of social sanctions and unapologetically go after your dreams without sacrificing the rest of your life.

You owe it to yourself and the world to make the contribution you were born to make. Debra Condren will show you how to do it.

Praise for Debra Condren and for Ambition is Not a Dirty Word :

Ambition Is Not A Dirty Word is a Recommended Book on OprahSelects.com. (Originally published in hard cover under the title, amBITCHous: Let’s Reclaim Ambition As a Virtue.)

"A defiant charge to women to 'reclaim ambition as a virtue'… 'Wouldn't it be inspiring if you could acknowledge straight up, to yourself and to others, that you have big, wild and precious professional goals?' Condren's corrective manifesto urges women to pry apart the bars of 'common self-imposed traps' which cause ambitious women to 'sell themselves short'… " – The New York Times

“Debra Condren’s book is something I wish I had twenty years ago. Having learned from my mistakes, being a person who self-sabotaged for many years, afraid of the A-word, life as a mother, a filmmaker, and an actor has made me come to terms with the word ambition. It’s okay and I’m proud of who I am today. Read this book so you can avoid the long road of self-sabotage and embrace ambition as a powerful virtue.” –Rosanna Arquette, actress

“Dr. Debra Condren is a dedicated advocate for empowering women to break traditional boundaries and achieve personal and professional success.”

—Barbara Boxer, U.S. senator

“Debra Condren nails ways in which professional women—even accomplished ones—sell themselves short. She offers precise, innovative guidelines for how women can turn self-imposed blocks and inhibitions into motivation to outrun inner doubt and win back their worth.”

—Sheldon Siegel, New York Times bestselling author, Special Circumstances and Incriminating Evidence

“This is an inspiring, empowering, and practical book. Give it to your friends, sisters, and daughters.”

—Tanya Styblo Beder, CEO of Citigroup Alternative Investments' multistrategy, proprietary hedge fund, Tribeca Global Management LLC

“Positive in tone, loaded with strategies and solutions, this engaging book charts a compelling, clear, and accessible course for getting comfortable with passion for your work and transforming inner obstacles into success and power.”

—Elizabeth Roberts, first vice president of Wealth Management, Smith Barney

“Dr. Debra Condren has been a guiding light to many women business owners and young women in realizing their potential.”

—Dianne Feinstein, U.S. senator

“Irreverent, ferocious, funny, and wise! Any woman who has ever felt conflicted about feeling passionate about her work should read this book cover to cover.”

—Barbara Corcoran, real estate magnate, author of national bestseller If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails

In this hard-hitting look at why many women fail to move ahead in business, Debra Condren argues that it is not the glass ceiling or male chauvinism that holds us back, but the socially sanctioned belief that women can't be both ambitious and happy. With welcome bluntness, she urges women to renounce traditionally feminine qualities--being nice, having a balanced life, being a team player, and other self-sabotaging behavior--and openly, forcefully pursue our ambitions.

AmBITCHous identifies the common traps women fall into and provides the tools for escaping them. It's packed with strategies for changing ingrained patterns and learning to take the risks that bring big pay-offs; standing up to people when necessary; acting tough even if it brings disapproval from others; and taking credit for one's ideas and accomplishments.

Featuring self-assessment questionnaires, interviews with prominent businesswomen, and exercises for developing business skills and savvy, amBITCHous is just the right combination of description and prescription women need to get their careers back on track.

Debra Condren, Ph.D., is a psychologist, a business and executive coach and career advisor, and the founder and executive director of the Women’s Business Alliance. Dr. Condren received a U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Advocate of the Year Award in 2000. Her client roster includes a diverse list of Fortune 500 companies, and a wide array executives, professionals, and students between the ages of sixteen and sixty. Her advice has been featured in major media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and NPR’s Morning Edition. She lives in New York City and San Francisco with her husband, son, and stepson.