Barbara Corcoran On Shark Tank Season 16, Pitching Tips, Work-Life Balance, AI, & Journey To Success

What's up is way up for Angela Yee and how exciting for me, Barbara Corcoran is here with me today. Happy to be here, Angela. I'm so happy because first of all, I watch everything that you do online. And so I told you I have my real estate license. I've been investing in real estate. So I'm always paying attention to what you're saying about the real estate market. And sometimes it's hard when you're looking at things online. Cause you're like, okay, Redfin says this, Julia says this, Barbara Corcoran says this. Um, so I always kind of just try to, uh, piece it all together. And you know, so I want to talk about, um, first of all, congratulations, season 16, 16, might as well be season a hundred. It's been forever. I'm shark tank. And you're still having a good time. How is it now that you guys started and Mark Cuban isn't there? It's a little bit sad with Mark going, but I'll tell you the truth. We did our best season because we were all trying to show off this year. I saw how smart we were in front of Mark before he even left. So I think you're going to see a lot of good shark tank this year, more than ever. Yeah. All right. I'm excited. Do you guys film the whole season ahead of time? And then we do for two in two particular times of the year in June. And then again in September, but we do endless days and get it in the can. So it probably takes about two weeks total by what to count the, when the, the, the, uh, what days is, that's what I'm trying to find here. Days. Yeah. Those are long days. They are long days. And by the end of the day, you don't really like each other much. Is it better you think for you guys when people come in earlier pitching or if they come towards the end of the day? Cause it has to get exhausting. Both. I think, uh, afternoon after lunch works great. Cause we're all feeling satisfied before lunch. We never buy a thing. God forbid you're the entrepreneur that marches onto the set right before lunch. Nothing you say we're going to like. And everybody gets cousin Maine's lobster. Oh, we do. We bring cousins Maine's lobster to the set. We do that a lot with the successful businesses and they love it cause they love to show up. Look at me. I've made it. Yeah, no, that's a big deal. Well, um, I do want to talk today about everything that's been going on in the real estate market too. Cause that was one of my main, um, you know, I just got my CFA for a building I got in Midtown Detroit. I just got it earlier this week actually. Wow. Yeah. And it was a long journey to make that happen and a lot of obstacles. And I know you've said that for real estate, you just got to get in there. You gotta get in there. That is your biggest piece of advice. Once you get in, you can't get out. She might as well do a good job, right? Yeah, no, absolutely. And people have been really nervous. People have been nervous because of interest rates. They've also been, um, people who own homes have been nervous to sell them right now because they're not going to get a better interest rate than what they agree with that. I understand it. Yeah. And so how have you been handling your portfolio? Well, I think there's times to buy in the market. You can't really sharpshoot the market where you're exactly timing it right. But I'd like to get warmer around when I can sharpshoot or pretend sharpshoot better. And right now this month we're in, I think is probably the best month in the last two or three years. And the reason for that is exactly what you cited. There's so much confusion in the market. Interest rates went up when everybody thought they would come down without really a big explanation. People who are on the sidelines and sitting on the sidelines when they wanted to, they had decided only a couple of months ago, they're ready to jump in. So you have a quietness in the market this month before the election. And if you could jump in there, a lot of people are going to take bids that wouldn't have taken them two months ago because of the uncertainty in the market. I buy a lot of properties around different cities that I think are up and coming cities. It's kind of like I used to think Brooklyn was an up and coming city about Manhattan, you know, and then it was taken anything but up and coming anymore. So I'm always looking for those up and coming cities. And I can tell you they're hard to get good deals in a really great city. But in the last couple of weeks, I've been hearing from a lot of people saying yes on bids that they wouldn't have said yes before. I think it's a great time to get out right this month, this month, once the election is done, people will all guess whether they're right or wrong as to which direction we go in. Oh man. Okay. I have no idea what's about to happen with this election too. You are perfect. You just, you're, you're just involved in new property now. I don't know if that was intended or just. Well, it was a long journey, you know, and I want to say this too because real estate isn't while I love real estate and I've done some great things. I have two brownstones in Brooklyn and I have a, um, and when did you buy those? Um, one