从女招待到地产女王

    芭芭拉•柯克兰的经历绝对是改编电影或者电视剧的完美素材：一名勇气十足的餐厅女服务生借了1,000美元，用这笔钱创办了纽约市第一家女性做老板的房地产公司，并成为纽约市顶尖的住宅房地产公司。2001年，她将其公司柯克兰集团（Corcoran Group）以6,600万美元的价格出售。当然，这位拥有14套红色西装（她的标志性着装）的女士，最终以另外的方式登上了电视荧幕，成为《今日秀》（Today）和《创智赢家》（Shark Tank）的常客。《创智赢家》是挖掘创业人才的真人秀节目。她在畅销书中分享自己的商业建议。如今，64岁的柯克兰喜欢发表鼓舞人心的演讲，虽然她曾经非常害怕在公共场合讲话。下面就是她的非凡经历：

    我出生在新泽西州埃奇沃特市，家里共有10个孩子，我排行老二。埃奇沃特是一个非常贫穷的小镇，但我一度认为，我们属于肯尼迪家族，因为我父亲总是穿西装上班。他是一家印刷厂的工头，而我妈妈是全职太太。

    我上的是教会学校，能全部达到D的成绩，对我来说是不小的成就。我之所以这么说，是因为学校里总是有一个笨蛋认为，分数与未来过什么样的生活有着一定的关系。但实际上没有任何关系。帮助我取得成功的是我的草根智慧。1971年从圣汤姆斯•阿奎纳斯学院（St. Thomas Aquinas College）毕业之前，我做过20份各种各样的工作。我卖过热狗，四年级的时候还当过孤儿院的女管理员。

    大学毕业后，我在一家餐厅当服务员的时候遇到了我男朋友雷•西蒙。他是新泽西的一个小建筑商。他借给我1,000美元，然后我们在1973年联合成立了一家叫柯克兰—西蒙（Corcoran-Simone）的公司。他占公司51%的股份，于是我成为曼哈顿的一家房屋租赁中介。

    有一天，我正在向一位来自联合碳化物公司（Union Carbide）的工程师介绍出租房屋，但他说自己想买一栋房子。当时我手头并没有房源，但我还是陪他跑遍全城，表现得好像自己非常专业。最后他真的买了一套。这件事纯粹是偶然。他支付了大约50,000美元，这意味着我可以得到3,000美元的佣金，是租房佣金的10倍以上。于是，我绝的我们应该涉足房屋销售，第二天就开始打销售代理商的广告。

    我摸清了一个门道。1973年《纽约时报》（New York Times）上三行字的广告成本约180美元。只要我的应收款项超过180美元，我就会新聘一个代理人。如果花钱做的广告上带有代理人的名字，代理人会非常高兴。每次有足够的钱雇佣一个新人时，我就租用两倍的广告空间。我尝到了更高佣金的甜头，于是到1975年的时候，我就只做房屋销售业务了。

    等雷告诉我他要跟另外一个女人结婚时，我们已经有14位业务员，年收入约560,000美元。1978年，我们分割公司的时候，他跟我说：“没有我你永远别想成功。”我始终将这句话铭记在心。为了证明我有能力取得成功，我成立了柯克兰集团。

    当时，纽约市还没有一家女性当老板的房地产公司。所有房地产公司都是女人打工，男人当老板。为了让自己与其他人区别开来，我常常穿上短裙和亮色的衣服。即便我不受欢迎，也已经得到了关注。第一年，我手下共有7名业务员，收入350,000美元。

    开公司是个有趣的过程。我们从来不在12月份举办圣诞节派对，而是选在二月份，因为在二月份，我可以以非常便宜的价格找到一个很棒的地方。我会让每位员工在自己的办公桌上接受15分钟的按摩。房地产销售是压力很大的工作，你额外为员工做的任何事情都在表达“我爱你”。如果你爱别人，别人也一定会用爱来回报你。处于食物链顶端的人都能和睦相处，因为他们忘记了自己也是竞争对手。这种文化让我们与众不同。

    Barbara Corcoran's story would make perfect fodder for movies or TV: A diner waitress with moxie takes a $1,000 loan, uses it to build the first woman-owned real estate firm in New York City, and rises to the top of residential real estate in the city before selling her firm, the Corcoran Group, for $66 million in 2001. Sure enough, the woman who once owned 14 red suits -- her visual trademark -- eventually found her way to the small screen, with regular roles on the Today show and Shark Tank, a reality hunt for entrepreneurial talent. Her bestselling books share business advice, and today Corcoran, 64, who was once too terrified to speak in public, enjoys giving motivational talks. Her story:

    I grew up in Edgewater, N.J., the second oldest of 10 kids, and even though it was a very poor town, I thought we were the Kennedys because my father wore a suit to work. He was a printing-press foreman, and my mother was a housewife.

    I went to Catholic school, and it was an accomplishment for me to make straight D's. I say this because there's always a dumb kid in school who thinks grades have something to do with what you end up doing in life. They don't. It's street smarts that helped me succeed. I had 20 jobs before I graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 1971, doing everything from selling hot dogs to being an orphanage housemother in my senior year.

    After college, I met my boyfriend Ray Simone, a small builder in New Jersey, while waitressing at a diner. He gave me a $1,000 loan, and we started a business together called Corcoran-Simone in 1973. He got 51%, and I became a rental agent in Manhattan.

    One day I started showing rentals to an engineer from Union Carbide, who said he wanted to buy a place. I had no listings, but walked him all over town, acting as though I knew what I was doing, and he ended up buying one. It was sheer happenstance. He paid around $50,000, which meant a $3,000 commission, more than 10 times a rental commission. I decided we were supposed to go into sales, and advertised for a sales agent the next day.

    I had this routine. In 1973 a three-line New York Times ad cost about $180. Whenever I had more than $180 in receivables, I'd hire a new agent. If you could pay for an ad with your new agent's name on it, the agent was happy. The minute I had enough to hire a new person, I rented double the space needed. I was getting a taste for the higher commissions, and by 1975 I was doing only sales.

    We had 14 agents and our annual revenue was about $560,000 when Ray told me he was marrying another woman. As we divided the company in 1978, he said, "You'll never succeed without me." Those words branded my soul. I started the Corcoran Group to prove my ability to succeed.

    Back then there were no female-owned real estate firms in the city. The business was worked by women and owned by men. I wore short skirts and bright colors to stand apart from the crowd. I was not welcome, but I was noticed. That first year, I had seven agents and revenues of $350,000.

    It was fun building a business. We never had a Christmas party in December. We did it in February because I could get a cheap price for a fabulous place. I'd have massage guys give people 15-minute massages at their desks. It's a high-stress job selling real estate, and anything you do for an employee above and beyond says "I love you." When you love people, they love you back. Those at the top of the food chain got along because people forgot they were competitors. That culture made us different from everyone else.