Real estate can be a competitive-even cutthroat-industry, especially in a recession. But Staten Island's leading businesswomen will tell you that, success is possible with a lot of hard work, and a lot of heart.

Once all of the papers are signed and the keys handed over, owners help turn houses into homes. People will live, laugh, cry, and love behind those doors. Maybe they will have children. Maybe they're just starting out. Maybe they are winding down to retirement, ready to reap the rewards of well-chosen paths. Perhaps they're rewarding themselves for a job well done. Behind all of those scenes are the agents who help find that foundation upon which to build hopes and dreams. And they celebrate that perfect fit right along with the client.

Folks in the industry will tell you that a successful real estate professional must be dedicated, and have strong integrity, tenacity and creativity. The following three women are shining examples of Staten Island stars at the top of their field. They possess the winning combination of keen business skills and personal style that enable them to open, own and operate their own successful real estate businesses.

Mimi Neuhaus 
of Neuhaus Realty, Inc.

Mimi Neuhaus gets excited when she reminisces about her early days in the business. "I started the company in 1969, and I've been at it ever since!" When she started Neuhaus Realty, Inc. almost 40 years ago, she was a married mother of two young children and a former legal secretary. She had no sales experience, but was eager to carve out a spot for herself in a profession that employed mostly men. Starting out, she was completely self-trained. The first house she showed, she sold. That accomplishment began what would be a very long and satisfying career.

"I said to myself, 'I have to get back to the office and sell another house!'", Neuhaus recalls, laughing.

The road to success, she says, was not one she took lightly. With two young children, Neuhaus leaned on her husband and her mother for support as she worked endlessly to make her business a success. Her mother would take the children every Saturday and Sunday so she was free to show houses, all the while in awe of her daughter's 7-day work weeks. "She would say, 'Are you sure you want to put yourself through this?' and I said, 'Yeah, I love it.'"

Neuhaus' husband, Alfons, played an important role in her success as well. He eventually got into the sales end of the business after the company had been going for a few years, and, being in construction, he also designed and built out the office space. Alfons was actually the one who eyed the Richmondtown office space in the first place.

"When he saw this location, we weren't even able to get inside the building; it was all boarded up. It was an estate and no one had the keys." Neuhaus explains, "My husband looked inside the window and said, 'This is it. We'll take it.'" The small space on Richmond Road was transformed into what is now a 7,000 square foot office that houses more than 100 associates.

Today, Neuhaus has taken a break from showing homes and has instead focused her energy on grooming the next generation of agents. For the past 15 years, she has been training her associates on Saturday mornings. She says she wants to help them grow, believing that if they succeed, so does she. Every year she celebrates their achievements at a luncheon at which she hands out awards to the top producers.

Even though she has been in this business for many years, Neuhaus still loves it with the same enthusiasm she applied in 1969. She makes herself available to people seven days a week. "You only do that because you want to do it, not because you have to."

Now that her children are grown up, they work hand-in-hand with Neuhaus every day; her son Carl followed in her footsteps and got his real estate license 20 years ago, and her daughter Lorraine owns her own title company that operates upstairs in the same building as Mimi's other real estate office in Holmdel, New Jersey.

"If you don't love what you do, you're not going to succeed. You have to love it. You have to put the time in," she says, "I am very happy in what I do."

For more information visit www.neuhausrealty.com.

Connie Profaci of Connie Profaci Realty

Connie Profaci, owner of Connie Profaci Realty in New Dorp and New Springville, managed to turn real estate from a part-time job into a lifelong passion. She moved to Staten Island in 1968 with her husband John and their four sons. Several years later, in 1975, while helping some of their friends find homes, the agent Profaci was working with suggested she get her own license. She worked part-time  as a real estate agent for many years, juggling her career and family life. Confident that she had acquired enough experience to take the leap, she opened her own brokerage company in 1986.

At first, Profaci recalls things were a little difficult. As a full-time mom, she was busy keeping up with her sons' school schedules and sports. Add running a business into the mix, and she admits that often there just weren't always enough hours in the day. She credits her husband for helping her pull it off, particularly when work and family schedules conflicted.

Although she's incredibly proud of the career Profaci has built for herself and how far she has come, she says she's even prouder of her family. She says, plain and simple, "The family has always come first with me."

With more than 30 employees and more than 100 listings, Profaci's business provides what she likes to call a "boutique-style service." They specialize in luxury homes but as she likes to say, "We attend to all real estate needs, from a condo to a castle!"

Connie Profaci Realty deals with customers in all different stages of life, from first-time buyers, to those whose families have grown and need larger homes, to those interested in downsizing. She has also seen a lot of repeat business from people who have bought homes in the past and years down the road want to re-list. Profaci claims, "I do derive a lot of satisfaction from being instrumental in finding the right house for the buyers and helping them fulfill their dreams." She also credits her hard-working staff and co-workers for helping to make the business as successful as it has become.

To this day, Profaci enjoys her career in real estate and has found it to be a very satisfying profession. She has managed to strike a balance between her professional and family life. "One can reach a goal of running a successful business and receive satisfaction of bringing happiness of home ownership to many and still enjoy family and friends."

"John and I take time to enjoy our 12 grandchildren (soon to be 13) by carving out time to share family dinners, vacations, celebrations, music recitals, sports, school events, etcetera. This year we will celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary on July 4th - No showings on that day!"

For more info, visit www.connieprofacirealty.com.

Joanne Costa of Joanne Costa Realty

Joanne Costa, owner of Joanne Costa Realty in Dongan Hills, isn't your everyday real estate agent. Along with her knowledge in this field, she also has a unique background in interior design. Combining the two skill sets, she is able to offer her clients different perspectives in looking at properties. She shows them how making a simple adjustment or two can change the whole look and feel of a home. For example, Costa can suggest something as minor as rearranging the furniture or perhaps adding potted plants outside the house to make it feel inviting or give it a different flair.

This combination of interior design and real estate dates back 20 years when Costa found herself helping her husband (a builder/developer) to make color choices and select furnishings for his models. Eventually, she became his customer service representative, and thoroughly enjoyed the person-to-person interaction.

"I used to really love decorating. I loved it," Costa explains. "The interior...the design...picking out colors...the choices, plus getting customers excited about their new home; I really enjoyed it." At that point, Joanne decided to get her real estate license and pave a new career for herself.

A full-time mom, Costa worked part-time in the real estate field for 20 years, until she opened her own brokerage firm in 2004. She says she was very fortunate to have her grandmother and her mother help with her two children, Lauren and Joseph. She explains, "We were a very close-knit family and my grandmother lived with me. So if I wasn't able to get home on time, I knew she was there."

For the most part, Costa made it her priority to pick up her children and take them to their after-school activities herself. She would arrange her appointments after dinner, working around the schedules of her clients who perhaps had spouses working during the day and were unable to view houses until later on in the evening.

It's this understanding and compassion that makes Costa stand out in this business. "I am very passionate about everything I undertake and I always give 100%. My goal is to help clients achieve their dreams, so I make it a point to study their wants and needs and store this information, so then that helps me find the perfect match. I listen to what they say." This work ethic seems to pay off for her business, as she sees a lot of repeat business and referrals from happy customers. She too is happy to have created bonds strong enough with her clients that they tell their friends and family about her. Her clients often tell her that she does not come off as a "broker." To them, she is more like a friend.

Along with running her business and being a wife and mother, Costa also donates her time to many different organizations and causes on Staten Island. She has given money to the Staten Island Zoo and is also on the board of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. She also spends time on committees for the Staten Island Ballet, American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes.

As a small business owner, Costa works seven days a week. "In order to be successful, you have to be accessible," she says, and it's the motto she lives by.

"You're buying a future," she adds, and with something as important as that, "I'm more than happy to help."

For more information visit www.joannecostarealty.com.