Billion Dollar CEO, Founder: Liz Elting on Dreaming, Mentoring, Giving and Winning
Liz Elting, CEO and founder of The Elizabeth Elting Foundation, is a keynote speaker at Take The Lead’s 2023 Power Up Conference & Concert.
Liz Elting was never lost in translation.
Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation, she started her first venture in 1992 as a graduate MBA student at New York University’s Stern School of Business with the creation of TransPerfect, a language solutions company.
“I loved languages,” says Elting, who speaks Spanish, French, Latin, Portuguese and English, and has lived in Spain, Portugal, Canada, Venezuela and her native U.S.. “I saw a real gap of what clients needed and what was available in the industry. I knew I wanted to combine languages and business.”
“@LizElting, CEO and founder of The Elizabeth Elting Foundation, is a keynote speaker at @Takeleadwomen 2023 #PowerUp Conference & Concert. #womenleaders #womeninbusiness ”
The company that she started in her NYU dorm room as co-CEO with a small amount of savings and a $5,000 advance on her credit card became the world’s largest language solutions company in the world with $1.1 billion in revenue and offices in more than 100 cities worldwide. She sold her share in that company in 2018.
“I think my story is different because there are so few organically funded billion-dollar companies. Most entrepreneurs aren't aiming to be the largest in their industry, it's not the right path for every business. And most billion-dollar businesses start with a loan, a seed gift, investors, or independent wealth; it's rare for an entirely self-funded business to grow to that size, especially one founded by a woman, given all that women in business are up against," says Elting who has been working since she was 10 years old, when she was earning $1 a day to walk a 7-year-old neighbor to school.
Elting chronicles her path to becoming one of Forbes’ Richest Self-Made Women (an ho,nor she has earned every year since 2015) in her forthcoming new book, Dream Big and Win: Translating Passion into Purpose and Creating a Billion-Dollar Business.
“@LizElting chronicles her path to becoming one of @Forbes Richest Self-Made Women (an honor she has earned every year since 2015) in her forthcoming new book, “Dream Big and Win: Translating Passion into Purpose and Creating a Billion-Dollar Business.” #entrepreneur”
Energetic and expressive, Elting shares her surprising entrepreneurial and philanthropic journey as a keynote speaker and sponsor at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference and Concert August 26.
“Liz Elting’s story will inspire every budding entrepreneur,” says Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, and creator of the Power Up Conference and Concert. “We're lucky to get to hear exactly how she built a successful company—and how that gave her the freedom to become a philanthropist.“
Read more at Take The Lead about 2023 Power Up Conference & Concert
Born in White Plains, New York, Elting’s family moved to Chappaqua, N.Y. when she was seven months old. At 8 years old, she, her parents and sister moved to Portugal as her father was in marketing and advertising and opened restaurants there.
As a third grader, she studied Portuguese and French in school, before her family left Portugal due to political unrest, and moved to Toronto, where she continued studying French.
Her parents always encouraged her and reminded her, “Do not be financially dependent on anyone but yourself,” Elting says.
““@LizElting story will inspire every budding #entrepreneur,” says @GloriaFeldt, co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen. “We’re lucky to get to hear exactly how she built a successful company—and how that gave her the freedom to become a philanthropist.“ ”
She took that to heart and from a young age and through college took jobs babysitting, having a paper route, working at a dry cleaners or telemarketing. As a teen, she also spent summers working nights and weekends as an usher for the Toronto Blue Jays.
“At 16, my parents stopped paying for my clothes and entertainment,” Elting says.
As an undergraduate at Trinity College, Elting studied modern languages and literatures, including a year studying abroad in Cordoba, Spain in 1985, before graduating in 1987. After earning her degree, she spent a few months home in Toronto, before moving to Venezuela for four months working for a large cement company, before later moving to New York to work at a translation company where she worked in production and sales for three years before starting graduate school.
Graduating with her MBA in Finance and International Business from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 1992, Elting has won several prestigious awards for her entrepreneurship and philanthropy, including the Distinguished Alumnae Award from NYU Stern's Women in Business, as well as the 2019 Charles Waldo Haskins Award for business and public service.
Her translation business idea was still percolating; an idea she hatched with Phil Shawe, the company’s co-CEO who was a year behind her at NYU. But she thought with her degree it was a good idea to go into finance.
“I was ambitious and I got a job at a French bank in proprietary trading and I was the only woman there in my role in 1992. Whenever the phone rang, everyone said, ‘Liz, phone!’ I didn’t love that. I also didn’t have a passion for finance.”
After four weeks she told her boss she wanted to quit, and after six weeks she was out and free to start TransPerfect. “We had no startup capital,” Elting says. “We focused on selling and grew the company with the profits.” She says she told herself, “If I’m going to do this, I want to be the biggest and the best.”
““We had no startup capital,” @LizElting says. “We focused on selling and grew the company with the profits.” She says she told herself, “If I’m going to do this, I want to be the biggest and the best.” #startup #businessadvice”
During Elting’s time as co-CEO, TransPerfect was recognized eight times with the Inc. 5000 Award, six times as one of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, and earned multiple Stevie Awards, including Company of the Year and Fastest Growing Tech Company of the Year in 2016.
Crain’s New York Business named TransPerfect one of the largest privately held companies for 12 consecutive years, and one of the largest women-owned companies 11 times.