of them I bought in 20, maybe like 14 years ago. Wow. You're rich. Yeah, it did. I don't even have to ask you where. And then I have, I also have a condo in Williamsburg. And then I have an Airbnb in the Catskills little hustle of the year. I've been, I've been doing my, my things, but it's also been a learning process from the first time that I bought one. That's what made me feel actually secure enough to be able to buy other things. Once I bought my first property, it was a two family. Yes. And that was probably in the world. That was important because I didn't want to handle a lot of tenants. Yeah. But I think just one really helped me pay my mortgage. Well, you were, you were living in the same building. Yeah. A lot of people don't know a two family house, the best investment, always the market. Cause someone will pay your rent. Yeah. What's wrong with that? Or at least part of your, part of your mortgage generally. Yeah. And, and, but I do want to say that everything doesn't always work out. And so, you know, even in particular with this building in Detroit, there's a lot of things that could happen. Like there was a covenant on it that we weren't aware of for 99 years that we had to figure out how to exit and taxes were able to. Yes. And it was a long journey to be able to make that happen. And we weren't sure. So sometimes it's not a sure shot. What are some things in real estate that you've done that maybe didn't happen the way that you would have liked? Well, most of the things that wound up really great for me were really done by accident. I remember I bought my first two townhouses in Manhattan, five story buildings with 20 tenants in each. No, it sounds like a like a great envisioning you so many years ago, but I couldn't find an office to house a new real estate office, downtown Manhattan. So I had to buy something and get a new office. And that wound up like quadrupling in prices within two years. As I recall, it was amazing. And it just keeps going up. I keep remortgaging it and spending the money. I don't pay taxes on that. You just taking the cash shoveling out, shoveling out. But then I have to say the very first thing I ever bought was a mistake. I bought a 10 unit, a small, I guess a hotel you'd call it, or a motel up in the country. Cause I was looking for something to give my first husband to do because he wasn't very busy. And I bought that and I asked, let me see the payroll and the payroll made perfect sense. We were going to make a lot of money, but I never asked to see the rent receipts. Nobody was paying rent. It was a rent roll, but nobody paid. So we went under under the water on that one for probably two years before we came out whole. What do you think about the laws for, you know, I think that as a, as a homeowner, sometimes it's very hard to deal with tenants who aren't paying the rent and trying to either get them out. And I have sympathy for people who are having tough times, but then there are some people who are just not paying their rent. Absolutely. I have found over the years, the guy who's really in need always pays his rent. Right. I really haven't had a problem there. You know, you could extend a little credit and get through the bad time, but the wise guys I've gotten involved with over the years, a wealthy kid or somebody in Greenwich held me up for rent for like nine months and didn't pay his rent. It's always somebody who's more affluent. I think that has the right to try to beat the system. He knows how to play you. Yeah. It's, it's unfortunate because if you let it, it would sour your attitude to real estate. Yet, if you don't let it sour your attitude and realize most people are good, you can make a ton of money in a very slow way, but you wind up very, very rich. Do you think that they need to figure something out to make it better for it? Cause some homeowners can't even pay their mortgage if their rent doesn't get paid. And so I don't know how they make that a better process for people who can actually afford to pay the rent. Cause even for me, I had to evict a tenant or start that process. And it's a properties, right? Yeah. And it's a long process and they weren't paying the rent. And then even then you still have to give them three months notice. And then even after that, who knows if they'll, it's just such a long, become a holdover tenant despite the court order. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. Like what would you do in a situation like that? Maybe send somebody over there to kill them. You mean? No, I didn't say that. What were you sending people over for? Maybe act like I'm going to kill them. Oh, that's a little different. A little different. No, I think you're always as a landlord balancing between your empathy and your heart and what you need to pay your own bills on the building. I think when it comes down to losing money because the tenants are paying rent, people get tough and they usually stay right away. You got to get out and start the movement legally to get rid of the tenant. Yeah. That's all you can do now. Also, you worked in another business. Um, that's a tough business restaurant business. Yes, I did. Talk to me about, um, what you learned from that