Influencers with Andy Serwer: Barbara Corcoran

In this episode of Influencers, Andy is joined by The Corcoran Group Founder & ‘Shark Tank’ Star, Barbara Corcoran, as they discuss the country’s hottest real estate markets, Barbara’s ‘Shark Tank’ investing strategy, and why she thinks the metaverse could be ‘the best thing that ever happened to retail’.

Video Transcript

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- In this episode of "Influencers," Corcoran Group founder, Barbara Corcoran.

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, I see the business as an extension of the person who runs it, short and simple. I see it on "Shark Tank"-- so much money invested in things that make absolutely no sense. I get so much satisfaction out of helping my businesses that I've invested in, not because I'm making money, although that helps a lot, I find, after a few years. [LAUGHS] But I love seeing someone with a dream and thinking I'm part of getting to that dream.

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ANDY SERWER: Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Influencers." I'm Andy Serwer, and welcome to our guest, Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, host of the podcast "Unusual Business" and "Shark," an executive producer on ABC's "Shark Tank." Barbara, welcome. Great to see you.

BARBARA CORCORAN: Pleasure to be here with you. Thanks.

ANDY SERWER: So want to ask you a little bit about this economic environment. Inflation seems to be roaring back, and I'm wondering if people should really take this into account right now, an individual or couple who are looking to make a big purchase, or should you try to time it and wait it out?

BARBARA CORCORAN: You should move faster, because houses are only getting more expensive. It's harder to get your hands on something that you even find acceptable to live with, never mind something you've been dreaming about. Interest rates are still low, although, they've been creeping up, and they have promised to continue to go up. And so there's nothing to be gained by waiting whatsoever, absolutely nothing. So if you weren't smart enough to get into the market two years ago, a year ago, the idea right now is, get into it as fast as you can, if you really want a home.

And beyond the home front, I think it's probably the best market I have ever seen for real estate investing. I think the return on investment is phenomenal and has been in so many markets, in so many cities throughout the US, that-- I don't want to say it can't go wrong. But it's probably the best market I have ever seen in my life. So I think real estate is a champion.

I'm not saying that because that's my gig, because I invest in a lot of stuff. But I'm saying it because I've never seen it more tantalizing and with more promise.

ANDY SERWER: I want to pick up that last point, which is real estate as an investment, not your home per se. But I guess you're talking about like a rental property or something like that.

BARBARA CORCORAN: Rental property or a building with five or six units, or 20 units-- the numbers there-- the returns people are getting are really surprising.

ANDY SERWER: Why is that exactly? So in other words, because there's such demand and then rates are still low enough to make your cost of capital still pretty good?

BARBARA CORCORAN: A few reasons-- one, there was a shyness in the market. People were slow to respond to investment real estate. Now everybody's jumping into it, but it kind of lagged behind all other kinds of investments. So you had a little rest period.

Secondly, the rents have been going up nationally. And if you choose your properties carefully-- like if you're investing, say, in Orlando, rents are up almost 30%-- crazy. So picture what that does to the bottom line. And very importantly, which we all take for granted, like our right to breathe, money's so cheap. And so you can leverage really high.

So I, even in New York City, which has gone through a really tough period because of all the changes [AUDIO OUT] Albany that make it really almost untenable to make money here as an investor. A lot of people have stopped buying. They've moved their money elsewhere. And there are so many opportunities to buy and get very good returns, because rents keep going up.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I want to drill down on some of those specific markets, Barbara. You mentioned Orlando is hot. New York is problematic. What are some other areas that are either hot or cold or things are catching your eye?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, I should have a chart in front of me, because I keep a chart, and I can't remember what order they are. But you have-- Houston is a very vibrant market in rentals, and prices on investment real estate is still not catching up to it, from what I could see.

You see Pittsburgh is mind-boggling. Pittsburgh is probably where I've really put more of my money in the last two years than anywhere else. And the reason for it is people didn't take it seriously. It's not considered a major city, but there's been so much technology that has moved in there. It's got the most educated population. It's got a friendly government that loves development.

They have no rent restrictions or rent control, so it's almost like a cowboy land. You could really gallop out of the gate and make money right from the get-go. And that's exactly what I'm happy. I shouldn't even say it, because I don't want any competition. But now everybody is discovering it.

But the minor cities pretty much with-- now I forget which city just announced rent control. Boy, I backed out of that so fast. But most of the secondary cities are doing very, very well. You can almost get a dartboard, throw the dart there, be OK.

