Barbara’s Rags to Riches Story

How do you turn a $1,000 loan into a five-billion dollar business? According to self-made real estate empress and TV personality Barbara Corcoran, you do it by learning how to fail well. During her business speaking engagement, Barbara tells the story of how, armed with a $1000 loan and her own gritty determination, she quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City and turned that company into a multi-billion dollar business. Barbara describes what it’s like to go from a tiny start up to New York City’s largest real estate company to a major TV personality as the real estate contributor to the NBC TODAY Show and a shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, and how she overcame the many obstacles along the way. A highly motivational and hugely entertaining success story.

Ten ways to lead your team to greatness

Barbara Corcoran built the largest residential company in New York City, The Corcoran Group, and she did it with great people by her side. The motivational speaker shares her best strategies for getting teams motivated and moving forward, for hiring the right people and firing the wrong ones, for creating an atmosphere of fun that breeds constant innovation, and for forging ahead, even when the chips are down. Barbara’s unique and practical lessons will help salespeople, managers, and business owners take their businesses to the next level.

What are the Sharks really like?

Take a five-minute speed ride behind the scenes of the ABC hit reality show, Shark Tank. One of the most famous women speakers will answer many questions during the speaking engagement. Do all the Sharks get along? What happens when the cameras are gone? What is Kevin really like? Is billionaire Mark Cuban a nice guy? Are we actually investing our own money? Is the show scripted? Do they get information on the businesses before the trembling entrepreneurs step on the set? How long is an actual pitch? Through dozens of photos, Barbara takes you on set at Sony Studios for all the shenanigans, bloopers, and private information that the other Sharks don’t want you to know. As a famous speaker, Barbara’s sensational stories will have you in stitches—and clamoring for more!

How to pitch your product & build your brand

As one of the most famous women speakers, Barbara knows first hand that people DO judge a book by its cover. In today’s world, a recognizable brand determines half of your success. Barbara Corcoran, founder of the best-known brand in New York City real estate, shares her diehard advice on how to create a big image, use the press, and turn yourself into THE ‘go-to’ expert in your field. As a shark/investor on ABC’s hit reality show, Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran has heard it all—and knows exactly what it takes to get her to open her wallet. The business speaker can teach anyone to craft a perfect pitch and how to avoid the most common tripwires. Here’s the inside scoop straight from the shark’s mouth!

Reinventing Yourself at Any Age

No one knows more about reinvention than D-student turned real estate maven turned TV personality Barbara Corcoran. She first ‘reinvented’ herself when her business partner and boyfriend ran off with her secretary. He swore she’d never succeed without him and, although she believed him for a moment, she ultimately triumphed by creating The Corcoran Group. When she sold that business thirty years later for $66 million, she was surprised to learn that simply riding off into the sunset wasn’t for her. Reinventing herself again at age 55 turned out to be a daunting challenge—she had trouble picking out what to wear in the morning, let alone picking up the phone to ask for what she wanted, she was so unsure of who she was. Today, as a shark on the new ABC reality show Shark Tank and the real estate contributor to NBC’s TODAY Show, she is a walking, talking success story whose star is still on the rise. And she happily shares her failures, her successes, and the obstacles she learned to overcome in an inspiring story that will kindle a flame in the heart of anyone searching to come into their own as a mature, powerful individual.