experience. Cause people will tell you the restaurant business is like the toughest business to get into. Well, when you say restaurant business, I didn't own a restaurant business, but I did work as a waitress, many businesses and waitressing is great. It's, it's probably a good parallel to real estate sales. You're on a commission basis. You smile, you make friends, you deliver great service. You get big tips. If you don't, you don't get any tips. The hours are long. You think you're going to go in and just get the job done. No, it's excruciatingly, uh, it just makes you tired. It's a tough business, you know, and with, with, um, being a waitress, if you're a good waitress, you can call your own shots because there's so few good waitresses. You get a job anywhere, just like you can as a real estate agent. If you're making money, you know, I want to ask you, so you've never thought to invest into, or do you feel like that's not, um, you know, like I said, the restaurant business, you've seen it from the inside, but is that something you've ever thought to invest in? I'm sure people have approached you about that. You know what it is with the restaurant businesses. We hear them on shark tanks and I have invested in a few of them, but what's difficult to do is it takes a lot of cash to run a restaurant business. It's usually an entrepreneur that's working all their hours at the restaurant and very often there really isn't room for another investor. You know, they don't really want a third partner in there telling them what to do or giving a third of their profit to the investor. So it's a hard business to get into unless you own it yourself. And you have to be there a lot. You have to be that micromanaging is a lot. Um, and now for people, the average person, right, who wants to invest in a business and they watch shark tank and they watch people come on and pitch, how do you know what to invest in? If you could tell the average person that's like, okay, this person is starting a business. They want me to invest in it. What should they be looking for? You mean someone pitching a business? No, somebody who's looking to invest. Cause there's people who are figuring out how to grow their portfolio and they're like, okay, I have a little extra cash. I do want to invest in something, but I don't know how to go about it. I don't even know how to structure this deal. I don't even know what I should be asking for somebody. But I do want to get in the game. Yeah. I think it's a very smart idea to look at it with one eye closed and the eye closes toward the business. You should first really examine the entrepreneur. Who do you have in front of you? What's their track record? Do they have a track record? If they don't, do you believe them? Have they worked hard? What else have they done? What have they done before and what have they failed at? A lot of people don't tell you what they failed at. I've invested in a few businesses where I found out four years later, they had three other businesses they failed at. That's a bad enough report kind of low run. I know that before I got my money involved. Right. But no, you have to focus on the entrepreneur. And after that, you look at the business because it's I've really lost so much money really with good businesses. But I've made so much money with smart entrepreneurs. Right. Focus on that the best. Got to take a chance. Yeah. Now, on the flip side, what makes a great pitch for somebody? A great pitch is somebody telling me how I'm going to make money. And very few people even think to tell me how I'm going to make money. That's going to get my interest right up front. A great pitch is someone has enthusiasm and has seemingly enough energy to hit the finish line. You know, you get into I see so many entrepreneurs that don't have energy and that's just never going to work. And also a great entrepreneur is an entrepreneur who's been tested through some kind of duress and come through as a winner because he really hits so many obstacles building a business. You just have to know how to get back up and recover. Kind of like the jack in the box. You have to jump back up and say, hit me again. Hit me again, because every entrepreneur is persistent or they're never going to make it as an entrepreneur. It just doesn't work that way. Do you look for a business where I mean, we talked about like, show me how you're going to make me some money, right? At what point? Because sometimes you feel like even for me, like for business that I have, I before I try to get investors, I want to make sure that I actually have grown my business to a point where I feel like it has more value than getting an investment early on. But some people can't get to that point without an investment early on. So when you when you're telling somebody like, say, I have a business, right? And I'm looking for an investor. At what point should I say it's time as opposed to let me get a loan from the bank? I think you should be getting a loan from the bank as long as you can, because so many people sell their stock early. I almost sold my business, the Corcoran Group, five years before I actually sold it to Merrill Lynch. And they offered me a hundred thousand