- Barbara Corcoran, a self-made real estate millionaire and Shark Tank judge, swears by separate sleeping arrangements in her marriage.
Self-made millionaire Barbara Corcoran says having her own space is a key part of staying happy in her marriage.
The Shark Tank judge and founder of real estate firm the Corcoran Group married her husband, Bill Higgins, a former FBI agent and retired Navy captain, in 1988. The couple have two children.
“I’ve had a separate bedroom with Bill for like 40 years,” Corcoran revealed in an interview with the Today Show earlier this year. “I think there’s something to be said about your own private space.”
Corcoran said she and her husband respect privacy, and wait for an invitation before entering each other’s personal space.
It seems Corcoran and her husband were ahead of the times. Separate bedrooms for couples are an emerging trend, as Americans reconsider the traditional nuclear family and marriage rates decline.
One in five couples sleep in separate bedrooms, the New York Times reported in May. Many want to avoid annoyances such as a spouse’s loud snoring or wake-ups resulting from conflicting schedules. The trend is becoming so widespread that interior designers have started configuring homes with separate sleep spaces for couples.
Celebrities including actress Cameron Diaz and television host Carson Daly also swear by the practice, which experts call “sleep divorce.”
Marriage experts interviewed by the Times said the trend is concerning because separate bedrooms could reduce intimacy in the relationship. Still, 59% of sleep-divorce practitioners report they are less stressed than they would be if they shared a bedroom, according to an 800-person survey published by mattress company Naturepedic.
The importance of independence
Corcoran has previously said having a healthy sense of independence is essential to her success.
Before her happy marriage to Higgins, Corcoran was heartbroken when her former business partner and boyfriend left her for his secretary.
The dissolution of her business and relationship motivated Corcoran to start her own successful firm, the real estate mogul told the Way Up podcast in November.
“I started the Corcoran Group—without that departure I never would have started the Corcoran Group,” she said. “So bad things happened, but I learned the business in seven years solid before I had a go out on my own.”
Her additional advice for success in business includes playing to your strengths, taking rejection in stride, and trying new things.