ANDY SERWER: In Pittsburgh, you got the Steelers, too. What about New York City, though, Barbara? I mean, we're talking about an extreme luxury market. What are the dynamics going on in here, in the Big Apple?

BARBARA CORCORAN: I am telling you-- that super duper luxury market has totally changed, particularly over the last three months. If you're a really wealthy person and you want to make a statement and get a trophy property, you'll be competing with a bunch of other giant egos with a fatter wallet than you have. The super luxury market-- there's suddenly a shortage of listings. I never thought a year ago I would say that.

But there's overbidding on new development sites. On the Upper East Side, there's one building that's going as a starting 0.20% over ask for the day it opened the door two months ago. Makes no sense-- it was overpriced to begin with, and now it's going 20% over ask. The developer's celebrating.

The luxury market-- I can't imagine stopping. And the new developments, although I see cranes all over town, just can't keep up with the demand.

ANDY SERWER: That's crazy.

BARBARA CORCORAN: But that's the top end. That's the top end.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, what about the middle and everything else, then?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, the middle in New York today is-- get a $3 million to $5 million apartment, you're middle class, right? The middle market is a shortage of listings. If you're in a co-op, they don't sell nearly as well as if you have a condominium, just because there's such a preference for the condo product over the co-op, particularly in the last two years. Don't really why that's changed.

And if you're looking for a small pied-á-terre for your kid that's going to NYU, forget about it. You might as well just keep them at home and lock them up. It's just too damn expensive. Real estate prices on those units are going up like 20%.

If you want to rent something, I know it. I own a lot of rental buildings in New York, where I have a lot of those type of rich kids. The parents guarantee the lease, which makes you feel really cozy at night. But those rents-- it's a bidding war on every single apartment, no matter how high you price it when it comes to market.

ANDY SERWER: And just-- Hudson Yards doing OK? That thing's getting all filled up now?

BARBARA CORCORAN: It's working on it. Don't ask me about Hudson Yards, because I don't want to do them any damage. But it's not my cup of tea, so to speak.

ANDY SERWER: It's a big project over there. Let's just be--

BARBARA CORCORAN: A big project over there, yes.

ANDY SERWER: Right, exactly. And what about the future, again, sort of broadening out nationally, Barbara? What's in store? Is it so just completely rate-dependent?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Its rate-helped. If interest rates-- I forget how much they've gone up since December. What is it? 3/4 of a point or thereabouts, I think. It's helped by rate. It's helped by cheap rates. If a rate-- if the rates go up by one point, you buy less house. You have to cut your budget down a bit, while rent prices-- pardon me, while house prices are skyrocketing at the same time. So it eliminates more buyers.

But I'm not afraid of that. I almost hate to wish it, but it's almost like we need it. We need to calm it down, cool it off. But if rates go up by 2%, will the bottom fall out of the market? Will houses not sell? No, because there's such a shortage.

But does it make fewer buyers compete for those houses? Most definitely. And so rates are always in partnership with real estate. I mean, that's the foundation of real estate. Can I borrow the money cheap?

ANDY SERWER: Well, it doesn't sound like you're that scared of Jay Powell then, right?

BARBARA CORCORAN: No, I'm not so-- I'm not so scared.

[LAUGHTER]

ANDY SERWER: All right. Shifting gears a little bit, crypto, Bitcoin-- I think you said it would be perfect for real estate transactions. Why do you think that is, and do you really think that could be a routine way for people to pay for real estate?

BARBARA CORCORAN: There's a lot of money passed under the table on high end real estate that people don't know about, you know? What you see as a sales record is sometimes not very-- sometimes just not really what really, really transacted. And that's very clumsy to do and difficult to do. Cryptocurrencies, because of the nature of what they are, people would feel comfortable. It would help high end real estate, particularly.

So I think-- I don't see why not. It's efficient. People believe in it. People are trusting it. And I just don't see why that wouldn't become-- not the norm, by any means, for the average person, but a big piece of the real estate market. Yeah, I do--

ANDY SERWER: You guys seen any of that yet actually in your business?

BARBARA CORCORAN: We have seen three apartments trade that I know of, and there's probably much more than I know. We've seen three apartments trade in the last two years with cryptocurrency.

ANDY SERWER: Wow, all right. It's coming. OK, and then how about even beyond that, Barbara? I'm talking about the Metaverse and real estate. So I think you said on Yahoo Finance last month that the real estate deals in the Metaverse-- half hype, half reality. But it could be an opportunity. What do you think the likelihood that a Metaverse real estate investment would pay off down the line?

BARBARA CORCORAN: I think-- and this is all guesswork. Even people who claim they know what they're doing, I don't believe them. Everybody's just guessing. But if you want to add my guesses to the pile, I think the greatest potential in the real estate space and the Metaverse, certainly, is retail and commercial-- retail because it's being halfway done already, that some of these high priced brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, are selling virtual clothing as NFTs.

And there's a large appetite for it. They're buying. So of course, we need the bridge between the actual clothing that I could see with-- when I go to their little mall, I could hold a purse in my hand. And I could buy it, actually order it. That's not far away. So assuming that really happens, that marries-- and I don't see why it wouldn't, really-- I think retail could be the best thing that ever-- that Metaverse could be the best thing that ever happened to retail. I must say so.

I also think that the ability to meet with the people that work with you or people-- ability to meet with anyone in the Metaverse makes the commercial sector very juicy. I really believe that people will do more business in the Metaverse, in terms of meeting up. And so that makes commercial space very valuable.

I think the question that has to be answered is, what makes one space more valuable than the other, and why would I pay that and not that? And that's-- I think that's going to all come out in the wash over the next couple of years. Certainly, I know it's an odd example, but with Snoop Dogg offering parcels right next door to his house, I took that very seriously, because suddenly there was a differentiation between one lot and another that someone was willing to pay so much to be next to a celebrity.

Now, with a celebrity, they're going to do concerts and entertainment. That's a natural for the Metaverse. So you might say, well, that's not true of all real estate, but there's a proof of concept that people will bid high and pay a lot of money to be near something else. And that's what real estate is like in our universe. So I see that as filled with potential, that one example.

I don't put much credence in the fact that Morgan Guaranty now has-- what do they have? The lounge thing? I just see that as an extension of their [INAUDIBLE], the ego there, because you get to see a real live tiger when you walk through a space. And then you see a great portrait of the head of the bank-- wow. I really want to buy next to that. But that's just-- I think that's just stealing the headlines and good PR stunt, you know? But I do pay attention to Snoop Dogg most seriously, because that is proof of concept.

ANDY SERWER: All right, so Snoop Dogg, thumbs up. Portrait of Jamie Dimon, maybe not so much. And have you done any transactions real estate transactions in the Metaverse yet yourself?

BARBARA CORCORAN: What I've done is I've put in a bid on the-- well, I shouldn't really tell you. But I think I have it, so I'll take the chance-- on the zoo here in Central Park, because I would always love to a zoo, and I can't afford one. So I'm buying that.

And I'm also buying the building where I live, which is on Fifth Avenue, because I want to simply brag to my neighbors that, hey, I own your apartment in the Metaverse. You know, it's just an ego thing and a lot of fun. So those two, so far, is what I've been buying.

ANDY SERWER: That's crazy. Think about that. Could I own Steve Schwarman's house out in the Hamptons, if he had-- I don't know if he has one. But could I buy someone else's house, I wonder?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Yes, you can. Remember, its new real estate.

ANDY SERWER: Right. Oh my goodness. I mean, that just-- it boggles the mind. I'm going to get the White House, Buckingham Palace, right? Why not?

BARBARA CORCORAN: And if you build a house there, you can invite your friends over, as long as they're willing to wear those massive things on their head.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah. Yes, the Oculus. OK.

BARBARA CORCORAN: You don't have to give them anything to drink.

[LAUGHTER]

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, it's-- someone's sort of high, as it were. Hey, let me ask you a little bit about VC and venture capital investing, because it's just been incredible during the past two years, during the pandemic. How do you explain that, Barbara?

BARBARA CORCORAN: I don't explain it. You probably know a lot more about it than I do. But what I do know is that the deals are bigger and bigger. There's more late stage deals, by a lot. I think there were 17, 18 rounds, raising a billion or more. We've never seen that. I think it's doubled in the last year-- again, approximating these things.

But it's really not a business I know much about. What I know about is the mini version of that, which I experienced as a investor on "Shark Tank," In a way, we're venture capitalists. We sit there, but-- and examine businesses and decide where to put our money. But what we always have is more consumer goods.

We see very little new tech tools, simply because it's lousy TV. Talk about a tech tool for a half hour on a set, and everybody everybody's falling asleep. Talk about the new pizzeria or the new-- new anything that's a gadget-y for a kitchen, everybody's paying attention at home. And so we see the mini versions of it.

