Stefanie O’Connell with Ruchika T. Malhotra — 'The Ambition Penalty'

Schedule

Mon Nov 09 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm

UTC-08:00
Location

Third Place Books Seward Park | Seattle, WA

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For women disillusioned by the failed promises of girl power, a data-driven guide that reveals the hidden forces fueling gender inequality
About this Event

Third Place Books happily welcomes journalist Stefanie O'Connell for a discussion of her book , in conversation with Ruchika T. Malhotra.

Join O'Connell for an evening of conversation about money, power, misogyny, the state of the world—and how to build your wild, beautiful life anyway. Bring your questions, your friends, your stories about how your ambition has been penalized, and your dreams for a future that celebrates women's ambition loudly and proudly.

This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance.



About The Ambition Penalty. . .

We spoke up. We took charge. We asked for more. But where has it actually left us? Not only are generations of women more burned-out than ever, but the gender pay gap has barely budged in decades.
In The Ambition Penalty, journalist Stefanie O’Connell presents a deeply researched and sometimes shocking look at the ways women remain passed over and excluded, not for a lack of ambition but because of it. She calls it “the ambition penalty”—the sum of the financial, personal, and professional costs women face for daring to want more.
The Ambition Penalty dismantles the myth that women are less ambitious than their male peers and debunks common claims—like women aren’t confident enough and don’t negotiate enough—used to justify stubborn gender gaps in power. This book reveals why decades of educational gains and empowerment messages have not translated into corresponding advances for women at work or at home.
The Ambition Penalty gives women the talking points they can use to call out these biases and lays out proven practices for leaders and allies committed to cultivating environments where women’s ambitions are supported, rewarded, and celebrated.


Stefanie O'Connell is an award-winning journalist and author of THE AMBITION PENALTY: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up — and Then Pushes Them Down. Her work dismantles the myths keeping women from equitable pay, leadership, and power—one data point at a time. With bylines in Slate, The Guardian, Bloomberg, CNBC, Glamour UK, Newsweek, USA Today, and Business Insider, Stefanie exposes how power and gender collide to keep women "in their place."

Ruchika T. Malhotra is the author of three books, including Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success. She is also the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm. A former business journalist, her writing appears regularly in publications such as Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, and more. She has previously held adjunct faculty positions at Seattle University and the University of Washington, where she now advises the Communication Leadership graduate program.


About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

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Where is it happening?

Third Place Books Seward Park, 5041 Wilson Avenue South, Seattle, United States

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