????最大的挑戰(zhàn)是現(xiàn)金流。一切順利的時(shí)候，我會(huì)很快把錢投入到公司當(dāng)中。但在1980年，我欠了很多錢，還需要10,000美元來維持公司運(yùn)營(yíng)。當(dāng)時(shí)正值經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條，我差點(diǎn)就把公司50%的股份賣給一位與我有過業(yè)務(wù)往來的法國(guó)人。我已經(jīng)不記得他的名字。當(dāng)時(shí)我們已經(jīng)握過手，但他卻改變了主意。幾個(gè)月后，市場(chǎng)有所改觀。我終于挺了過來。

????我從來不知道收入是何物。我把這個(gè)問題留給了艾斯特?卡普蘭。她是我離開雷之后招聘的第一位業(yè)務(wù)員。后來，她成為柯克蘭集團(tuán)的合伙人，持有10%的股份。艾斯特負(fù)責(zé)公司的開銷，非常擅長(zhǎng)提高我們?cè)阢y行的信用額度。她會(huì)進(jìn)行現(xiàn)金預(yù)測(cè)，如果她知道我們?cè)诎嗽路輹?huì)有一筆80,000美元的額外進(jìn)賬，她肯定不會(huì)告訴我。事實(shí)證明，她這么做是正確的。因?yàn)槿绻抑懒?，肯定?huì)把這筆錢花光。

????1993年，我們開始在線銷售房地產(chǎn)，比競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手提前了兩年。我還搶先注冊(cè)了有商標(biāo)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的所有URL，等他們需要的時(shí)候，就不得不來找我。當(dāng)然，我并沒有利用URL向他們收錢。我只是想讓他們打電話來討要，這樣我就能知道競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手開始在線銷售的時(shí)間。最先打來電話的是那些不得不在創(chuàng)意上下功夫的小公司。最后打來電話的則是大公司。

????1988年，我嫁給了比爾?希金斯。他當(dāng)時(shí)正在經(jīng)營(yíng)父母的房地產(chǎn)公司。經(jīng)過八年體外受精治療，我在46歲的時(shí)候生下了我們的兒子湯米。那是我一生中最大的挑戰(zhàn)，我終于美夢(mèng)成真。這也是我出售公司的原因。當(dāng)時(shí)還沒有多重房產(chǎn)掛牌服務(wù)，我每周都要密切關(guān)注房產(chǎn)掛牌情況。2001年的一天，我發(fā)現(xiàn)公司各個(gè)類別房產(chǎn)的掛牌數(shù)量都超過了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。我已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了成為紐約最大房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)商的目標(biāo)。當(dāng)我身在辦公室的時(shí)候，我意識(shí)到自己希望拿出全部時(shí)間陪伴家人，尤其是湯米，我做不到工作和生活兩不耽誤。于是，我決定賣掉公司。當(dāng)時(shí)公司有850名銷售員，收入約為9,700萬美元。

????NRT（目前已被住宅房地產(chǎn)巨頭Realogy收購(gòu)）是當(dāng)?shù)氐囊粋€(gè)大買家。我聘請(qǐng)了一位了解NRT公司董事會(huì)的律師，告訴他我有意出售公司。當(dāng)然，他去了NRT。后來，他打電話說可以出價(jià)2,000萬美元，我說：“告訴他們，我要求的價(jià)格是6,600萬美元。”66是我的幸運(yùn)數(shù)字。我們?cè)?11事件之前一個(gè)星期五的晚上簽署了合同，兩周后交易完成。我讓NRT董事長(zhǎng)亨利?西爾弗曼相信，他購(gòu)買的是一家前途無限的業(yè)內(nèi)最棒公司。

????然后，我開始自我反思，并決定寫第一本書【《利用你擁有的一切》（If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails）】。離開前呼后擁的生活一年以后，我?guī)缀跻タ?。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己喜歡被人關(guān)注。擔(dān)任柯克蘭集團(tuán)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的時(shí)候，我經(jīng)常接受電視采訪。因此，我成為?？怂闺娨暸_(tái)（Fox TV）的一名政治撰稿人?？上?，這份工作并不適合我，于是我成為《早安美國(guó)》（Good Morning America ）的一名房地產(chǎn)撰稿人。2007年，我加入了《今日秀》節(jié)目。我想我應(yīng)該再也不會(huì)離開這個(gè)節(jié)目。

????The biggest challenge was cash flow. When things were good, I spent money quickly to invest in the business. But in 1980 I owed a lot and needed $10,000 to keep going. In a moment of desperation, I almost sold 50% of my business to a French gentleman I'd done some work for. I don't remember his name. We shook hands, but he changed his mind, and a couple of months later, the market changed. I was able to hang on.

????I never knew what the revenue was. I left that to Esther Kaplan, the first agent I hired after leaving Ray. She eventually became a 10% partner in the Corcoran Group. Esther had her finger on the overhead and was a genius at increasing our credit lines with the banks. She'd do cash projections, and if she knew that we'd have an extra $80,000 in August, she wouldn't tell me. She was right, because if I knew it, I'd have spent it.

????By 1993 we were selling real estate online, two years before our competitors. I also registered all the URLs for my competitors who had a brand so that they'd have to come to me when they wanted the name. I didn't charge them for the URL. I just wanted them to call and ask for it so that I'd know when the competition started selling online. The little guys, who had to be creative, called first. The largest companies called last.

????In 1988 I had married Bill Higgins, who was running his parents' real estate firm at the time. After eight years of in vitro treatments, at age 46 I gave birth to our son, Tommy. That was the biggest challenge in my life and a dream come true. It also led to selling my company. Back then -- before there were multiple-listing services -- I kept tabs on listings weekly. One day, in 2001, I saw that we had more listings than all our competitors in every category. I had reached my goal of being the No. 1 broker in New York. I realized I wanted to be there 150% for my family in the office, and 150% for Tommy, and I couldn't do both. So I decided to sell. I had 850 salespeople, and revenue was about $97 million.

????NRT [now part of residential real estate giant Realogy] was the big buyer in town. So I hired an attorney on its board and told him I was interested in selling. He, of course, went to NRT. When he called and said he'd gotten me $20 million, I said, "Tell them I'll take $66 million," and hung up. Sixty-six is my lucky number. We signed the contract on Friday night before 9/11 and closed two weeks later. I convinced Henry Silverman, the chairman of NRT, that he was buying the best company poised for shooting forward in the industry.

????I started reflecting and decided to write my first book [If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails]. After a year, I was going crazy with no people around me. I realized I love attention. Since I'd been interviewed on TV a lot as head of the Corcoran Group, I became a political contributor for Fox TV. It wasn't a good fit, and I went to Good Morning America as a real estate contributor. In 2007 I moved to the Today show. I think I'll die with my boots on there.