But can I tell you, I think there is so much-- I see it on "Shark Tank"-- so much money invested in things that make absolutely no sense. And I think on a larger scale, I'm waiting for a lot of this to wash out. There's so much money being thrown and spent by so many companies. And I think only a percentage of those companies really merit that spend and will really make a go of it.

I'm just quite baffled by it. I'm a little nervous about that. But that's your bailiwick. You can worry about that. I'm just going to--

ANDY SERWER: There's a lot of money sloshing around right now, as you suggest, Barbara. I think that's really what's driving it. And it's a good segue, because I do want to ask you a couple of questions about "Shark." So just starting out, what are the key factors that you're assessing when deciding whether a venture is worthwhile?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, I see the business as an extension of the person who runs it, short and simple. If I assess an individual as being very capable, even with a bad idea, I always go into the deal. And I usually make money, because they find a way to make money. They'll find a way to twist it around, deliver it differently, or totally go into a different business that I'm in there for the ride. So the extent-- I pay attention to the person. The person is the key in a small business.

So far is what do I look for in the person, I guess I'm really looking for the same traits all the time. One, I want somebody who looks the part. If somebody loves baking, they better not come in a three piece suit. I need to trust them intuitively, that what they're saying is the truth. And I like a person who says, I don't know. But I'll find out. I think we all like that.

And probably has a one personality trait I put more emphasis on than anything else-- I'm looking for someone who has come through some kind of adversity. If I could get an entrepreneur leading any kind of business who had a father who gave him hell, couldn't read in school, really had terrible things happen early on in their life, and they're standing in front of me, believing that they could build a business, I always make money on those people. They try twice as hard. So I like investing in previous losers that have the passion to become a winner and really know how to get back up, get back up and do it again, get back up.

Cause that, in the end-- when I look at the hundred some odd businesses I've invested over the time I've sat in my seat, I can tell you the difference between the ones that have done well and not is the ability to get back up, not just as an extra, but the ability to really just not blame it on the next guy, not spend more than a second feeling sorry for yourself, and getting back up and doing it all over again. So that's what I'm really doing. I'm people shopping.

And it's interesting, because you know it has helped me tremendously? When I built the Corcoran Group, my major talent was choosing potentially good salespeople. And those are exactly the traits that make great salespeople-- exactly the same thing. So I just continue to-- I pretend I'm still choosing salespeople for the Corcoran Group. And when I stay for-- stay loyal to that, I really don't make any bad investments. So it's gotten very easy through the years, I think, but it's a lot of fun. So even if I didn't make money, I think I'd be showing up in my seat every year anyway, you know?

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I love that. And the characteristics and personality traits-- that's fascinating. And I guess I wanted to follow up and ask you, so is that different from what Mr Wonderful looks for and what Mark Cuban looks for? You guys each look for different kinds of things?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, I'll tell you, they have different priorities. Mark Cuban looks at anything that he could throw a ton of money at, because he's got so much more money than us. I've learned in that show there's a difference between a millionaire and a billionaire-- a lot of difference. So he just likes to like-- bam, you want her bid for $50,000? I'll give you $500,000. I'm exaggerating, but he has a lot of money to spend.

And what Mr Wonderful does-- I don't even know. Doesn't even make sense to me, the way his mind works. But in the end, he winds up getting his hands on a few good businesses. And he's very good at promoting them. He's a wonderful promoter. That's his true gift, I believe, Kevin.

ANDY SERWER: Right. What-- any big regrets from "Shark Tank," investing regrets, that is?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Yeah, I regret the first two years I invested in "Shark Tank," because I was trying to figure out which businesses were good in businesses that I had no knowledge of. I know real estate. That's it. But I was trying to figure out, is this a good business?

When I finally threw that away on year three, I started making the right choices by just focusing on the entrepreneur. It made it all so simple. So I wasted two good years, and trying to be who I wasn't, I wasted those two years feeling insecure and second guessing myself. It wasn't any fun. It's only when you're comfortable in your space and you trust in yourself you start to have fun. So yeah, I'd rewind and get rid of those first two years, the way I was managing them. [LAUGHS]

ANDY SERWER: Right. Hey, do you ever invest in the stock market and equities? And if so-- or maybe even not if so-- what do you like? What do you not like? What do you think about--

BARBARA CORCORAN: I do not. And let me tell you why I don't-- because I like to know what I'm doing. I love control. I invest in real estate. I could smell it. I could feel it. I know what I'm doing, and I make money.

Now, any financial advisor that I've ever talked to said it's not wise to have all my equity in real estate, real estate of this kind, that kind. I listen, and I'm sure they're right in theory. But in actuality, they're not right for me. I'm right for me. I know how to do that well. And so I stick with my knitting.

