# Barbara Corcoran Was Fired From 'Shark Tank' Before She Started. "I Didn't Take No For An Answer"

An episode of [Earn Your Leisure](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1450211392), 21 Jul 2026, 15 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/8dbc4f54-a337-4481-9ef2-b355012b0a3d/4f2fa7a2-df66-447a-bba9-b48b016b84ae/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=eac4c628-29cb-469a-b5c8-b355012b0a48

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## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Shark Tank. Yeah, what's your introduction to Shark Tank? How
[0:03] Speaker 1: did you hear about it? And how does the relationship
[0:05] Speaker 1: with Shark Tank start?
[0:06] Speaker 2: I got a call one day. I was doing some
[0:08] Speaker 2: gigs on real estate on the Today's show, like once
[0:10] Speaker 2: a month or something like that, and I got a
[0:12] Speaker 2: call from a producer named Mark Burnett, who I had
[0:15] Speaker 2: no idea was a big producer or his assistant. I
[0:18] Speaker 2: don't mean to overplay that. His assistant called me asking
[0:21] Speaker 2: me if i'd be interested in the show described I said, sure,
[0:24] Speaker 2: signed the contract with him. Four days, isn't it? Write
[0:26] Speaker 2: at send it back? And then two days before I
[0:28] Speaker 2: was headed to Shark Tank and told all my friends,
[0:31] Speaker 2: I'm going to Hollywood. Wow, I'm going to Hollywood. I
[0:34] Speaker 2: bought new outfits, I bought new luggage. I get to
[0:36] Speaker 2: the whole nine yards. You know. I got a call
[0:39] Speaker 2: saying they changed your mind. They invited another woman. I
[0:42] Speaker 2: couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe. But I did what
[0:44] Speaker 2: I did do always very well in my old career.
[0:48] Speaker 2: I didn't take it laying down. I sat down again.
[0:51] Speaker 2: I'm going to use the word piss sat down, wrote
[0:53] Speaker 2: the email to Mark Burnett, you're making mistake. I consider
[0:56] Speaker 2: your mistake my lucky charm. Blah blah blah. I've had
[1:00] Speaker 2: all the best things happen in my life on the
[1:02] Speaker 2: heels of rejections. And I cited Sister Stella Marie telling
[1:04] Speaker 2: me I'd be stupid, the Old Boy Network telling me
[1:07] Speaker 2: I'd never compete with them in the Old Boy Network,
[1:10] Speaker 2: defeating Donald Trump when he said I never see a
[1:12] Speaker 2: penny of the four million dollar commission, and I just
[1:14] Speaker 2: cited the high points, and then I said, I suggest
[1:17] Speaker 2: you invite both women out to LA and we compete
[1:20] Speaker 2: for the seat. And that's exactly what he did. Thank
[1:23] Speaker 2: god I wrote that email. I've been on Shark Tank.
[1:26] Speaker 2: What imagine if I didn't have all those delicious entrepreneurs
[1:31] Speaker 2: I got to work with. I mean, I'm sure I'd
[1:33] Speaker 2: found another way to make a living because I'm a worker,
[1:35] Speaker 2: but I wouldn't have had as satisfying career as I've had.
[1:38] Speaker 1: That's a valuable point because a lot of times people
[1:40] Speaker 1: would have just taken it the rejection and moved.
[1:44] Speaker 2: On, move on. It seems prudent when you think move on,
[1:47] Speaker 2: get over it. Yeah, but what is important? The piece
[1:52] Speaker 2: that I have learned working with my entrepreneurs, is the
[1:56] Speaker 2: space between people move on a great entrepreneur. I've seen
[1:59] Speaker 2: it again and again with every single person who has
[2:01] Speaker 2: made a lot of money and really been successful. They
[2:04] Speaker 2: take less time feeling sorry for themselves. They take the hit,
[2:07] Speaker 2: but they don't wallow in it, you know, they just
[2:09] Speaker 2: get back up and say, hit me again, almost like
[2:11] Speaker 2: they have a low IQ of like that kind of thing,
[2:15] Speaker 2: you know. But those are the winners. Those are the
[2:17] Speaker 2: people who just keep coming back, keep coming back at you.