dollars when I was desperate for cash. Wow. I couldn't believe my good fortune. And Merrill Lynch wanting my business for a hundred thousand dollars. I sold it five years later for sixty six million. So what a shame not even contemplated that offer. And thank God I turned them away. What made you turn them down? Gut instinct. I thought maybe I could do this without them. Am I really that desperate? Let me try one more thing. And in the trying one more thing, you always find an answer. Everybody finds an answer. Just trying, trying, trying. And it's kind of like the Cinderella syndrome. Somebody will come in and rescue me. It doesn't really work that way. You get an investor who has his own opinion as how you should run the business. He wants his money, puts his nose in the job. You have a different perspective. Now you have to please the investor. I'm just not a big believer in it. I was talking to a founder earlier, and she was just discussing how everybody who's been really successful and self-made successful has these stories of where they've just been like back against the wall, savings completely gone, not knowing how they're they're going to make it happen. Yes, of course. Yeah. Part of building a business. And so for people who deal with that, because I feel like self-care, especially, you know, years ago, wasn't talked about as much as it is today. Right. And most people still don't do it. Yeah. And even taking days off, people feel like if you take days off, then you're not working hard enough. Yeah. You know, what was that like for you when you were growing first growing Corcoran? Quite the contrary, because I realized early on that I was no good unless I was relaxed. So I would certainly run seven days a week for many weeks in a row. But I always went to Jones Beach for a whole week solid. Just my little bathing suit, my little sandwich. I go to Jones Beach because that's what I could afford. But you know what? While I was at Jones Beach, I thought of a million ideas. I got revived. I got enthusiasm. I got back and I motivated people at foot. It's never happened at my desk. If I kept my nose on the desk, I never had a good creative idea of my life at my desk. I always found on the outside. So I think, I think people have to realize I can't be a dog that works all the time if they want to be successful. I haven't met anyone. You need to have fun at work. You just need to get away to refresh yourself. Self-care, as you put it. What do you think then about since we just talked about this and about self-care, what do you think about working from home? Cause a lot of people now are not looking forward to going back into the office. Some people are saying, I'm not working for this job if I have to go in or I only want to go in two days a week. Well, you look at it two ways. I'm looking at it from the employee's vantage point and I get it. Why would you want to get in a car and go to work and work? We stole that time going in just to come home again. It doesn't make any sense. Everybody wants to stay at home. Whether people are more productive at home. I'm not sure I'm buying it as a, as a boss. You know, I kind of like when I'm in the office to see all the people that work for me in the office working with me. If I'm not in the office and I'm taking those two days off or working myself outside the city on some business related thing, I like my people to know they don't have to come in. But when I'm in, I like my people. Okay. Cause it is a, I never could have envisioned that people could be like, I'm doing a hybrid work from home. When I first started in this business, it was like, you have to be here. Like, but you know, we've proved to everybody it could be done. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't have a choice for a period of time. Yes. Right. What do you think having done 16 years of Shark Tank is different about how entrepreneurs were pitching when you guys first started versus how things are now? Because things have changed a lot, even as far as social media, as far as that's like a whole different metric for people and a whole different form of advertising. But some people hate social media. Well, if they hate social media, they can't be in business because everything's played out on social media. It's like the giant billboard of years ago. If you're not going to advertise and that's social media, you're not going to be in business. I always buy entrepreneurs that are great at social media. I don't even care what business they're in. Wow. They have that gift. They're going to hit the drum and get it well known their brand. They're going to push it forward. But no, it's not an extra anymore. Social media. It is the main playing field. You're absolutely right. So when you think about people pitching, um, you know, when you guys first started the show, cause I know you couldn't have envisioned it lasting never as long as it would last year, maybe. And I feel like there's been a lot of people who have kind of copied that formula too and done their own cause it's something that's been good. That's been successful. But what do you think is different about entrepreneurship back then versus now besides just the social media aspect? I