The company was a winner of the 2015 SmartCEO Corporate Culture Awards and has been awarded Best Translation Solution by the Internet Marketing Association for three consecutive years. TransPerfect was also named one of the fastest-growing women-owned/led businesses in North America by Entrepreneur and the Women Presidents' Organization.
Elting and Shawe grew the business, and worked together 26 years. Parting ways was time-consuming and expensive, she says.
“It was a blessing. You need a change,” says Elting. “Now I give my time to philanthropy and help women entrepreneurs and those who are marginalized. I get to share my lessons.”
Read more in Take The Lead on tips for entrepreneurs
Married since 1999 to Michael Burlant, the couple have two sons, 22 and 20. Elting says their love story had starts and stops. They met in 1988, and dated for two years before breaking up. They got together 10 years later after her personal relationship with her co-CEO ended and she and Shawe remained business partners only.
“Our aspirations and goals were different,” Elting says of co-CEO Shawe.
In collaboration with NYU’s Stern School of Business, Elting created the Elizabeth Elting Advancing Women’s Leadership Fellowship to support MBA students who demonstrate extraordinary academic merit, an impressive record of leadership experience, and a dedication to the advancement of women in business.
As part of NYU Stern’s Endless Frontier Labs, Elting launched the Elizabeth Elting Venture Fund to provide seed capital for promising women-led, early-stage startups in science and technology. Together, both programs represent the largest gift from a woman entrepreneur in the school’s history. Elting serves on the NYU Stern School of Business Board of Directors and is a regular speaker at both NYU and Columbia Business Schools.
“As part of NYU Stern’s Endless Frontier Labs, @LizElting launched the Elizabeth Elting Venture Fund to provide seed capital for promising women-led, early-stage startups in science and technology. #womenowned ”
Read more in Take The Lead on women in philanthropy
Her undergraduate alma mater, Trinity College, has honored Elting with the Kathleen O’Connor Boelhouwer ’85 Alumni Initiative Award and the Trinity College Alumni Medal for Excellence and Gary McQuaid Award. In partnership with Trinity College, Elting launched the Elizabeth Elting Foundation Venture Conference for Women’s Leadership, part of the Trinity Venture program for first-year students. She also serves on the Board of Trustees at Trinity College and is a founding member of Trinity’s Women’s Leadership Council and the Marjorie Butcher Circle.
“I am loving where I am now,” says Elting, who through her foundation in 2020 launched the Halo Fund, a comprehensive multimillion-dollar pandemic relief initiative aimed at direct support for medical needs, hunger relief, health equity, and on-the-ground efforts in underserved communities.
She advises women entrepreneurs to spend their time on “how you get sales instead of just how you get investors.” She adds, “We started with no money.” And though it was a 50/50 ownership, there was no shareholders’ agreement. That’s important to have, she says.
Feldt and Elting will discuss more advice for women entrepreneurs on the process of building a dream into a profitable reality in a free fireside chat webinar Thursday, August 17, leading up to the Power Up Conference August 26.
“@GloriaFeldt and @LizElting will discuss more advice for #women #entrepreneurs on the process of building a dream into a profitable reality in a free fireside chat webinar Thursday, August 17, leading up to the #PowerUpConference August 26.”
Register now for The 2023 Power Up Concert & Conference, “Lead Your Intention” August 26 live in Los Angeles and virtually to hear Liz Elting and scores more speakers and panelists. Early bird tickets through July. Learn more here.
Her Elizabeth Elting Foundation started in 2018 has the goal “to break down systemic barriers, bridge gaps, and foster systemic change for women and other underserved communities so that people of every stripe can succeed, thrive, and reach their potential.”
She adds, “I don’t think the world is set up for women in business. There are systemic issues. The best thing women can do is start their own company, create their own environments and make their own rules. People are not going to get the workplace culture they want, so why not create your own?” .
““I don’t think the world is set up for #womeninbusiness. There are systemic issues. The best thing women can do is start their own company, create their own environments and make their own rules,” @LizElting says. #careersuccess ”
As a long-time supporter of the American Heart Association, Elting established the AHA’s Elizabeth Elting Fund to provide targeted support for women-led organizations and entrepreneurs from New York’s under-resourced communities forging paths toward health equity.
Elting also helped launch the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund to provide funding to on-the-ground social organizations tackling systemic barriers to equality for marginalized communities.
She serves on the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women National Leadership Council, the Sandy Hook Promise Leadership Council and Advisory Board, and the Board of Directors of Girls Learning Advanced Math (GLAM). In 2017, she founded the Elting Family Research Fund to support initiatives for the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation.
For her breadth of work mentoring and supporting women, Elting has received the National Organization for Women’s Women of Power & Influence Award, the American Heart Association’s 2020 Health Equity Leadership Award, and the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs’ 2021 Vertex Award for changing the face and direction of women’s high-growth entrepreneurship.
In 2022, Elting was honored with the American Heart Association’s Woman Changing the World Award, and was an honoree at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.
“Over the years, I experienced sexism even as a co-CEO, internally and externally. So for all these reasons, it is important to help and support women,” Elting says.
““Over the years, I experienced sexism even as a co-CEO, internally and externally. So for all these reasons, it is important to help and support women,” @LizElting says. #womeninbusiness #femaleentrepreneur ”
And that is a mantra worth translating.
Leadership Takeaway of The Week:
“People are not going to get the workplace culture they want, so why not create your own?” —Liz Elting, Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation
