Dora Puig is the top real-estate broker in the Miami area by sales volume. She's the founder and principal broker of Luxe Living Realty.
She sold more than $189.4 million worth of homes in 2018, according to REAL Trends, a residential brokerage industry publication.
Puig lives on the Venetian Islands, a chain of artificial islands in Miami and Miami beach where many luxury homes can be found.
The median home sale price on the Venetian Islands is $3.01 million, according to Redfin.
Puig wakes up at 7 a.m. and starts her day by eating breakfast at home.
She has coffee, a plain omelet with avocado, and fruit almost every morning.
Some days, Puig will go directly from her house to Fisher Island, the richest ZIP code in the US, where she serves as the sales and marketing director for Palazzo Del Sol and Palazzo Della Luna, two of the newest condo developments on the island.
"Known for its privacy, safety, security and exclusivity, there are no roads that go to Fisher Island," Puig said. "You have to take the automobile ferry or your personal yacht."
To get to Fisher Island from Puig's house, it's about a 10-minute drive to the ferry terminal and then another 10 minutes to get across the Government Cut channel to her office on the island.
On other days, Puig drives the 10 minutes to her office on Miami Beach's famed Lincoln Road, a pedestrian mall full of shops, restaurants, and businesses. She typically gets to the office by 9:15 a.m.
Puig likes to be the first to arrive every morning to her Luxe Living Realty office so she can prepare for the bi-weekly brokerage meeting with all of her agents.
"I love using my expansive video wall to debut listings for the team, have development project representatives present for us, and to lead team trainings in everything from branding and social media to wellness and healthy living," Puig said.
She has a second property lounge in South Beach's South of Fifth neighborhood.
At 10:30 a.m., brunch is served in the office for the team meeting.
"I like to cater my meetings and open houses with the delicious and healthy food from our favorite family-owned neighborhood spot, Pura Vida," Puig said. "We even have our own 'Luxe Juice' green juice, packed with antioxidants to keep us revitalized during long days of showing gorgeous properties and meeting with clients."
At 11:30 a.m., Puig heads to Palm Island in Miami Beach for an open house at one of her listings, a seven-bedroom waterfront home that's asking $12.95 million.
The nearly 7,000-square-foot home includes tropical gardens and 100 feet of waterfront.
Puig says she has the highest open house turnouts of any broker in the city.
Puig said she "loves connecting with the best agents in the city" during her open houses.
"I set the tone by setting it up as a full-blown event that requires planning, signage, catering, and promotional marketing to drive dozens of brokers and potential buyers to the property," she said.
After stopping at home to quickly change clothes, Puig hops on the ferry to Fisher Island.
She has an afternoon of promoting her biggest listings: Palazzo Della Luna and Palazzo Del Sol.
It's about a seven-and-a-half minute ferry ride across Government Cut, where Biscayne Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.
It's "just enough time to do my makeup and take a call from a high-profile client before arriving in paradise," Puig said.
Now that she's camera-ready, Puig meets the crew of a new television show called "The 10 Percent, Miami Mansion Edition."
She gives them a tour of one of the Palazzo Del Sol residences, a $15.9 million condo that's the only Bottega Veneta-designed residence in the US.
The 5,000-square-foot residence comes with a wraparound terrace as well as access to the building's amenities, which includes a butler-staffed aperitivo bar and waterfront lounge, a private movie theater, massage rooms, hair and makeup salon, and a pool terrace with towel and refreshment service.
At 2:45 p.m., Puig meets with a dozen international students from Italy, Russia, and Turkey who are part of the Real Estate Masters program at Florida International University and touring Fisher Island as part of their course curriculum.
"As their 'luxury industry visit,' I'm more than happy to guest lecture them on the state of the luxury market in Miami and abroad and give them tips to achieving their own success in luxury real estate when they return home," Puig said.
She gives an overview of Fisher Island and then shows the students Palazzo Della Luna, the newest condo building on the island, which includes 50 waterfront residences.
At about 6 p.m., after another wardrobe change and a 30-minute car ride during which she worked on a $14 million deal, Puig arrives at the oceanfront estate of one of Palm Beach's wealthiest families for a private cocktail reception and event she co-sponsored.
"Of course I had to raise a glass first to the day's success," she said. "It's all in a day's work!"
Puig works late — until 7 or 8 p.m. — and sometimes she'll go out for dinner with clients at trendy restaurants in South Beach such as Estiatorio Milos or Le Sirenuse At The Surf Club.
Puig told Business Insider fish and sushi are some of her favorite dishes.
But most nights, Puig comes home after work to relax in her poolside Balinese gazebo. Sometimes, she meditates there and watches the sun go down over downtown Miami.
She usually eats dinner at home with her husband and then sends some emails until bedtime, which tends to be somewhere between 10 p.m. and midnight.