think people are fancier now, which gets in the way. I think people coming on the set very often will see the sharks as a stop along the way to raise some cash from, and they leverage themselves very high and they have a lot of people to answer to. I think going back years ago, it was a lone entrepreneur who walked in and was desperate for the money. And it was somebody you could really work with and build their business. Fortunately this last year, I don't know what they've done differently at shark tank. They went back to the streets and collected all those souls to pitch on shark tank. So you'll see a whole different nature of a person on shark tank, a really clever one man band in some regard. So you're going to buy in a lot more, but it has changed. It's gotten more sophisticated. If one more 12 year olds approaches me and tells me, what did you do about that Jack Daniels deal that you did? I don't believe you got the right return on the investment. I'm like, how old are you kid? You know, what's your burn rate? Another kid asked me what's your burn rate on that business? Are you kidding? I'm not even answering you. What do you, how do you think AI has also leveled the playing field as far as people pitching? So far as people pitching, I don't believe we have really seen the effect yet because so much of the effect has happened in the last six months. So they recruit those entrepreneurs like a year ago, but I think we'll see them next year. I mean, AI is remarkable, but we haven't seen any AI related businesses. You know, I think AI can also help people with their pitches too. Oh, yeah. And why wouldn't they take advantage of that? But shark tank helps you with the pitches for shark tank. They help you write the pitch. Oh, they do. Yeah, they do. They want a great entertainment. They don't want somebody standing there being boring. They want somebody who's going to hold the TV attention. Can they do a take two then and everything like, or is it a practice? Yes. But when I come on this show, we had one guy, we had four, uh, four young men come on. They all pitched their business. The fourth guy fell on the floor and he fainted. We thought it was an act, so we didn't pay attention, but he actually had fainted. So when we realized he needed medical attention, all four men were taken off the stage. They never came back. It's reality TV. You get one shot at shark tank. Ooh, that is not a game. It seemed a little mean. I remember that night thinking, ah, too bad. That was such nice kids. Is it, does it make you more reluctant when there are too many partners in a business? Always? Yeah, you have too many gods to serve. I mean, I bought into a business that was a education business just a few weeks ago in shark tank and all four of the partners, probably all under 25 had different respective roles in the business. That makes great sense. But very often when you ask the entrepreneur, what do you do? What do you do? What do you do? You get the tripping over each other and you realize half the staff's not even needed there. Now you got to buy the business, get rid of half the people who are partners in the business. And it's a bad foot to start off on. Yeah. The partnerships can really, um, and a business that could have been otherwise successful. More often than not, the businesses that don't do well end on shark tank because of bad partnerships. They got along when they're on shark tank and then they don't get along after shark tank. How would you tell people if say you have a business that's going really well, but you guys don't get along, but you want to keep the business going. What advice would you give to somebody where it's like personality wise, we don't mesh, but how can we still work through this? What's beautiful is everybody's capable of being an entrepreneur on their own. If they wish, you should just go up to your partner. I had this happen to me twice in businesses. I don't go up to your partner and say, I'd like to buy you out. Are you by me at you want to agree on a price? Would you rather go? Would you rather stay? And then you get rid of the partner. If you have a bad partner early on the business, it's just going to get more expensive and more difficult as it goes on. Because if you're unhappy, you could be assured that he's unhappy. Now, who did they buy you out? Or did you buy them out? Both? I went both ways. I did more of the buying out, but I would be happy, happy to sell out for a dollar to get rid of a bad partnership. What constitutes a bad partnership to you? A lack of communication, not seeing eye to eye, not envisioning where you want to bring the business. We very often have people that come in. One partner wants to sell his business as quick as he could. And the other partner wants to own it with his family for as long as he can. That's diametrically opposed. That's never going to work out. Then you enter a third partner who wants to make money on the business. It's terrible. It's just not going to go anywhere. People tell you that it's really hard to make money in a business early on. And it's very rare. What do you think is a good metric of time? And when is it time to say this just isn't working for people who are