Use What You've Got, & Other Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom

Publisher's Summary

Growing up, Barbara Corcoran shared one floor in a three-family house in New Jersey with her parents and nine brothers and sisters. She had few luxuries, but she was blessed with a mother who taught her to have self-confidence. Barbara's mom didn't know much about business, but she understood how the world works, and how to make the most of what you've got.

After failing at twenty-two other jobs, Barbara borrowed $1,000 from a boyfriend, quit her job as a diner waitress, and started a tiny real estate office in New York City. Today, with over $4 billion in revenues, The Corcoran Group is New York's premier real estate company, and Barbara is richer than her wildest dreams.

Whether you're just starting out, fighting your way up the career ladder, or reentering the workforce, the homespun lessons that work for Barbara will help you use what you've got to create success in your life.

©2003 Barbara Corcoran and Bruce Littlefield (P)2003 Listen & Live Audio, Inc. Recorded by arrangement with Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Critic Reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Business Information/Educational, 2004

"Equal parts business primer, Oprah-spirited coming-of-age memoir and sneaky PR brochure for herself...Corcoran has produced a likable and worthwhile book, an honorable contribution with heart." (Publishers Weekly)
"A practial, funny compendium of advice that should stick with any reader." (USA Today)
"Part memoir, part rough guide to business and 100 percent in-your-face glee." (Working Mother)

Entertaining

I was looking for an educational book on real estate and real estate investing, however, this did not hit the mark. This book was, however, an interesting rags to riches story and entertained my wife and I during a long trip.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Great, Amusing Edutainment

The story is told perfectly by the author. You can almost picture the family and her wise mother! Lot's of good snippets of information in there to be had, and highly entertaining too. This book had me really thinking about different ways to use the information it offered, but laughs kept me hooked, I'll be listening to this again quite soon. My thanks to the Author, another job well done! A chuckle a minute.

11 of 14 people found this review helpful

You will listen more than once

I can't express how much I enjoyed this book. The narration was wonderful. If you listen to this bok and are not inspired as well as entertained and touched emotionally, you are a brick. I loved it!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Get to the point

Found this book while doing a search for titles relating to real estate. Turned out to be a long rambling story without much substance. Reminds me a lot of the Robert Kiyosaki "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" narrative but without the helpful ideas. I think that the fact that one reviewer called it Oprah-spirited says it all. This book is a fat, waste of time.

16 of 24 people found this review helpful

Enjoyed Hearing This Story

It's nice to see how our mom's are truly right most of the time. :-)

Adorable

I really enjoyed this book. It's filled with great stories,
great lessons, and lots of great advice.

Exactly as the title described

Barbara C.'s (audio)book is basically true to form of what she promises in the title.. & her book style is very consistent w/ what she writes about in her style of doing business. Very "common sense'y".. Not glamorous at all.
Narration delivery is splendid.. may sound cheesy, but it's true to her "mom's common sense" simple yet classy style.
The book is very honest & direct. & sweet. I love that it's perfect for young teen girls, which most business books would rarely be considered as such.
Barbara does an awesome job.
In audio books narration is 90% of the experience. She does a great job!!

Fun and smart!

Excellent story, savvy business tips and motivation, plus the delightful reader is actually the author and protagonist... I recommend highly to everyone to read for a down home smart success story.

Delightful

It's filled with wonderful stories of her rise in the real estate business. Some lessons are applicable some not really. I would recommend this book, but for some light reading/listening. It's a nice break from some of the more heavy duty material out there. She does a great job narrating her book.

Excellent!!!

What did you love best about Use What You've Got, & Other Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom?

Satisfactory on all levels!!! Entertaining, inspirational, idea generating and valuable lessons shared. Well written and well read by the author!

Which scene was your favorite?

I loved the story of when Barbara met the would be "Condo Queen" - for Barbara's impersonations as much as the story itself! And the same for when Barbara met Donald Trump for the first time. I think the greatest lesson(s) for me may have come from the 88 condo's story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was definitely a book I wanted to listen to in it's entirety in one sitting. It was a challenge to break-up my listening so that I could savor it! I'm looking forward to listening to it again!

Any additional comments?

My first audible.com book. I am so pleased, I just ordered 3 different titles as gifts for friends and another two for my listening library. Great for the morning and evening train commute!

0 of 1 people found this review helpful