Sep 1, 2024
While it's easy to believe that academic achievements predict business success, Barbara Corcoran's story proves quite the opposite. The real estate mogul and Shark Tank investo, who is currently worth over $100 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, has talked openly over the years about her lackluster grades in school.
“I was a straight D student and spent my entire life trying to prove that I am NOT stupid!” she said on X, formerly Twitter, in 2017. In a subsequent interview, the 75-year-old claimed her struggles with dyslexia impacted her studies but was also “the whole reason I succeeded.”
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Here’s how Corcoran turned her neurological condition into her greatest asset.
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Battling dyslexia
Dyslexia, a neurocognitive disorder that impacts a person’s ability to read, affects roughly 20% of the population, according to The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Despite how common this condition is, Corcoran told Entrepreneur.com that she didn’t realize she was dyslexic until her son Tom was diagnosed in second grade.
Undiagnosed and untreated dyslexia can lead to feelings of anxiety and a lack of self esteem, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, Corcoran told Kate Griggs on her podcast “Lessons in Dyslexic Thinking,” that she used her insecurities as fuel to develop thicker skin.
“I don’t think you get the same motivation or the ability to deal with rejection the way you do if you’re dyslexic.”
Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs have had a similar experience. Sir Richard Branson is dyslexic and has previously called the condition “a blessing in disguise.” Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary, both Corcoran’s co-stars on Shark Tank, are also dyslexic. A study from the Cass Business School, found that entrepreneurs in the U.S. and U.K. were more likely to be dyslexic than the general public.
Like Corcoran, overcoming the insecurities and academic failures associated with dyslexia seem to have fueled success for many entrepreneurs.
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Persistence is key
In an interview earlier this year with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, Corcoran said her ability to persist after rejection was one of the key reasons for her success. When Donald Trump refused to pay her a $4 million commission one time, she successfully sued him and got her money. Similarly, when she was rejected for a spot on Shark Tank, she emailed the creator, Mark Burnett, directly and convinced him to give her another shot.
Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has done extensive research on how high-achievers deal with setbacks. After interviewing several high profile leaders, from [JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll, she concluded that “grit” — the ability to learn from failure and rejection and persist — was a key indicator of success.
For regular investors, with or without dyslexia, the lesson is clear: don’t give up.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
