????芭芭拉?柯克蘭的經歷絕對是改編電影或者電視劇的完美素材：一名勇氣十足的餐廳女服務生借了1,000美元，用這筆錢創辦了紐約市第一家女性做老板的房地產公司，并成為紐約市頂尖的住宅房地產公司。2001年，她將其公司柯克蘭集團（Corcoran Group）以6,600萬美元的價格出售。當然，這位擁有14套紅色西裝（她的標志性著裝）的女士，最終以另外的方式登上了電視熒幕，成為《今日秀》（Today）和《創智贏家》（Shark Tank）的常客。《創智贏家》是挖掘創業人才的真人秀節目。她在暢銷書中分享自己的商業建議。如今，64歲的柯克蘭喜歡發表鼓舞人心的演講，雖然她曾經非常害怕在公共場合講話。下面就是她的非凡經歷：

????我出生在新澤西州埃奇沃特市，家里共有10個孩子，我排行老二。埃奇沃特是一個非常貧窮的小鎮，但我一度認為，我們屬于肯尼迪家族，因為我父親總是穿西裝上班。他是一家印刷廠的工頭，而我媽媽是全職太太。

????我上的是教會學校，能全部達到D的成績，對我來說是不小的成就。我之所以這么說，是因為學校里總是有一個笨蛋認為，分數與未來過什么樣的生活有著一定的關系。但實際上沒有任何關系。幫助我取得成功的是我的草根智慧。1971年從圣湯姆斯?阿奎納斯學院（St. Thomas Aquinas College）畢業之前，我做過20份各種各樣的工作。我賣過熱狗，四年級的時候還當過孤兒院的女管理員。

????大學畢業后，我在一家餐廳當服務員的時候遇到了我男朋友雷?西蒙。他是新澤西的一個小建筑商。他借給我1,000美元，然后我們在1973年聯合成立了一家叫柯克蘭—西蒙（Corcoran-Simone）的公司。他占公司51%的股份，于是我成為曼哈頓的一家房屋租賃中介。

????有一天，我正在向一位來自聯合碳化物公司（Union Carbide）的工程師介紹出租房屋，但他說自己想買一棟房子。當時我手頭并沒有房源，但我還是陪他跑遍全城，表現得好像自己非常專業。最后他真的買了一套。這件事純粹是偶然。他支付了大約50,000美元，這意味著我可以得到3,000美元的傭金，是租房傭金的10倍以上。于是，我絕的我們應該涉足房屋銷售，第二天就開始打銷售代理商的廣告。

????我摸清了一個門道。1973年《紐約時報》（New York Times）上三行字的廣告成本約180美元。只要我的應收款項超過180美元，我就會新聘一個代理人。如果花錢做的廣告上帶有代理人的名字，代理人會非常高興。每次有足夠的錢雇傭一個新人時，我就租用兩倍的廣告空間。我嘗到了更高傭金的甜頭，于是到1975年的時候，我就只做房屋銷售業務了。

????等雷告訴我他要跟另外一個女人結婚時，我們已經有14位業務員，年收入約560,000美元。1978年，我們分割公司的時候，他跟我說：“沒有我你永遠別想成功。”我始終將這句話銘記在心。為了證明我有能力取得成功，我成立了柯克蘭集團。

????當時，紐約市還沒有一家女性當老板的房地產公司。所有房地產公司都是女人打工，男人當老板。為了讓自己與其他人區別開來，我常常穿上短裙和亮色的衣服。即便我不受歡迎，也已經得到了關注。第一年，我手下共有7名業務員，收入350,000美元。

????開公司是個有趣的過程。我們從來不在12月份舉辦圣誕節派對，而是選在二月份，因為在二月份，我可以以非常便宜的價格找到一個很棒的地方。我會讓每位員工在自己的辦公桌上接受15分鐘的按摩。房地產銷售是壓力很大的工作，你額外為員工做的任何事情都在表達“我愛你”。如果你愛別人，別人也一定會用愛來回報你。處于食物鏈頂端的人都能和睦相處，因為他們忘記了自己也是競爭對手。這種文化讓我們與眾不同。

????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.