listening that have been trying and trying and trying? And it's either like I have to pour more into this or I have to realize that maybe this isn't working. Like what are some ways that they can reflect and figure out how to move forward? I would say the right attitude on the whole thing starts right there. I think it takes more courage to quit a business and start a business. I mean, you get applauded by everybody, your family and friends when you start something. But if you're dragging along, you're not making any money. Nobody's watching you and nobody's cheering you on and you're not going to do well. So people are reluctant to quit. I have had many of my Shark Tank investments said to the person, listen, this ain't working. Let me tell you why. As long as it makes great sense. I don't want to discourage you. You're welcome to go on, but I'm bailing out here. I'm selling out. I don't think it's going to work. And hopefully they do the same in most instances they do, because the business is working. I've got so many businesses I've been involved in that seem like they're business. They're not business. They're not making sales. It's just they have a shingle on the wall. It's hard to quit. It's really hard to quit. It is really hard. And what also is hard is if you have a day job and have that safety net and you have a business, it ends up being kind of like a hobby. And you always talk about the difference between having a hobby and having a business. There's something wrong with a hobby. Gosh, it's so interesting. But if you put on top that I've got to make some money on this hobby, it's not a hobby anymore. It's a hardship. Now you have done so much and we know we've Googled your net worth. So we know Barbara Corcoran has been extremely successful, but are there things that are still on your bucket list of things that you haven't done yet that you're like, okay, I have the freedom now to be able to do this. I like to travel more than I do usually six, eight weeks a year, but I've done that my whole life. I don't believe you have to work every single week. You have to get away as we talked about before. But I think for me, I want to really build a barber in the pocket, which is my particular platform for welcoming entrepreneurs in. Because I know I do one thing really well. I help people well. It's just what I do well with business. I can't help you with your love life because I'm not so good at it either. I can help you with your business. So we collect all these people together and barbering their pocket. And I really feel like I pushed them ahead and they hit the finish line because of me. And so I'll die feeling like a happy lady that I helped a lot of people until we all want to make a difference. That's really what we're after. I think in the bottom line. Yeah. Cause people can ask you questions and you'll answer them. Oh, and I'm not always right, but I'm right most of the time. Now you also don't believe that there's a real work life balance, right? And so what balance do you have now? I really don't have a balance. I never have. All I'm good at is separating compartments. So when I'm at home, I don't take business calls. And when I'm at work, my kids don't ever call me. They don't call me for anything. They know I'm not going to answer them. Unless they use the emergency. This is an emergency. Then they get through. My husband, Bill, when he wants to reach me, he calls and says he's from the New York times. So he tricks me once or twice, but not three times, you know, but I separate, I think separating yourself is key. And that's as close as you can get to balance. Do you think that your personal life earlier on suffered because of business? I didn't have much of a personal life. I worked since I was 11. So it suffered because of your business. Yeah. But you know what? Everyone who worked for me was my best friend. Maybe you're not supposed to say that or have that anymore, but I had a thousand people. I hired them all. I trained them all. I had all the managers. We adored each other. I did whatever I could for them. They were my family before I had a family. So I treated them as though they were my kids in every way. And what was I going to do for them lately? You know? And then once I had kids, I still, I still supported them in every way that I could, but it really became sibling rivalry in my heart. You know, to have kids and try to raise kids and try to raise the kids that you work, it's a difficult thing to balance. And that's why I say, there's no such thing as balance. What do you say to people who say they're dating somebody and they want to start a business together? Oh, I thought you were going to ask me for dating advice. I was going to say you had the wrong girl. I'm talking about work and dating together, because I can sometimes that goes way left. And so what would you say to somebody that's like, okay, my significant other and I, we want to start this business together. He's good at this. I'm good at that. Let's combine our things. But that's also a risky situation because what happens when we're not getting along in our relationship, but now we have this business together. Or what happens when that's all we talk about and we're