Barbara Corcoran Details How She Became A 'Celebrity Broker' Overnight

After listening to the latest episode of Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran, you'll walk away with one rule of thumb: Perception creates reality. In the newest seven-minute episode, which dropped on Tuesday (May 22), the real estate mogul took a trip down memory lane to reflect on how she became a celebrity broker overnight and it all had to do with image.

Years back, the Corcoran Group was struggling to expand on advertising. It was a situation that had Corcoran dealing with continuous complaints from her sales representative until she did something about it. "When [the rep] left the office, I took my 11 sales company-wide for the year, added them up, divided by 11 and came up with a $54,000 sale price. I decided to turn that into a report. I named it 'The Corcoran Report' and typed next to that average price, 'Average New York City Apartment Price,'" the mogul recalled in the episode.

"I mailed it out to every reporter who wrote for The New York Times that day. Sports writers, news writers, hoping something would come of it. Well, at first nothing did. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she said. "But a week later I opened up The New York Times real estate section and the headline reads, 'New York City Prices Hit All Time Low,' and the first line read, according to Barbara Corcoran, President of the Corcoran Group."

Corcoran couldn't believe her eyes when she opened the newspaper, admitting it was her first lesson in learning that perception can often create the reality that you want. After learning the tricks of the trade and a rumor that Madonna was pregnant, Corcoran created another report that focused on what the pop titan would be looking for in an apartment and sent it to five major TV networks. That led to appearances on four of the five networks and even a call from Richard Gere's agent. She'd later go on to sell him a small one-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. 

"Well, I spent half my time from that day forward creating the perception that I was this or that simply based on what I wanted to become and then I would have to run like crazy once the stuff was out there to catch up with my own image," she continued. "I might advertise I'm with the latest and greatest in your local newspaper and you won't believe me, but once I'm quoted as an expert, everybody falls for it."

If you have a question to ask Barbara on a future episode of Business Unusual on iHeartRadio, tweet your inquiry to @BarbaraCorcoran and stay tuned to see if the entrepreneur offers you some sound advice. In honor of Small Business Month, Dell is offering up to 40% off select PCs with Eighth Gen Intel Core Processors. Plus, you can get a free external hard drive with select PC purchases. Call 877-BUY-DELL to speak with a small business technology advisor today.

Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran on iHeartRadio gives listeners an inside look at the entrepreneur's decades-long career, including her first-person stories of triumphs and pitfalls. As you listen to her new podcast, you'll learn a wave of advice that has helped a new generation of young entrepreneurs achieve their goals. As one of the judges on ABC's Shark Tank, Corcoran knows a thing or two about the inner workings. After all, she has had 22 jobs by the age of 23, built a $5 billion business with a $1,000 loan and conquered the New York real estate world.

Photo: Katherine Tyler for iHeartRadio


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content