Over the weekend, Barbara Corcoran took part in the “Grace Kelly” challenge on TikTok — and she quickly went viral.
At the time this article was published, her video had almost seven million views.
The “Grace Kelly” trend comes from a song by MIKA called “Grace Kelly.”
The trend focuses on a rendition of the song’s chorus: “I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky, I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like.”
While the chorus plays over and over, TikTok users record themselves sharing a personal story, typically a challenge they’ve faced.
In Corcoran’s video, she brings users back to the start of her real estate success story, the creation of The Corcoran Group.
@barbara.corcoranThere’s great power in being insulted, you can turn it into motivation. #trend #fyp #foryou #icanbebrownicanbeblue♬ original sound – Sarah Cothran
In the beginning of the video, Corcoran recalls meeting Ramone Simone while working at the Fort Lee Diner in New Jersey. The two hit it off and Simone offered her a $1,000 loan to start a real estate brokerage with him.
They went on to grow a brokerage together for seven years. As the video continues, Corcoran explains that one day, Simone announced that he was leaving her to marry their secretary. They split the business in half and Corcoran left to run The Corcoran Group.
As Corcoran was leaving, Simone said that she’ll never succeed without him.
Those words, she explains, fueled her drive to make it.
“I knew at that moment I’d rather die than let him see me not succeed,” she wrote.
As the video comes to an end, Corcoran explains that while Simone closed his business when the recession hit, she grew The Corcoran Group into the top brokerage in New York City. Twenty years later, she sold the firm for $66 million.
The TikTok has received widespread support with thousands of comments. One comment reads, “This was awesome. Great motivation that even through hurt and pain we can still push through and create our own paths!!”
Another commenter said the video inspired her.
“This is exactly what I needed to see today!” the commenter wrote. “I’m 51, and my husband left me for someone 20 years younger. I am starting over and refuse to fail!”
