Paving The Way

Aniece Meinhold

Owner Phuc Yea Restaurant

When most 24-year-olds are just starting their careers, Aniece Meinhold already was a general manager at her first restaurant. By the time she was 29, she opened a wine bar called Blue Piano in Miami’s Buena Vista neighborhood with her business partner Cesar Zapata. Today, she is co-owner with Zapata of three restaurant concepts – Phuc Yea, on Biscayne Boulevard, Phuc Yea Rice and Noods at the FTX Arena in Miami and Pho Mo, an over-the-counter concept in Miami Beach.

When Meinhold first started, finding women-owned restaurants was not the norm. While more are joining the ranks, you’re more likely to find them in the kitchen or behind a bar mixing drinks.

Why so few female restaurateurs? “Time,” says Meinhold. “The idea that women can have it all is a challenging notion, we can have it all, we just can’t have it all at the same time,” she says.

At 42, Meinhold has sacrificed a lot to get to where she is. “You need to understand owning a business requires time and attention at any point of the day. You don’t ever turn off,” she says.

What has made it work for her is having a business partner she can lean on. Zapata, an award-winning chef, handles the food aspects of the job, while Meinhold manages pretty much everything else – from the drinks menu (she’s a mixologist) to public relations, accounting and human resources.

Her advice? “If you are going to have your own business, you need to define why — and you need to love what you do. If you don’t love what you do, why dedicate your life to doing it?”

Beth Azor

Azor Advisory Services

Beth Azor is on a one-woman mission to get other women to invest in commercial real estate. She’s been doing it for the last 36 years and has accumulated a portfolio of commercial properties valued at more than $100 million. She purchases, leases and manages a wide range of commercial properties.

But that’s not all. At 62, Azor wants to leave a legacy for other women. That’s why three years ago she launched – during the height of COVID-19 – the Women’s Real Estate Investment Summit. The first one was virtual, and 100 women signed up. As of today, 43 of those women are investors in commercial real estate. Her second summit, which was in person, had 107 attendees. This year, Azor welcomed 166 women to the March event.

Azor said she decided to get women involved in commercial real estate investment after she started asking why they were not involved.

“At first, I thought it was because they didn’t have the money, or it was the risk, or it was too complicated. But really, what it all comes down to is they don’t see other women doing it,” she says.

Azor started her real estate career at the age of 18. Her parents were in the business. But she disliked residential real estate. Someone suggested she get into commercial real estate.

“He told me there’s this thing called leasing where people build shopping centers and you help them open restaurants and dry cleaners and you are part of their family … and you help them create the American dream. And I went, ‘Bingo!’ I like that, and I have done it for 36 years,” Azor says.

Her advice for women looking to invest?

“Spread the word in your community that you are interested in investing in commercial real estate, the more you talk about it you are going to meet someone who is doing it or someone who knows someone who is doing it,” she says. “Do something other than the stock market – diversify.”

Stephanie V. Daniels

Miami-Dade Police Department

Nationally, about 1 of every 8 police officers — less than 13% — is a woman, and only 3% are in leadership positions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Stephanie V. Daniels, deputy director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, is among them. She joined the department in 1992, after working for the State Attorney’s Office and the Miami Police Department. She rose through the ranks and in February 2022 became the first Black woman to serve in this role.

Daniels, who grew up in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, says the hardest challenge she’s faced has been to “find my voice among the males.” To overcome the prejudice that is so embedded in the law enforcement culture, Daniels sometimes must call out her male counterparts when they fail to recognize their bias, even if it was not their intention.

To help other women, Daniels has served as a mentor for the last four years. Her advice: “Identify the skills you have — strengths and weaknesses — and build on them.” She urges women to seek out opportunities and not wait for them to come knocking on the door.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t give up, there will be a lot of ‘no’s’. Let it be a ‘no’ for the day, but don’t let it be final. Eventually, that door will open for you,” says Daniels who is a mother and grandmother.

Her greatest accomplishment? “Being able to leave a history to say, ‘my grandma or mom was able to reach this rank that never had a woman reach that goal.’”

Alexandra Anagnostis-Irons

Total Marine Solutions

The maritime industry traditionally has been dominated by men – both on land and at sea. A native of South Florida, Alexandra Anagnostis-Irons spent about 16 years working in the trade.

Her first job was as a purchasing agent with Bahama Cruise Line. She later served as Director of Technical Purchasing for a major cruise line. Her contacts and experiences inspired Anagnostis-Irons, 57, to launch Total Marine Solutions in 2000. The company supplies environmental products and services to the commercial, cruise and yacht industries.

As the company turned 20, COVID-19 struck. Serving an industry that was among those most impacted, Anagnostis-Irons knew it would be sink or swim. She and her team came up with a number of innovative ways to continue to serve clients — even as they struggled to keep their heads above water. For example, rather than going aboard ships, her team offered virtual assistance, as well as regular tech forums for clients who they otherwise would have seen in person.

“Even after decades in the maritime industry, I learn new things every day. Being open to learning allows you to be open to innovation, new ideas and that’s the key to success.”

Anagnostis-Irons believes having a great mentor in her early years and connecting with forward-thinking companies along the way inspired her to go further than she imagined. In fact, last year she was honored by History Fort Lauderdale as a Women Trailblazer.

“Today I want to be that inspiration for others and help others break through the barriers in their lives and strive for a future at the top,” she says.

Elissa Gainsburg

Pardo Jackson Gainsburg

While the number of women attorneys in construction law (and particularly construction litigation) has been on the rise, Elissa Gainsburg of Pardo Jackson Gainsburg in Miami can vividly recall being the only female construction law attorney in the room, even being mistaken for a court reporter at times.

In 2022, 38.3% of lawyers were female while 61.5% were male. However, the gains are notable, given that from 1950 to 1970, only 3% of all lawyers were women, according to the American Bar Association.

Gainsburg, 53, been practicing construction law for nearly 30 years and is currently representing several national and international developers, contractors and subcontractors in a variety of construction contract negotiations and litigation matters.

She works with clients from start to finish on construction projects, assisting with closing financing for purchase and development; drafting contracts to guide clients in pursuing their long-term project objectives and helping with disputes that may arise throughout the course of a project. 

Much of Gainsburg’s practice is focused on construction defect and deficiency litigation. It’s not unusual to find her on construction sites, another field dominated by men.

“There are few fields that continue to be as male-dominated as construction and, by extension, the practice of construction law,” she says.

Gainsburg has represented numerous condominium associations and has been involved in obtaining eight-figure settlements for associations seeking compensation for remedial work required on these properties. 

She’s also a single mother of four.

How does she manage to do it all?

“As Dory says in the movie ‘Finding Nemo,’ just keep swimming,” she chuckles.