<\/pre>\n
<\/pre>\n
Words by Ellyn Spragins
\n<\/span><\/strong>Photography by Marc Royce<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
Your people smarts will prove ten times more valuable than all the book smarts you can\u2019t get.<\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s entirely characteristic that the first line of Barbara Corcoran\u2019s bio on her website is \u201cBarbara Corcoran\u2019s credentials include straight D\u2019s in high school and college and twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three.\u201d Witty, unpretentious, and an improbable success, Barbara built The Corcoran Group, a Manhattan-based real-estate brokerage started with a $1,000 loan from a boyfriend, into a high-profile market leader that she sold in 2001 for $70 million.<\/span><\/p>\n
Since then, Barbara, with her signature blonde pixie hair and big, telegenic smile, has popped up as a real-estate contributor on NBC\u2019s Today and has been a columnist for the New York Daily News and Redbook. She\u2019s also written two books: If You Don\u2019t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom and Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life. When I spoke to Barbara, on vacation at her summer home on Fire Island, New York, she had recently finished shooting eleven episodes of Shark Tank, then a new reality show on ABC. On the show, Barbara is one of five self-made millionaires\u2014who are the so-called sharks\u2014competing to invest their own money in entrepreneurial ventures they deem worthy.<\/span><\/p>\n
Her television debut is the culmination of a long effort to reinvent herself after selling The Corcoran Group. As usual, her mother, Florence, provided a key piece of encouragement. After Barbara confessed that she lacked confidence on Shark Tank, her mother said, \u201cOh, Barbara, don\u2019t be worried. Just picture Mom and Dad floating over your shoulder cheering you on. You know you always do well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If it sounds unusual for a woman in her sixties to still be getting support from her mother, instead of the other way around, consider how fundamental Florence has been to Barbara\u2019s later achievements. Her mother\u2019s unfailing confidence in Barbara formed an armor that insulated her from despair in elementary school, when she discovered a shocking truth about herself. In third grade she heard some of her classmates laughing when she read aloud. She was sent to a special after-school reading class taught by the dreaded Sister Stella Marie. During the very first session, the nun grabbed Barbara by the ear and said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t start paying attention, you\u2019ll always be stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when it hit me that I had something really wrong with me,\u201d says Barbara. That afternoon she went into the woods and cried. But at home that night she was still a star to her mother. Florence\u2019s reaction to Barbara\u2019s reading problems: \u201cBarbara Ann, don\u2019t even worry about it. With your imagination, you\u2019ll learn t<\/a>o fill in the blanks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Here Barbara writes to herself in third grade.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Dear Barbara Ann, <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid. Stand up and shout loud and clear enough for everyone to hear: \u201cno, I am NOT stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s a world of difference between being different and being stupid. It\u2019s not a sin when you can\u2019t follow directions or don\u2019t have the answer. Know that there is no shame in reading out loud and that the other kids\u2019 laughter is just a sign of their discomfort with fears of their own. They don\u2019t realize they are hearing, for the first time, a different kind of beautiful mind.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know things the smart kids don\u2019t. You create sidewalk chalk games the other kids can\u2019t even dream of. You often know what the other kids think before they decide to tell you and can feel the mood in a room the moment you walk in.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know how to get your sisters to do all your chores. You\u2019ve learned how to bring humor into the middle of your family\u2019s chaos. You know how to build complicated worlds of levels and bridges and alcoves and cliffs and islands and beaches in the little stream behind the house. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Trust yourself, Barbara Ann. Your talent for daydreaming will come in handy later. And your people smarts will prove ten times more valuable than all the book smarts you can\u2019t get.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be patient with yourself and repeat after me: \u201cI am NOT stupid. I am NOT stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barbara<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Subscribe or purchase an issue here~<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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