Self-made millionaire Elizabeth Elting: ‘The usual success tips for women aren’t working’ today

As a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Elizabeth Elting knows what it takes to succeed during a crisis. 

In 1992, she co-founded the multi-million dollar language services and business solutions company TransPerfect in a New York University dorm room with her former spouse. Serving as the co-CEO of the company from 1992 to 2018, Elting, who made Forbes’ richest self-made women list for the past five years, oversaw the organization’s operations during both the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the financial crisis in 2008.

Though the current pandemic is far from anything she’s seen before, Elting says there is one piece of advice she would give career women today who are having a hard time thriving at work. 

“The usual success tips for women aren’t working,” she tells CNBC Make It while explaining that the advice to “navigate company culture” or “build alliances with women colleagues is a little bit out the door” considering a lot of women are facing pressures to leave the workforce and many women are working in remote environments where it’s hard to follow these traditional rules. “I think the best solution for women ultimately is entrepreneurship. If women can start their own companies alone, or in partnership with other women, that can allow a degree of financial independence and flexibility.”