Shortly after graduating college and bouncing around various jobs, Barbara Corcoran had an epiphany. She compared the lifestyle of her hotshot boyfriend, who had his own real estate business, to the constant struggle of her father, who was a printing press foreman. The direction to take was clear. She cofounded the Corcoran Group real estate firm in 1973 with her boyfriend, and after they went their separate ways, she continued to grow her reputation in the New York City real estate scene.