NIDIA MCDOWELL
COO
Nidia: The Exacting Force Behind Our Success
Nidia is a founding principal of Arete Real Estate Advisors LLC, where she leads the company’s finance, planning, and operations while overseeing vendor contracts and services related to property management, leasing, and maintenance. With a solid foundation in operations and finance, Nidia has held pivotal roles at several Fortune 1000 companies, consistently driving organizational efficiency and financial performance.
Before founding Arete, Nidia worked in the finance department of a joint venture in Miami, where she developed organizational budgets, managed financial forecasts, and devised strategies to optimize financial results. Her role often required close collaboration with senior management across various departments, including Production, IT, Finance, and Legal.
In her earlier career, Nidia was Operations Manager at the corporate headquarters of Benetton Corporation, part of the United Colors of Benetton in Miami, an international Italian clothing retailer. She oversaw nationwide property and facility management, while optimizing operational workflows and streamlining vendor management processes to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Nidia expertly managed new store openings, closures, and capital improvement projects, working directly with the CEO and cross-functional teams to forecast and align capital budgets with the company’s long-term strategic goals.
Nidia also worked at AutoNation as an Inventory Analyst, where she not only managed high-value inventory but also gained valuable experience in financial planning and cost control. In this role, she was responsible for analyzing inventory trends, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and contributing to the optimization of working capital. Additionally, she worked at Starboard Cruise Services, a subsidiary of the LVMH group, in the Merchandising department. There, she played a key role in developing product assortments, analyzing sales trends, and ensuring that inventory levels aligned with store needs, while collaborating closely with store managers to optimize product mix and maximize profitability.
Her academic credentials include an MBA from the University of Miami and a Bachelor’s degree from Florida International University. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Nidia brings a wealth of expertise and strategic insight to her leadership roles, consistently fostering growth and innovation.