not taking time for other things? Well, that happens all the time. And very often they prove very good businesses. Don't stereotype it because a lot of people join with people in their family and run very good businesses or a loved one. They run very good businesses. I had a situation where I had my boyfriend and business partner for seven years. And then he left me and married my secretary. That's a bad ending. I mean, that was going to blow up the business and it did, but what happened then is fine. They fell in love. They went off and had a bunch of kids and I was left alone. I'm feeling sorry for myself. However, I started the Corcoran group. Without that departure, I would have never started the Corcoran group. So bad things happen. But think of, I learned the business for seven years solid where I had to go out on my own. So I don't think it's so bad. Everything happens for a reason. Sure. Well, if you want to be a fatalist or it happens wrong, if you don't want to be, that is a, yeah. And I've heard that. That is a wild story, but he really did do you a favor, like you said, because sometimes, sometimes something like that is the catalyst that you need to take a big risk. Oh, I love when people are fired. I was fired from like four jobs when I'm 22. I really still don't know what I do or did wrong. I wish the boss had really told me what I did wrong. Gave me some line of baloney that I really didn't believe. But you know, it's great about endings. They force you onto a new beginning. And that's what each of my bosses who I didn't like did. They pushed me onto something else. That's what my boyfriend Ray did. He pushed me on to a second marriage. It didn't work out so well either, but also onto a new business that I was able to build into an empire. Thank God that happened. Right. No, listen, they always say that that is a blessing when something gets removed from your life. That, you know, I believe that because I, even for myself, just even doing radio, the way this happened was because of a bad breakup. And then I was like, well, it's a long story, but I did climb through his window, catch him in bed with somebody else. But after that I was upset for like a week. And then I said, you know what? I'm going to switch jobs, switch my everything and like try something new. And that actually gave me the courage because sometimes you get really comfortable and complacent in a position. And something like that can make you just be like, forget it all. Like, let me just go for something that I normally wouldn't do for you. But what courage? Cause you're shot down in those moments. And your ego isn't intact. It's hard to get up. And there you were standing back up. And ego sometimes is what does hold us back from feeling like we don't want to be told no or that we're going to fail and it's okay. We deserve it or we've worked hard for it and all these reasons. Yeah. How about those old bosses and exes? Do they ever try to, after all of that happened, like, do they still say congratulations? Do they reach out or did anybody try to circle the block? No, no, not at all. He never left his wife. So he never came back in that regard. If you're wondering, okay, who hired the secretary? I hired the secretary and you know, there's a lesson that I never hired a pretty secretary again. She was twice as pretty as I was. She had long blonde hair. And she was 10 years younger. What was I thinking? Of course he left with her and got married. Oh my goodness. Well, listen, well, Barbara Corcoran, I appreciate you so much. You know, like I said, I watch everything that you do and I definitely am. Listen, I'm always impressed by, and I pay attention and I'm always like, okay, let me see what Barbara Corcoran has to say about this. And what I love is that you're also very present. And you're always still out here giving advice, letting people know what it is that you're doing. You're so generous with your time. And I've been trying to get you up here. Cheryl, who's a friend of mine. I've been like, when can I get Barbara Corcoran on my show? It was Cheryl's fault. She told me not to go on the show over and over again. I believe it. No, we're going to talk after this, but, but I'm always like, she's over here. She's over here. Why isn't she over here? So I appreciate it. But I know you also have a super busy schedule. And so for everybody to know Shark Tank is back season 16. I saw your, um, your 16 years ago versus today. So different. Yeah. You think so? I think so. I've had three facelifts along the way. So my face looks the same, but my body's very different. Well, you look like you're in great shape. I do want to say that nowadays. You know what? Facelifts. Okay. I've been talking about that a lot lately. I know every surgeon in New York, what they charge and who's good at what. Oh my goodness. Everybody has a specialty. All right. Well, Barbara in your pocket. Okay. So can we talk about that with Barbara in your pocket too? If anybody has questions? Yeah, of course we can. Cause I had an idea to pitch to you for yourself. I'm going to listen. Now you had this podcast and you would answer people's questions. Right. And, um, I love that part of it because sometimes those