[2:20] Speaker 2: And that's far more important than intelligence or knowledge or
[2:24] Speaker 2: anything else. I think it's a drive to come back
[2:27] Speaker 2: when you've been hit. I haven't really thought of anything
[2:30] Speaker 2: more important than that in my whole life and watching
[2:33] Speaker 2: my entrepreneurs, that is the number one trait, without it,
[2:36] Speaker 2: without a doubt in my mind.
[2:37] Speaker 3: So in fifteen years, as these people are walking with
[2:39] Speaker 3: their businesses, the first thing you're looking for is do
[2:42] Speaker 3: they have the drive? What are some of the characteristics
[2:44] Speaker 3: that you're looking at the present I have a test.
[2:47] Speaker 2: I mean to present. The presenting is great, but you
[2:50] Speaker 2: know there's a lot of pressure on the show to
[2:51] Speaker 2: ask a lot of questions rapid fire really fast. Very
[2:54] Speaker 2: often it's a hard thing to really get to know
[2:56] Speaker 2: the person. I'm trying to dig for bad backgrounds, fathers
[3:02] Speaker 2: that were drunks, mothers that dan in the hell. I
[3:05] Speaker 2: know that sounds stupid, but if they came through adversity,
[3:09] Speaker 2: I'm in it. If somebody's a rich kid and got
[3:12] Speaker 2: the first round, family hate family and friends, family and friends,
[3:16] Speaker 2: you don't need me. Just go to your family and friends,
[3:18] Speaker 2: you know. But the most important thing happens to me.
[3:21] Speaker 2: I invite intentionally everybody i'm sign a contract with. Three
[3:25] Speaker 2: months after I signed, I invite them to New York
[3:28] Speaker 2: to discuss with me what are the biggest issues. And
[3:31] Speaker 2: they come very well prepared. But I watch, and you
[3:35] Speaker 2: know what, the people who take careful notes and ask
[3:37] Speaker 2: me all the questions how they're going to succeed, and
[3:38] Speaker 2: ask me this and that. I know I got a loser.
[3:42] Speaker 2: When somebody's sitting there and politely listening and they're just
[3:45] Speaker 2: going to go out on their own and do exactly
[3:46] Speaker 2: as they please. I got myself a winner, because that
[3:49] Speaker 2: is the nature of a great entrepreneur. The head's strong,
[3:52] Speaker 2: they're driven. You know, they don't they didn't get into
[3:55] Speaker 2: the business to have a boss tell them what to do.
[3:57] Speaker 2: And if somebody is putting me in the position of
[3:58] Speaker 2: kind of being the new boss, it's like not a
[4:01] Speaker 2: good sign. I don't know if you've walked my office,
[4:04] Speaker 2: but I have all my entrepreneurs in frames that I
[4:06] Speaker 2: do deals with, and the minute I see them acting
[4:10] Speaker 2: that way, taking notes or blaming something that went wrong
[4:14] Speaker 2: on somebody else, I turned the picture around. I know
[4:17] Speaker 2: they're not going to succeed. The minute you have someone
[4:19] Speaker 2: who feels sorry for themselves, they don't succeed. That's been
[4:22] Speaker 2: my rule all on. I'm open minded to change it,
[4:24] Speaker 2: but I've never seen an exception of that. Feeling sorry
[4:27] Speaker 2: for yourself makes you a victim. If you're a victim,
[4:29] Speaker 2: you give your power away. If you give your power away,
[4:31] Speaker 2: you don't see opportunity. If you don't see opportunity, you
[4:33] Speaker 2: don't get ahead. It's like boom follow Its just like
[4:36] Speaker 2: a train.
[4:37] Speaker 1: Line domino effect. Yeah, so we spoke with Damon. He
[4:41] Speaker 1: talked about Bomba socks. I think that was his biggest
[4:43] Speaker 1: very proud, very proud.
[4:45] Speaker 2: I love those Bomba socks. I hate seeing Damon, So
[4:50] Speaker 2: now I'm Annoyd. I didn't get that deal.
