Today we’d like to introduce you to Eneida Pinon.
Hi Eneida, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Hialeah, Florida to Cuban parents. In 2001, we moved to the Miami Lakes area and have been here since. I went to Barbara Goleman Senior High and completed my Master of Architecture degree at FIU in 2014. While in school, I studied abroad in Genoa, Italy for 6 months and in Japan for 2 weeks. Both experiences greatly shaped my understanding and knowledge of architecture and how I see the world. After graduating, I began my professional career at ADD Inc (now Stantec) Downtown. There, I worked on several different project types such as Hotels (hospitality), Luxury Residential, Restaurants, etc. After a couple of years, I decided to move to New York City to get a different life experience. I moved to NYC in 2016 and worked for Goshow Architects and later for Gensler New York where I worked on projects for companies including the New York Public School Systems, Verizon, Estee Lauder, Clinique, Macy’s, etc.
While in New York City, I also began taking my licensure exams, a total of 6 exams, each about 4 hours long. I was licensed in 2018 in Florida and New York State. Eventually, I moved back to Miami and worked at the Gensler Miami office when the pandemic hit. During this time, I had already started working on my own Architecture company solely focused on residential work. In 2021, I left the corporate world and started working on my first solo project, a ~5500 SF luxury home in Miami Lakes. Meanwhile, I also became interested in real estate and decided to get my real estate license. In 2022, I got my real estate license and began working in the real estate profession. Today, I run both an architectural firm, and a real estate practice.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be honest, none of this process has been smooth. Architecture is a tough and arduous career as is, and I specifically had quite some difficult circumstances at times working on highly complicated projects along the way. I have spent countless hours staying late at the office, working through weekends (or sometimes even overnight!) to deal with highly complicated problems and to come up with detailed solutions. Although it has been difficult, I also believe that all of those circumstances put me in situations where I was able to learn so much in such a short amount of time out of college.
This ultimately put me in a position where I was able to know enough information to complete all of my licensure exams in approximately 10 months. When I completed my exams, I was a 26-year-old Hispanic female architect. At that time in 2018, I was part of 1% of all US licensed architects that were Hispanic women. It was an honor to be a part of that group and to watch more Hispanic women like me become licensed architects in a traditionally male-dominated field.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In my architecture business, I specialize in residential construction. My projects mostly include new construction (empty lot) homes, additions, and renovations. I do everything from basic standard home layouts to high-end luxury design. Usually, when I do luxury design, I also design interiors such as TV walls, feature walls, luxury restrooms and kitchens, specialty dining room features, etc.
What sets me apart from others is that I come from a commercial architecture background and have worked with high-end clients such as hospitality or luxury brands, so I am familiar with the latest trends and techniques to achieve a high-end look. One of my favorite things is achieving luxury designer looks with local and affordable materials to bring a high-end design to as many people as I can, on any budget. When it comes to my real estate business, my architecture experience helps immensely because I can help my clients who want the best value when looking at properties.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Life is all about taking risks. If you don’t take risks, you will never know what could have been. My biggest risk has been leaving the corporate world to start my own business alone. I knew that I wouldn’t grow in the direction that I wanted to if I stayed working for someone else. I wanted the opportunity to lead in design direction and I knew the best way to do so was to start my firm.
Although, I will say it has not been easy. As with any new business, there is much to prepare for and work on as clients and projects come through, everything from business cards to templates, to contracts, etc. With each new project, I would work on perfecting one more template, and one more model each time, and the progress slowly builds into achieved tasks! At this point, I am a little over two years in and have much more to work on as time goes on, but at least some tasks have become much easier to tackle with prior templates set in place.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eneidapinon.com
- Instagram: @archirealtor
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/EneidaPinon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwunI4VZY3sIDHiugS1RS6g
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
@otorresphotos
