The Secret to Building Wealth from Nothing (It's Not What You Think)

gave me $1,000 to start my business.

That was the lucky break. When he said,

"You'll never succeed without me." I

knew I'd rather die than not succeed.

Thank God he said that. He was wrong. I

sold my business for $66 million about

20 years later, and he was out of

business in 3 years. Today, our guest is

the one and the only Barbara Corkran.

She is one of the original sharks on

Shark Tank. She's a real estate mogul,

one of the most influential, self-made

women in business. She's going to look

you straight in the eye and call you out

on every single excuse that you've been

hiding behind. And if you've been

telling yourself you're too old and it's

too late, you better buckle up because

she's got some things to say to you.

When I was building my business, the

Corkran Group in New York City, you have

to appreciate that all the businesses

are owned by men. None of the big boys

watched me and I creeped up on them, bit

their from behind. They never knew what

was coming. How did you become a judge

on Shark Tank?

>> Well, I was hired and then fired before

I had a chance.

>> Wait, what do you mean? Why did they

fire you? Well, they fired me because

they I actually had a very happy

childhood. I was very poor, but I was

happy. My mother had 10 kids. It was

crowded and it was competitive. I was

always competing for my mother's

attention, so I got good at talking.

That's a gift I got out of being

dyslexia. Oh, I think dyslexia made me

successful. I don't think I would have

been successful without it. You can

create exactly what you want, but I

think the key there really is moving on

something, anything. Just get yourself

moving and then the idea becomes itself.

Barbara Corkran, welcome to the Mel

Robbins podcast.

>> Thank you very much. I have been looking

forward to this because I have met you

in passing a number of times. I admire

you so much. I'm a fan of Shark Tank.

I've heard your keynote address. It's

extraordinary. How might my life be

different if I take everything to heart

that you're about to share with us and

teach us today and I apply it to my own

life or my business? I would love people

to appreciate and believe that you're

far more capable than you think you are.

I've never met a person who wasn't more

capable than they gave themselves credit

for. And I'd like people to really

understand that you don't have to do it

the way everybody else does. It's not

the way that you're going to do it.

You're free to do it exactly as you

please. I know that so many people are

going to listen to this and they're

going to share it particularly with the

women in their lives that are doubting

themselves that don't think they're

capable. So could you speak directly to

the person who maybe received this from

a friend or a sister

>> and they're feeling full of doubt.

They've lost some confidence. They're

feeling a little stuck. What do you want

to say to that? Well, I think everyone

feels stuck. I'm probably feeling stuck

four or five times a month. Really? It's

not important whether you feel stuck or

not. just assume it's a human condition.

We all feel that way. But I think you

can do a lot to change yourself to being

unstuck. And one of the best ways to do

it, or at least I started with it, is to

change tape in your head. I had a tape

in my head like intimidation all the way

until I decided to change it from

Barbara, you're overstating. Barbara,

you can't get there. Barbara, you can't

can can't can't. And replace it with

Barbara, you're incredible. Now, did I

believe it? No. But I made the habit of

changing every time my mind went down

that hole. I changed it to Barbara,

you're incredible. And eventually I

started believing it. We all have lousy

tapes in our head left over from

childhood. Man, I have a little I think

the the woman that gave me the worst

tape in my head was Sister Stella Marie

the nun from hell in third grade who

said, "You're always going to be stupid

because you can't read." It took me

probably eight years to get over that.

And I said, "I'm not going to be

stupid." And that's I decided not to be.

I mean, it's a shame that how dare

someone make you feel less than you are.

You've got to come back strong. Well,

and oftenimes, Barbara, and I think you

know this, too, because you just talked

a little bit about how you were like,

"Barbara, you're doing this. Barbara,

you're doing that." And you started

saying, "Barbara, you're incredible."

And then the more you repeated it, you

started to believe it. But often times,

the person that's beating us down the

most is ourselves.

>> Yes. Very much. So, for the person who's

listening right now who feels like,

"Okay, Mel, Barbara, I love both you

ladies, but it's too late for me. I have

screwed up too many times. I have not

gotten myself together. It's too late.

I'm too old." What do you want to say to

that person?

>> I'm It's never too late. Obviously, you

know that. I know that. But I think you

just have to pause and realize I have

always done a simple exercise. I've

counted the years I have left and think

of how many more mis can I get in those

years. So when I was 46 and sold my

business, I thought I sold the golden

goose and I thought I would never ever

create another business again like that.

I thought I had sold my best business.

Not that I didn't want to. I wanted to.

But then I realized I was the golden

goose. You can create exactly what you

want. I mean I laid eggs again and again

and I reinvented myself over and over

again. But I think the key there really

is to believe that you really have to

get good at trying. Because the minute

you try, an opportunity is right there

and you go, "Whoa, I didn't think of

that." But it's when you're in that

still position, or at least for me, when

I'm in a still position, I could sit at

my desk and try to invent an idea,

forget it. It's about moving on

something, anything. Just get yourself

moving and then the idea becomes itself.

And by the way, about failing at stuff,

which I find just stops a lot of people.

they feel they've had two or three

failures and oh, I'm not going to do it.

I just don't believe in that. I think

they just didn't hang around long enough

to see the flip side of failure because

all my good stuff happened after a big

failure. It almost seemed like for me,

the bigger the failure I had, the bigger

the upside, but I was

>> dogged enough to just stay there and see

there's got to be something here.

There's got to be something. And I think

just waiting around for the something to

find it and believing there's something

there. I don't think you're ever wrong.

I think there's always something there

and you can get something started again.

You said something that really caught my

attention, which is you do this thing

where you count the years you have left.

>> Yes, I do.

>> So, do you have a number in mind for how

long you're going to live?

>> Yeah, about 105. Okay. 105. So, let's

just take that away as something you can

grab from Barbara. You're going to live

to 105. You've got that many years left

and I love what you That's a How many

Mis can I pack into?

>> Probably about another two. But they've

got to be different. They've got to suit

who I am at that juncture in my life.

>> Oh, I love that.

>> I could never build another real estate

business with the energy it took, the

people I had to hire, the financial

stress I went through. I'm older now. I

just can't handle that. It's got to be

appropriate to who you are and true to

yourself at that point in time because

your experience changes you. You're