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Editorial assistant Brenda
Duncan interviewed Alicia
Stevens, of Cicero, who owns
Genesis II Hair Replacement
Studio, a hair replacement
company in North Syracuse that
helps men, women and children
who suffer from male and female
pattern baldness, alopecia and
side effects from chemotherapy
and radiation. She was recently
elected as the first woman
president of Transitions
International Group.
Name:
Alicia Stevens
Age: 43
Where do you
live? Cicero, New York
How long have
you lived here? I grew up in
Franklin Park area and lived in
Eastwood for 10 or 11 years and
then came to Cicero three years
ago.
Do you have a
family? I'm single. I've got
my mom and brother and sister,
who are my partners.
What is your
educational background and work
history? I graduated from
East Syracuse-Minoa in '82 and
then I worked in a salon for six
months and I've been at Genesis
II ever since, for 27 years. I
worked at the same place all
those years and purchased it
five years ago with my family.
Every six months I take a few
training courses in hair
replacement.
How many
people do you think you have
helped over the years?
Thousands upon thousands. It
could be like 10,000.
What do you
like best about your job?
Helping people.
What is the
most challenging aspect? Finding
time to get everything done.
There is so much work involved.
What is the
Transitions International Group?
It's a marketing and
education group of over 60 of
the top hair replacement and
hair restoration centers in nine
different countries. We meet
twice a year. We travel all
over. We get together and
brainstorm. We're a marketing
and education group. We
design our own products and
brochures. My ads that run on
local TV and in Print were all
done in Syracuse, believe it or
not. The TV commercials and
infomercial are actually being
played in six or seven different
countries right now, and they
were all produced and shot in
Syracuse, New York.
What do you do
in your spare time? Travel,
hang out with family and
friends. I'm a huge Yankees fan.
If you had an
extra hour each day, what would
you do? Finish
unpacking from when I moved in
three years ago.
What I like
best about the community: Between
the festivals that go on around
here, the SU sports, the theater
and arts, and the people - there
are a lot of really nice people
in this area.
If you could
change one thing about your
community, what would it be?
Taxes.
Do you have a
proudest moment? Taking over
Genesis II when we purchased it.
The greatest
obstacle you've overcome:
Being taken seriously as a
young woman owning a business.
You're known
for saying: "I don't
get it why people don't get it."
I say it all the time.
Your pet
peeve: People who
don't listen.
Name one
person you would like to be able
to spend a day with: George
Steinbrenner.
What is your
favorite TV show? "Seinfeld"
and "Law and Order: Special
Victims Unit."
If you could
spend the rest of your days with
only one person, I'd want it to
be: My sister, we just get
along very well and we have a
lot of fun. We understand each
other.
What can you
be found doing on Saturday
nights? Either out
with friends or friends are
over.
If you had a
money tree: I would
travel even more.
The best
advice you ever heard:
From my father: "A closed mouth
never loses an argument."
One thing you
definitely want to do in your
lifetime: Go back to
Italy.
What are you
most passionate about? My
work.
One thing
about you that would surprise
people: That somehow,
throughout the course of my
crazy day, I find the time to
read three or four newspapers a
day, and The Post-Standard is
one of them.
When you were
a child, what did you dream
about becoming? Exactly
what I'm doing today, owning my
own business in the hair
industry.
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