are the same questions that I would have. Yes. So, um, tell us, explain to us, for people listening, that maybe don't know about Barbara in your pocket, what that is. This is very interactive. If someone's starting a business, they have a dream. Obviously they run into obstacles. They feel alone. They don't know who to turn to. I'm not saying I'm a savior, but what I do really well is give good advice on business. So they come to me in a collective group, a lot of people together, and they all start asking questions. And usually when I ask to answer a question well that has meat in it for one person, 10 people respond to me. It was just what they had on their mind. So what I try to do is see what's current, see what's bothering people and make sure they move on because people hold themselves up. You know, they need to push. Someone push you broad. And I like to do that. Well, listen, I think that Barbara in your pocket could kind of mesh well with bringing back the podcast. I think you might be right because you don't necessarily have to have a guest. The people who are asking you questions that have questions just like I do are the guests. Yes. And then you can focus on different things that are really relevant today. Like you said, 10 people have that same question and they can benefit from it. And then you can expand even further for everyone to hear. And then you make extra money doing that too. Cause we know we like that. I know you little hustler, my God, but it's a great idea. It's kind of like the same work in your pocket. It's the same work. Okay. I'll let you invest $50,000 in that idea. I would bet my money on you, Barbara Corkman. I feel good about it. I'll take you 50 right now. Okay. Cheryl. Ready check Cheryl. No, but honestly I do think that you need to, you know, like I said, I would, I'll rethink that. That's really smart. Okay. It's like moving on 20 degrees left. That's all it is. You guys, you heard it here first. Barbara Corkman, I'm not going to credit you ever. If it's a win, you don't get it. And I don't mind. And you know, maybe that's, um, to my disadvantages that a lot of times I'll do things and help people. And I don't ever really like say, it's hard for me to ask. This happened to me one time, right? I actually connected to people. Somebody was trying to do a deal with a huge artist and I connected the brand with the person I didn't, and I didn't think to get anything out of it. Yeah. I broke it it, but it was really just like, Hey, you know, this person, you know, can you link me with that? Yeah. So I'm going to tell you the truth. This was the biggest check I ever got back then. They actually ended up, um, paying me $150,000. Wow. Good for you and you didn't even ask for it. And I didn't even ask. And it actually is how I ended up buying my first house. That was part of the money that I used for that at that same time. But that was a lesson for me because sometimes I just do things just out of the goodness and kindness. And it's hard. I don't know if it's a harder thing for women to do it. Cause I find, I feel like men are a lot better at being like, well, I need some money for that. Women don't ask for raises ever. I have found that running thousand men, not woman team, not men teams, but woman teams, they don't ask for a raise. I get two men there and ask them for a raise automatically and negotiate our salaries. And you know, I had read an article in Marie Claire about women not asking for raises or negotiating their salaries. And I went in and did it. You did because of that? Yes. And I actually got a 40% raise when I was at Sirius. Did you name the price? I want 40%. No, I just said, I actually did not name the price. Um, and I got a four. I wasn't making much though. So I went from, yeah. Well, you know what? I think I started off so low because I didn't negotiate. And so by the time I had finished my first year in radio and had really proven myself, it was my first time doing radio because, and I know you also say this, like not to overvalue yourself at times. It is important to negotiate what you deserve, but also to know what that, what you're worth in the market. Yes. And I had never done radio. So this was my first job in radio. So I took the low salary knowing that I was at some point. So it was a start. Yeah. It makes sense actually. It doesn't, it's makes great sense. Many people do. Yeah. Yes. But then finally you asked for the raise and many people don't. Yep. And I got a bonus on top of it and I didn't even ask for it. Wow. Yeah. And then you must have a nice way of asking. You know what I learned? You don't ask because you want it. You ask because you deserve it. And I actually put together a binder of all the reasons why I deserved a raise. Yeah. And I was also, um, when I read this, it was a Marie Claire. It also said to say, I love being here and I want to continue here. Absolutely. And if, and if they say no, then ask if there's other things that they can offer you in lieu of the finances. Of course. Yeah. It looks like Marie Claire, uh, stole my hints. Well, thank you again. Okay. And so I'm excited for this. Um, can't wait for the podcast to relaunch with Barbara in your pocket too. It's way up.