She means business! Motivational speaker and TV personality Barbara Corcoran shared 25 things you might not know about her exclusively with Us Weekly. You can catch the real-estate mogul, who’s competing for the mirrorball trophy with pro partner Keo Motsepe on season 25 of Dancing With the Stars, premiering on Monday, September 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
1. I’m one of 10 kids and grew up in a two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom. My mom put the girls in the pink bedroom, the boys in the blue one, and my parents conceived us on the living room sofa bed!
2. My dad worked two jobs most of his life and never liked his boss. Call it a coincidence, but out of my nine siblings and I, eight of us started our own businesses.
3. I failed at 22 jobs before I started the Corcoran Group.
4. I dreamed I was the queen of NYC real estate my first day in business. I imagined it for 20 years until it became true.
5. I never look at the resume because it tells you what someone has done, rather than what they can do. I like to hire based on personality and attitude.
6. I don’t believe in business plans. The minute you enter the real world, they fall apart.
7. My biggest successes in life have all happened on the heels of failure. I’m good at getting back up.
8. When I didn’t originally get cast for Shark Tank, I sat right down and wrote a short e-mail to Mark Burnett saying I considered his rejection a lucky charm and he had made a mistake. I’ve now been on Shark Tank nine seasons!
9. I’ve been dyslexic since childhood, and it gets in the way of learning to dance. It’s hard for me to learn sequencing, like dance steps. I signed up for Dancing With the Stars to see if I could get over it and finally learn to dance.
10. I went through seven years of in vitro before having my first child at age 45. It was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
11. I took a hip-hop dance class to celebrate my 60th birthday.
12. My hidden talent is reading tarot cards. It’s a lot like reading the real-estate market.
13. If I hadn’t been a businesswoman and entrepreneur, I would’ve been a professional ski racer.
14. My favorite cocktail is a mojito. It’s more helpful than a shrink.
15. Being a mother is my favorite role in life. Nothing else can measure up.
16. I blew my first $340 commission check on the fanciest coat I could find. It made me look and feel like the success I would become.
17. My hot pink Vans are my favorite things to wear.
18. If I had one day left on earth, I would have five mojitos in a row, lay on my hammock and call it a day.
19. I am impatient. It’s what I like least about myself.
20. My favorite place in the world is home.
21. My favorite book of all time is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
22. I despise ass-kissing. It gets all the wrong people ahead.
23. My idol in life is my mother. I just got lucky.
24. One thing I’d absolutely never do is marry a third time.
25. My secret beauty ritual? A glass of wine every night before bed.
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