[4:52] Speaker 1: What's the deal that you remember or your top deal
[4:55] Speaker 1: or one of the deals that you know it is
[4:57] Speaker 1: a highlight for you.
[4:59] Speaker 2: Well, the most profitable deal is definitely comfy.
[5:03] Speaker 3: I mean good old comfy.
[5:04] Speaker 2: Good old comfy. I mean it's not my kind of deal.
[5:06] Speaker 2: I like service businesses where I could build a build
[5:09] Speaker 2: an empire, or build a franchise or build something on
[5:12] Speaker 2: a service back. That's my sweet spot. So it was
[5:15] Speaker 2: so abnormal I should do bore them actually to actually
[5:19] Speaker 2: buy that because of an oversized sweatshirts, Like I had
[5:22] Speaker 2: no experience. They didn't know how much it would cause,
[5:24] Speaker 2: they don't know what they would sell it for. And
[5:26] Speaker 2: in two years, I can't even remember the number. It
[5:28] Speaker 2: seems so absurd, like I'm making it up. I'm probably
[5:30] Speaker 2: making up. But let's just say I should probably check
[5:32] Speaker 2: with somebody. I think I had forty seven million dollars
[5:36] Speaker 2: in sales in two years over this stupid oversized sweatshirt.
[5:39] Speaker 2: Whoever saw that train coming? When I sit to them,
[5:42] Speaker 2: I'll take a thirty of business on the sharks here
[5:44] Speaker 2: are at all interested in this? I'll take a third
[5:48] Speaker 2: for ten twenty thousand dollars. They grabbed it and that
[5:51] Speaker 2: was my single my best deal, my best deal of today.
[5:55] Speaker 2: Money making if that's what you'd be, money making, which
[5:58] Speaker 2: is a little different than satisfaction.
[6:00] Speaker 3: So what that leads the question is, so what's the
[6:02] Speaker 3: most satisfying Because as you were speaking, I looked at
[6:04] Speaker 3: I'm looking at the list, and I've watched the show,
[6:06] Speaker 3: so I know you're more into the service space. I've
[6:08] Speaker 3: actually visited some of the you know, your investments, the
[6:12] Speaker 3: Cousin mains Lapses, which is incredible here in the city.
[6:15] Speaker 3: So what has been the most satisfying one for you?
[6:18] Speaker 2: Exactly? Because the guys have found phenomenal I'm sure you
[6:22] Speaker 2: know that Great Tamon always comes out for them when
[6:25] Speaker 2: you a promotion. Damon loves these guys. He always comes
[6:28] Speaker 2: out and performs for them. He's a sweetheart. But these guys,
[6:31] Speaker 2: one is one type of person and the other is
[6:34] Speaker 2: the opposite. They've got hoods. But of the moon the
[6:37] Speaker 2: great salespeople. They're good looking and if you think that
[6:39] Speaker 2: doesn't count, it counts. They charmed the pancil of anybody
[6:42] Speaker 2: they need, okay, and they even charmed me. They called
[6:45] Speaker 2: me up to tell me how pretty I am. Do
[6:46] Speaker 2: you know how good that feels. I love those guys,
[6:51] Speaker 2: but they both got married to bads, have kids and
[6:55] Speaker 2: all that stuff.
[6:59] Speaker 1: So for the entrepreneurs everybody watching Shark Tank right, what
[7:03] Speaker 1: advice could you give somebody as looking to seek money
[7:06] Speaker 1: from a venture capitalist or angel investors, somebody like yourself, Like,
[7:10] Speaker 1: what are some things that they need to have prepared
[7:13] Speaker 1: before they start pitching their business for capital?
[7:16] Speaker 2: Two things they need they need to show sales and
[7:18] Speaker 2: an attraction of sales going up to the roof. That's important.
[7:22] Speaker 2: They also need to tell the investor, which many people
[7:25] Speaker 2: on Shark Tank don't tell us, how are you going
[7:27] Speaker 2: to make money? Hey, let me tell you how you're
[7:29] Speaker 2: going to make money? Because any guy sitting there with
[7:31] Speaker 2: money in his pocket to invest has that question right
[7:34] Speaker 2: in his forehead. How am I going to make money?
