Classic moves take Teshima to the top of her profession. (PROFILE OF THE WEEK: Anne Teshima, vice president, Classic Realty & Marketing).

Anne Teshima lives a dual--but never dull--life. By day, she is a vice president of Classic Realty and Classic Marketing, where she oversees apartment-to-condominium conversions.

Evenings and weekends--and any other time she can borrow--she serves as president of the Association of Real Estate Women (AREW), the largest and longest-running group supporting women in real estate.

AREW's primary missions--networking, education, mentoring and philanthropy--appealed to Teshima, so she joined in 1998. Being a member helped her secure more than just jobs in the industry.

"When I joined Classic two years ago, I had been a broker since 1981 so I didn't know what salary to ask for," she recalls.

"I asked a few fellow AREW members, and they told me what they made and what I should expect. They were so supportive that I quickly lost my awkwardness and successfully concluded my negotiation. They gave me information, and information is power."

At Classic Marketing--the sales arm of RFR Holding--Teshima is overseeing a number of conversions. Prominent among them are Rivervue Apartments in Tuckahoe, 25 Fifth Avenue, 400 East 90th Street and 350 East 82nd Street.

She shepherds offering plans from conception through the attorney general's approval, plans and supervises renovation of the existing buildings, develops budgets to determine common charges, prices the units, plans the advertising, works with lenders, estimates real estate taxes, and helps close the units.

She got her start in real estate when, after graduating from Rutgers business school in 1979 as one of a handful of women in her class, she joined her then-brother-in-law's company, which was one of the city's largest private owners of real estate.

She handled financing of properties and some commercial and residential sales and acquisitions.

From there, she went to Brown Harris Stevens, where she did appraisals and conversions as well as investment sales.

She then joined forces with Eugene A. Hegy, Jr., her mentor at Brown Harris Stevens, to form EAH & Associates.

For eight years, they operated a small, but full-service, real estate business, handling appraisals, financings and sales.

"Just as Gene mentored me, one of the reasons I'm so active in AREW is that it offers mentoring opportunities," says Teshima, who lives on the Upper West Side with her husband, an engineer and published novelist.

"The young professionals are extremely bright, and AREW's more senior members give them industry perspective and the benefit of their experience. "

Teshima next focused on commercial mortgage brokerage, for Haves Pine & Seligman, where Lloyd Pine--whom she had known since the 70s--recruited her aggressively.

She joined Classic because she knew its president, Jay Solinsky, since her Brown Harris days, when she worked on conversions for him. At Classic, she Gilson joined two active AREW members, Rae Gilson and Wendy Leiser, respectively director of sales and a sales manager for Classic Marketing.

"Jay told me he was getting six buildings to convert and wondered if I knew anyone who could help," she recalls.

"I said, 'Yes, how about me?' And because I knew Rae and Wendy from AREW, I felt at home immediately.

"Real estate is all about knowledge and relationships, and that ties directly back to AREW. We know what is happening in our industry--where the good jobs are, what people are making--and we're happy to share that," says Teshima.

"The good jobs never get advertised. You need to network. Our industry, which for so long was male-dominated and hired only by word-of-mouth, now looks to us for the talent they need to keep a competitive edge.

"Real estate companies now know that as the Boomers retire, they can't afford to ignore a huge pool of talent. That's why AREW will only continue to grow in size and relevance," says Teshima, whose term as president ends in June.

"I'd do it all again--no regrets. Like AREW, I've had a pretty good run."