In this memoir Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group, New York's premier real estate company, blends humor and sage advice to bring readers a story of how her mother's unconventional life lessons influenced her life and career. The story starts in a crowded ground-floor apartment in a three-family house in New Jersey that is shared by Barbara, her nine brothers and sisters and her parents. It ends with a sale of her real estate company for $70 million --- which she credits to hard work, fierce determination and her mom's offbeat, kitchen-table advice.

With chapters titled "When the clubhouse is quiet, they're probably not making spaghetti," "If you want to be a cheerleader, you better know the cheers," and "When there are ten buyers and three puppies, every dog is the pick of the litter," readers will find themselves laughing with Barbara, and then pondering and discussing the influences of those in their own lives who nurtured them and gave them a strong sense of self. Her story is empowering as it takes readers from Barbara's days as a waitress trying to make an impression on her customers (mom's advice: If you don't have big breasts, tie ribbons on your pigtails), to her first real estate company where her partner was a cheating boyfriend to her meteoric success in the male-dominated real estate market.