Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran in 2014

Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American business woman, investor, syndicated columnist, and television personality. She founded The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million in 2001 and shortly thereafter exited the company. One of the show's original "Shark" investors, Corcoran has appeared in all 14 seasons of ABC's Shark Tank to date. As of January 2023, she has made 130 deals on the show, the largest being a $350,000 investment for 40% of Coverplay.

Quotes

• “If you’re older and you’re letting that get in your way, simply look your best and put [your age] to the side,”
• I hire many people that are older … and they have so much more wisdom.” Corcoran said. “There’s no circumstance that they run into that they haven’t seen before and have a solution for. So you take a lot less training, you have a lot more life experience and judgment.”
• Just make sure you really dress up and look the part of somebody energized, ” she said. “That’s the way you should be conducting your interview — from a place of energy.”
• The concept of being “too old” to revamp your professional life is “increasingly outdated.” She advises her clients over 40 to “emphasize the value of their accumulated experience and the importance of continuous learning and adaptability.” Simply put, there are a plethora of qualities unique to seasoned professionals that they can bank on. That aside, wearing an outfit that makes you look energized is arguably the most important part of showing vitality,
  • Barbara Corcoran’s one-word hack for successfully landing a job after 40—it can ‘fool an employer’ CNBC (January 2,2024)
• “I looked at the average interest rate of the last 50 years in America and it was almost 8%. And yet people relatively are seeing our current interest rates as a lot of money,” “They’re really not. [Interest rates] are simply average.
• They have peaked. Most people believe that,” Corcoran said. “But everyone is expecting the prices on mortgages to come down to 6% and maybe even lower than that.”
• “Everyone will hear the call, and everyone will be out looking for a house again,”
• “You’re much better off buying something now if you can,” Corcoran said, adding that this gives you a chip in the game compared to those attempting to wait out the market.
• If you have any way of getting the cash together and getting into the market… buy yourself a house.”
  • Barbara Corcoran: Why Interest Rates Are “Simply Average” in 2024 Real Estate GoBanking Rates (January 6, 2024)
• The joy is in the getting there. The beginning years of starting your business, the camaraderie when you’re in the pit together, are the best years of your life.[1]
• Don’t you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct.[2]
• My best successes came on the heels of failure.[3]
• I have a theory and I really believe it. I think you’re worse weakness can become your greatest single strength[4]
• Finding opportunity is a matter of believing it’s there.[5]
• The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.[6]
• Stop putting it off! Procrastination breeds guilt, guilt breeds depression, and depression breeds failure[7]
• In business, you’re the chief salesman. Create a sense of demand, rather than waiting to have demand.[8]
• Every time you push through failure there’s always a prize for you on the other side. [9]
• Stop comparing yourself to everyone else around you.[10]
• Forget about perfection; it doesn’t exist.[11]
• Always choose attitude over experience. Always.[12]
• It’s your game. Make up your own rules.[13]
• A complainer is like a Death Eater because there’s a suction of negative energy. You can catch a great attitude from great people.[14]
• The truth is you can teach any skill, but you cannot change a bad attitude.[15]
• I consider rejection a lucky charm.[16]
• All the best things that happened to me after I was rejected. I knew the power of getting past no.[17]
• If people like you, they’re going to want to do business with you. And if they don’t you’re going to have an almost insurmountable obstacle to overcome.[18]
• I gave up years ago on the concept that you could actually have balance in your life, I think it’s a phantom chase.[19]
• My best advice is to play up what you’re good at instead of sitting around criticizing yourself for all the things you don’t do well.[20]
• Luck is a byproduct of hard work and good judgement.[21]
• Just go for it. You don’t want to end up with regret.[22]
• The hardest lessons to learn is that you’re more capable than you think you are.[23]
• Some of the worst pitches are the people who talk all fancy who’ve been to business school.[24]
• Leaders come in two flavors. Expanders and containers. The best leadership teams have a mix of both.[25]
• I built the business exactly the way my mother built and ran her family. I wanted a replication of the big, happy family I grew up in. I wanted happy people having fun.[26]
• When you’re building a business, you’re either all in, or you’re not.[27]
• You don’t need an MBA to launch a business. You need street smarts and grit.[28]
• If you’re minding someone else’s business, no one is minding yours.[29]
• Your heart must always be in it. That’s part of an entrepreneurs DNA.[30]
• Innovation and creativity are the juiciest parts of running a business.[31]
• You can’t study to be an entrepreneur. Sometimes, you just have to jump[32]
• The biggest challenge in business is not the competition, it’s what goes on inside your own head.[33]
• When you think you’re failing, you feel like people are watching you. I found that nobody is watching and all they care about is themselves.[34]
• Don’t be afraid to go for positions, jobs or take on clients just outside of your knowledge base. It’s when you’re uncomfortable that you learn and grow the most.[35]
• Good leaders are not born, they are people who try hard to be exceptional.[36]
• Procrastination is the enemy of success and the guilt of not doing something always steals your energy.[37]
• If you get labeled a winner, people come along for the ride. Might as well enjoy it and they should too.[38]
• If you want to have a creative culture, you can’t get it by reading books. You get it by example.[39]
• Play what you’ve got and don’t waste time worrying about what you don’t.[40]
• Everyone recognizes and responds well to people who act like themselves. You don’t have to be fancy, you just have to be yourself.[41]