Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank fame recently offered particularly sound advice to a female fan concerned about entering the male-dominated business world.
Corcoran built her real estate firm, The Corcoran Group, into one of the most successful in the highly competitive New York City market and sold it for $66 million in 2001. Today, in addition to investing in entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, she hosts a podcast, “Business Unusual,” and answers questions from listeners.
A college-bound listener, Tracy, called her seeking advice about overcoming the barriers to succeeding in business as a female. Corcoran answered her as follows (starting at 2:50):
Tracy, first off, you can’t focus on the barriers. If you look at the barriers, it keeps you outside in the same spot you’re in. No! Don’t look at the barriers, and certainly don’t look at yourself as a young girl or even a woman, for that matter.
I don’t think I ever approached a day in my life in business trying to build my life as I wanted it to be as a young girl or as a woman. I thought of myself as a person and, more importantly, I thought of myself as a competitor. . . .
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