ANDY SERWER: Let me ask you about celebrity CEOs. And-- well, Barbara, you might kind of be one. But I'm really talking aboutt-- well, I'm talking about you, I guess, a little bit. But Elon Musk and his tweeting and Warren Buffett and Zuckerberg-- are celebrity CEOs good for business? And what can be learned from different models of being a high profile person like that?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Depends who you're talking about now, doesn't it? Elon-- you mentioned him. He doesn't want people to pay as much attention to his tweets, then what's he tweeting for? Of course he does, OK? His personal tweets control the value of his business. His personal demeanor and the way he looks and acts and says-- kind a little bit of a wild man, right? People love him. People love him.

If you could get your audience to love you, your stock does better. It's as simple as that. What a great high profile CEO does for a firm is they, A, get attention, which is very important, especially when the business is young, and, B, they get the right attention if it's a love affair. And people will buy with their heart and justify with their head in that order. I believe in anything. I've learned that in my years in business.

So people will buy into him, and they'll justify that that stock's going to be amazing. And guess what? They're right, because if enough people feel that way, the stock keeps rising. Take a Mark Zuckerberg by comparison. Mark Zuckerberg is-- I always pronounce his name wrong. Mark Zuckerberg-- somebody's got to tell me how to pronounce his name.

ANDY SERWER: Zuckerberg.

BARBARA CORCORAN: Give it to me again. My office does this all day long. What is it?

ANDY SERWER: Zuckerberg

BARBARA CORCORAN: Zuckerberg.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, Zuckerberg. Isn't that what I just said? [LAUGHS]

ANDY SERWER: Kind of.

BARBARA CORCORAN: OK, he's smart. And people respond to him, like, wow, he was young, so smart, so rich. But unfortunately, he's also snaky and robotic. And so people don't trust him or like him. Isn't that sad? I don't know if he's trustworthy. I don't know. I don't know anything about that piece of him.

But I can tell you something-- does that work against his value for his business? Yes, it does. It really does, because he's not likable. All right, take somebody like Jeff Bezos. You know what I thought when I saw that he lost all that weight and must have had a great personal trainer, looking buff and got himself a young wife? I thought to myself, good for his stock. [LAUGHS] Maybe not, but he looks like a guy who looks like a winner when I see him in the pages of the papers, you see?

So I don't think you can underestimate the power that a celebrity head can bring to a firm or the damage it could do when it's the wrong messaging. But I think today it's almost essential. I don't think it's an extra. There was a time when we didn't elect celebrities for the highest office in our country, but we have found recently that that's a pretty darn good calling card, you know? Same with business-- I think things have changed. It's all about marketing, branding, and who puts a face on a brand better than the face.

ANDY SERWER: Right.

BARBARA CORCORAN: It's essential.

ANDY SERWER: I want to ask you a little bit about-- well, I guess maybe inequality in our economy and whether or not the deck is stacked increasingly against the little guy, in terms of people wanting to start businesses. Tech is so big. Rich people are getting richer. Is it that much harder now, Barbara, for someone to start a small business?

BARBARA CORCORAN: I don't believe it's harder for someone to start a small business. Harder maybe to get the hands on the money, but that's always been hard. And the great majority of the small business started in America don't borrow money. They work it off, so to speak, like I did, like so many small businesses did.

But is there an inequality, which is your larger question across the board? Of course there is. I've never seen a less balanced America than we're seeing right now. Does the little guy have the same shot they had 10 years ago for anything? No. I mean, do they even have the same shot versus a year ago? No, with inflation doing what it's doing. They get a 3% raise and then inflation goes up by 5%, so their money buys less to feed their family.

They-- the lower priced the worker in America, the shorter end of the stick and the shorter the stick gets. I-- and for the wealthier people in America, everybody I know seems to be making money. I mean, everyone I know who owns businesses through COVID made more money. I really mean it. I have many very well-heeled friends, and they were complaining all the way to the bank.

But that's not true of the people-- the moms that were staying at home minding their kids and gave up the second income because the kids couldn't go to school. There is such a breach between the rich and the poor in America. It frightens me. I think about it a lot. I should have a solution. I do not at all. But I think about it a lot. I think it's very troubling, yes.

ANDY SERWER: I was going to ask you if you had any ideas. I mean, one thing is, obviously, higher taxes, and everyone's all up in arms about that. But it is-- it's a difficult problem to solve, right?

