Use What You've Got: and Other Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom

All I can say is that I feel like I have a new, incredibly resourceful, entertaining, brilliant, unique friend named Barbara Corcoran that is willing to share not only her success story, but tips for anyone willing to learn and succeed. Wow, what a book! Barbara is such an incredible, successful person yet even at the very end, still attributes her success to the TEAM that she built in the Corcoran Group. She adds delightful stories going back to her childhood that probably only children from a larger family could relate to, but for me, coming from a large family myself it couldn't have been more appropriate. I happened to pick up this book at a time where I am myself trying to start a new business ( being in my 50's myself!) and little did I know that her roadmap to success would give me my necessary "start button". I have told everyone I know to read this book! I hope I get to meet her someday!

I read this book off and on for two days because I couldn't put it down! This book really surprised me in that it is packed with good advice and stories that will make you laugh and astonish you. I liked how her family was presented, it made me wish I had grown up with them! I loved how the stories from her childhood were directly related to how she operated her business.This is one great book! Anyone in business for themselves should read it. This book is interesting, funny, exciting and fun to read. You really do get hooked into and can't put it down! This has got to be THE best business book I've ever read!I thought the Bonus Manual was a great way to end the book!

I ordered this book earlier this week and it was delivered yesterday (9/11/09). I left it in the car after retrieving it from my mailbox. This morning, I decided to go get it and I opened it to review a page or two so that I could decide where to put it on my "to do list". I finished reading the entire book this same afternoon. I couldn't stop! It was such a great read! I don't tolerate "filler text" well at all and I generally scan books before I read them to determine if they are mostly filler text or content (Filler text is the extra words they add to the content to use up space and pages, in order to justify the price they want for the book. Filler text is also a waste of my time and money. I don't want to buy "filler text", I want to buy CONTENT). This book was a really great read, full of content, not filler text. Get out of it whatever you want or can; I got lots and I'm very pleased that I bought this book. Barbara's advice is useful for both professional and personal relationships and I really appreciated how much she was willing to share. Thank you Barbara Corcoran.

Although the book's title states Business Lessons, I think many people outside the business community will find this book inspirational because the stories are real and not techno-babble. Homemakers, teachers, students and other non-business people will come away with the message that truly we must all "use what we got" since it is indeed our differences that make us unique and special in this world AND that is what will help us to succeed in life. I enjoyed reading this book very much and did not want to put it down! The catchy titles from Mom, make the lessons easy to remember and actually use, because they are backed up by the real life experiences of growing up. I was delighted to read in the middle of the book that Barbara is also a slow reader. I like to savor the words, and truly enjoyed the whimsical stories in this book. My favorite lessons are #19 When there are ten buyers and three puppies, every dog is the pick of the litter, #13 If you want to be a cheerleader, you better know the cheers, #1 If you don't have big breasts, put ribbons on your pigtails (and just be as sweet as you are),and #20 Jumping out the window will make you either an ass or a hero

This is a very encouraging read from someone who truly got to the top on her own. I like how she breaks down each chapter's lesson and clearly parallels how a lesson learned from her Mom's parenting techniques was applied in the high-stakes business world. Nothing here is limited to the Real Estate realm. And the bonus section at the end on Tips for Business is great, you can bet my book is highlighted all over!I do wish there were more autobiographical details, but that's not what the book is about.