[7:37] Speaker 2: They're measuring everything by that basis, how am I going
[7:39] Speaker 2: to make money? So I would say you have to
[7:41] Speaker 2: have appreciating sales and you have to answer straight down
[7:45] Speaker 2: the middle how you're going to make money and how
[7:47] Speaker 2: much money youre going to make, which is hard to do.
[7:49] Speaker 2: You know, most people don't do that. They project out
[7:52] Speaker 2: based on industry averages. And how big the market is.
[7:55] Speaker 2: And let me tell you, every investor, not just on
[7:57] Speaker 2: shark Tank, but every investor writes it right. But more
[8:01] Speaker 2: important than any of that is try to bootstrapping business.
[8:04] Speaker 2: I'm just to believe in bootstrapping. When you're spending your
[8:06] Speaker 2: own money that you slaved around for to try to
[8:09] Speaker 2: make that buck and did everything in your mind to
[8:12] Speaker 2: try to grab that buck, you spend it very carefully.
[8:15] Speaker 2: You get about three dollars out of a dollar. You know,
[8:17] Speaker 2: you're just careful with how you spend your money. When
[8:19] Speaker 2: you've got family and friends or investors behind you, you
[8:23] Speaker 2: just don't spend your money the same way. It's different.
[8:25] Speaker 2: I don't know it shouldn't be different, but it's different
[8:28] Speaker 2: when you've earned the money and you're spending your own bucks.
[8:31] Speaker 2: So I think bootstrapping businesses are a great way to
[8:34] Speaker 2: get started rather than going off of funding right away.
[8:37] Speaker 2: Of course, if you're a technology business that takes tremendous
[8:41] Speaker 2: cash to get it started, that's one thing, but those
[8:43] Speaker 2: are not the majority of businesses in the United say,
[8:46] Speaker 2: the majority of mom palm, mainStreet type businesses. So bootstrapping
[8:50] Speaker 2: you learn everything with your own money. You learn the
[8:52] Speaker 2: pain you learn, the joy you learn it all. It's
[8:55] Speaker 2: different with your own money for sure.
[8:57] Speaker 3: Yeah, talk about the branding process. I'm thinking as people
[9:01] Speaker 3: come into it, they have to pitch and it happened,
[9:03] Speaker 3: and like you said, most of them are mom and
[9:05] Speaker 3: pop shops. Getting your name out there, getting the message
[9:08] Speaker 3: out there is difficult. As you take on investors. What
[9:12] Speaker 3: are some of the strategic tips that you're telling them.
[9:14] Speaker 3: All Right, here's how we're going to market this now
[9:15] Speaker 3: to make this.
[9:16] Speaker 2: A global most the most important thing is to pick
[9:19] Speaker 2: the right platform social media. When I was building my business,
[9:22] Speaker 2: you had the newspapers, the major newspapers I used. You
[9:25] Speaker 2: had billboards, you had gimmicks, whatever. Today it's changed. Today
[9:29] Speaker 2: it's all about social media. Do you know in the
[9:31] Speaker 2: last two years, I haven't invested in a single business
[9:33] Speaker 2: that isn't powerful social media. They might have a little company,
[9:36] Speaker 2: but the following is huge. That's a good plus. It's
[9:39] Speaker 2: like having an empty box you could fill up, you know,
[9:42] Speaker 2: but no, social media is where it's at. I have
[9:45] Speaker 2: great social media in the house here that help people,
[9:47] Speaker 2: but people really you really need someone on your team,
[9:50] Speaker 2: ideally the principal who's going to push out the social media.
[9:54] Speaker 2: But it's the best way to build a brand. That's
[9:56] Speaker 2: all accounts anymore.
[9:58] Speaker 1: Yeah, we know what too about that too. You spoke
[10:02] Speaker 1: about Donald Trump previously. You had a running with Trump
[10:07] Speaker 1: during your real estate days.