BARBARA CORCORAN: If it wasn't, it would have been solved a while ago. Certainly, people are concerned about it and have talked about a heck of a long time, as long as I can remember talking myself. It's a difficult problem to solve, yeah.

ANDY SERWER: Let me ask you a little bit about you, Barbara. You grew up in New Jersey. I think you the second oldest in a family of 10 siblings. Is that right?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, it's a good position, actually, in a family.

ANDY SERWER: Well, let's talk about that. You talked about the competition for attention from your parents. How do you think that experience formed you?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Oh, totally formed me. In my family, most of the kids are all entrepreneurs. They are entrepreneurs for one reason-- my father was a working man, worked two jobs his whole life and came home and told us how much he hated his boss and quit and got fired and quit and got fired. We all grew up not consciously thinking we want to be in charge of ourselves, but we are. That was very important.

In terms of getting attention, I'm very good at marketing. That comes from being one of 10. I know it. I had to learn how to speak up, interrupt, and be faster on my feet than the other nine if I was to get my mother's attention, because it was spread among 10 kids, or my dad's attention. So when you're in a big family, you know how to get attention. You also know how to compete.

But the greatest thing-- and I'm not stereotyping about all large families. But large families that are led by loving, powerful parents-- those kids, they're the luckiest kids in the world, because you know what it's like, really? It's like growing up in a small town.

It doesn't feel like a family. Everybody's got a role. Everybody has a gift. Everybody's demonstrating their gift. You don't get a free ride. You're not helped out, but along the way you get the confidence that you find and will do well in life.

So we all walked out of that household at 18. None of us were worried about doing well for ourselves. It was embedded in our DNA by our parents who believed we could. And we were well equipped with the various traits we had developed being in that large family with no money to go around and helping out.

We all had jobs. I had 22 jobs before I started my real estate business. All of us worked, from the time we were 11-- part-time jobs babysitting, at the kiddie pool, whatever we could get our hands on, because we contributed to the household. So we are well equipped for living in a real [INAUDIBLE].

BARBARA CORCORAN: And you began the real estate career in your 20s. You sold it, I think, for what, $44 million in 2001. What was the key to building that business, Barbara?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Talent. Talent-- choosing the right people, because you have to remember, when you have any young business, no one wants to work for you. And you don't have the means to buy people. You have to hustle somehow to get some willing souls to come work for you.

And so hiring the right people, and then the second part is developing their loyalty so they love you. And that's an easy, easy formula. You just love them really hard, and they love you back. It's automatic. That's how you build a business.

That was really my great talent, is the right people and knowing how to build a team, for sure, and getting them so that they would jump off a cliff for me. And they would, because I would have jumped off a cliff for them. And so it was a mutual love affair. That's what built the company.

And in later years, I was able to build the country much faster, because I realized I had a gift for marketing. I could make something small look very big and get everybody to write about it. [LAUGHS] That's the bullshit factor that you learn in the large family, going back to that, because you have to be very entertaining to get attention. [LAUGHS]

But those are really the only two gifts. I had but I was able to choose all the right people around me that had all the other many things that I needed to build a big business. And I always had the right people.

ANDY SERWER: And finally, Barbara, today you co-host the TV show, a podcast, speeches. You do some endorsements. You have all manner of projects. What is it that you consider important right now in your life, and then even looking ahead, your legacy going forward?

BARBARA CORCORAN: Well, I don't care about legacy, because I'll be dead. So what do I care about? But so far as what's important, I think pretty much what winds up being important to all of us. I just really want to make a difference, however I do it.

I feel like I make a difference talking to the individual people that call in on "888-Barbara." I think I'm really good at giving advice, because I can resize up the situation, the person. I give them the right advice. And so I do very well with my "Business Unusual" podcast, simply because people recognize it as valuable, and I feel really, really good about it.

I get so much satisfaction out of helping my businesses that I've invested in, not because of making money, although that helps a lot, I find, after a few years. But I love seeing someone with a dream and thinking I'm part of getting them to that dream. It's like being fairy godmother. How many people get to play that in life, right?

And so that is, again, another form of helping someone. So anything that I feel like I help someone, I seem to make money on right away. And I seem to get a lot of love back, so I feel very fulfilled and not empty handed as I get older and older, closer to that great-- [LAUGHS]

ANDY SERWER: All right. That is the one and only Barbara Corcoran. Barbara, thank you so much for your time.

BARBARA CORCORAN: My pleasure. Nice hanging out with you.

ANDY SERWER: You've been watching "Influencers." I'm Andy Serwer. We'll see you next time.

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