Our Real Estate Marketing Team in Los Angeles explains how Barbara Corcoran flipped rejection into opportunity.

Taking opportunity on a whim.

The “Shark” Investor, Barbara Corcoran, says that some of the best things happened to her on the verge of rejection.Corcoran was a diner waitress when she took up the opportunity to become a real estate salesperson; she was offered the job from her then-boyfriend who she met at the diner. Corcoran enjoyed her job as a diner waitress, but wanted to try something new. She was later offered $1000 by her then-boyfriend to start her own real-estate business. In the following years, Corcoran grew her company, The Corcoran Group, into a 5 billion dollar organization; she later sold it for 66 million.

Turning rejection into opportunity.

Today, Corcoran is renowned for her role on the popular show, Shark Tank. Though she has a role on Shark Tank, her debut nearly didn’t happen. She was prepared for her premiere on the show when she was notified that they had chosen someone else for the spot. Undismayed, she wrote a letter to the executive producer of the show stating that she viewed her rejection as a lucky charm, not as failure and asked if she could come and compete for the spot on the show. Ever since that day, she has had six insanely successful years on Shark Tank.

 The process of thinking can be an obstacle.

When she quit her job to work as a real estate salesperson, she immediately did it rather than wait a few days. Corcoran stated that obstacles can have a strong effect on oneself if it is analyzed too long. The key to getting over obstacles is to stop feeling sorry for oneself and move on. Of all the obstacles that she faced from getting dumped by her boyfriend, to losing her business, to almost losing her spot on Shark Tank; she used those as fuel for opportunity.