[10:08] Speaker 2: He was extremely useful to me when I was building
[10:10] Speaker 2: my business because we used to flip the reporters back
[10:13] Speaker 2: and forth. He would say, what's called the market. He says,
[10:17] Speaker 2: if you don't believe me, call Barbara Corcoran and I
[10:19] Speaker 2: reporters will call me and I'd back them up because
[10:22] Speaker 2: he told the truth that in those days. But if
[10:26] Speaker 2: I got the call, I said, you don't believe me.
[10:28] Speaker 2: You know who a good guy to talk to would
[10:30] Speaker 2: be a big developed Donald Trump. I flipped the call
[10:32] Speaker 2: to him. So we had a somepot to go going
[10:35] Speaker 2: until he owed me four million dollars. It was four
[10:38] Speaker 2: million or two four million dollars, and then things changed.
[10:42] Speaker 2: It turns into a litigation, lawsuit. But thank god the
[10:45] Speaker 2: year he didn't want to pay me my four million
[10:47] Speaker 2: dollars which I was entitled to, which was for me.
[10:51] Speaker 2: I mean, we probably had a thousand Salespeople say, you'd
[10:53] Speaker 2: say it was a big company, but still four million
[10:55] Speaker 2: is four million. That was a big payday everything I
[10:59] Speaker 2: had worked for. And when he didn't want to pay
[11:01] Speaker 2: that four million dollars, thank god. I had a good
[11:03] Speaker 2: year and had in my pocket five hundred thousand dollars
[11:06] Speaker 2: to pay him attorney. And I bought the biggest, meanest
[11:10] Speaker 2: smartness attorney in New York to fight that man, and
[11:13] Speaker 2: I won the lawsuit. Now if I if I had
[11:16] Speaker 2: gone back a year and the same thing happened, I
[11:17] Speaker 2: wouldn't have had the money. I would have just had
[11:19] Speaker 2: to grovel like all the other creditors and just give
[11:24] Speaker 2: up the ship. But I collected the money, and with
[11:26] Speaker 2: it I was able to spand the business again and again.
[11:28] Speaker 2: But he didn't. He wasn't my friend. After he's a
[11:32] Speaker 2: little fair with her.
[11:35] Speaker 3: I can sense the competitiveness in you, even when you
[11:38] Speaker 3: tell the story. No way, yeah, no, we sense it.
[11:40] Speaker 3: So I'm even when you walked in and we were like,
[11:42] Speaker 3: you know, we've had some other sharks, not you know,
[11:45] Speaker 3: not as pretty, no, no no, and not as pretty
[11:48] Speaker 3: and definitely not as well dressed.
[11:50] Speaker 2: There you go, you're catching on. Now I'm addressed.
[11:54] Speaker 3: How was that in the seats?
[11:55] Speaker 2: Right?
[11:56] Speaker 3: Because obviously we know it's a show, but there is
[11:58] Speaker 3: real business that's happening about that competitive nature of I
[12:02] Speaker 3: want the deal, or damn I missed this deal, or
[12:04] Speaker 3: I'm glad I took it from you.
[12:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it gets in your way more than anything else.
[12:08] Speaker 2: You know, somebody wants it. Usually, if one person wants
[12:10] Speaker 2: a deal, it's a good deal, and a lot of
[12:12] Speaker 2: people are after it, right, So now you've got to compete.
[12:15] Speaker 2: It turns into a game of salesmanship because the money
[12:17] Speaker 2: is one thing, but that's not really what makes the deals.
[12:20] Speaker 2: The partnership makes the deals. Do they like you better
[12:22] Speaker 2: than Damon? Do they like Damon better than Mark? Who
[12:24] Speaker 2: do they relate more to? And that's what it comes
[12:27] Speaker 2: down to. So I'm a great salesman. I've sold my
[12:31] Speaker 2: whole life. I just push my wonderful virtues. I'm your
[12:36] Speaker 2: perfect partner, perfect All my entrepreneurs are going to be
[12:41] Speaker 2: your best friends. You're bored. We go on fun retreats.
