Bellak Color -- Making Magic In Miami

Moxie and Ambition

Bellak agreed, perhaps amused or impressed by the youngster’s moxie and ambition. After all, the closing of the sale wasn’t imminent, and Bellak—who died in 2006—might have assumed that the long learning curve would throw off young Fernandez’s grand scheme.

“I asked him how long it would take to learn everything, and he said 20 years,” Fernandez recalls. “I responded, ‘I don’t have any money, but 20 years I do have. Let’s do it. Give me the opportunity and you won’t regret it.’ ”