[12:44] Speaker 2: I sell them on everything, throw out the kitchens. They
[12:47] Speaker 2: got them, and then I find that their eyes lighted
[12:50] Speaker 2: something and I drill it home.
[12:51] Speaker 3: You know, they want the retreat.
[12:54] Speaker 2: They do love the retreat. It says some people I've
[12:57] Speaker 2: closed on businesses simply because they wanted to be included
[12:59] Speaker 2: in my pack of retreat people. I'm thinking, Okay, that
[13:03] Speaker 2: wouldn't be floating me by but floating them.
[13:06] Speaker 1: So how do you reinvent yourself? Because you're a great marketer,
[13:11] Speaker 1: great storyteller, promoter, and you have different phases right, and
[13:15] Speaker 1: a lot of times people get stuck in one phase
[13:18] Speaker 1: and they kind of become a has been. How have
[13:22] Speaker 1: you been able to reinvent yourself and stay relevant throughout
[13:25] Speaker 1: all of these different errors.
[13:27] Speaker 2: My secret, I don't know if it's the right one,
[13:29] Speaker 2: is I try anything. I try anything. I don't think
[13:32] Speaker 2: you wait until you see your out of style or
[13:35] Speaker 2: the methodology you use and how you're selling is not
[13:39] Speaker 2: as good as it used to be. I think it's
[13:41] Speaker 2: about collaborating with people that work with you, given the
[13:45] Speaker 2: freedom to come up with stupid ideas, and that everybody's
[13:49] Speaker 2: excited and says, let's do this, let's do that. Four
[13:52] Speaker 2: to five things I try since I went out of
[13:55] Speaker 2: my real estate brokerage business A Corker group. Four to
[13:58] Speaker 2: five things I fail miss But I bet you can't
[14:01] Speaker 2: tell me one that I failed it right, Nobody can
[14:04] Speaker 2: you just have to try all the time. That's how
[14:06] Speaker 2: you discover new angles, new things, new ways of delivery,
[14:09] Speaker 2: new kinds of people, new kinds of departments, new kinds
[14:11] Speaker 2: of products. You just try everything. A lot of people
[14:14] Speaker 2: are very conservative about wanting to have the right answer.
[14:18] Speaker 2: Let's do this, this is a big one. That's what's
[14:20] Speaker 2: wrong with corporate America. They have to get a committee
[14:22] Speaker 2: to really all agree with everything. What's great about being
[14:25] Speaker 2: a small entrepreneur is you're scrappy. You can try anything.
[14:29] Speaker 2: You could think of something on a Monday and get
[14:30] Speaker 2: it on the street by Thursday. You know, if you're
[14:32] Speaker 2: with a big corporation, you got to get this guy's approval.
[14:35] Speaker 2: The attorneys have to review, the accounts have to review,
[14:37] Speaker 2: and by the time you have it on Monday, it
[14:39] Speaker 2: comes out maybe four months later. That's why I've always
[14:42] Speaker 2: my whole life been paying very careful attention to the
[14:45] Speaker 2: little guy. I'm not afraid of the big guy, and
[14:47] Speaker 2: I don't think big guys should be afraid of the
[14:49] Speaker 2: other big guys. I think they have to look behind
[14:51] Speaker 2: them and see who's coming up my ass. You know,
[14:52] Speaker 2: who's going to take over my market? Because the little
[14:55] Speaker 2: guy always is more creative and tries more stuff because
[14:57] Speaker 2: they have less to lose. It makes sense, right, have
[15:00] Speaker 2: less to lose. So I don't think there's a point
[15:02] Speaker 2: where you reinvent your business or reinvent yourself. I think
[15:05] Speaker 2: what you're always doing is shuffling your cards and trying
[15:07] Speaker 2: to see a little of this, little of that and
[15:09] Speaker 2: get a better formula that might work a little bit better.
[15:11] Speaker 2: And then most things don't work. But as long as
[15:14] Speaker 2: you get one on five, you've got an R and
[15:16] Speaker 2: D department, and you're pushing ahead of your competition because
[15:19] Speaker 2: you've at least tried five when they tried nothing. You know,

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