Alicia Couri is a successful female immigrant in the U.S of Trinidadian descent and is best described as an audacious and confident woman. She is the founder and CEO of Alicia Couri Inc, the Founder/Executive Producer & Host of Red-Carpet CEO, and head stylist of AC Beauty which provides professional on-site hair makeup and wardrobe styling to clients across the United States. Amongst other achievements, at the age of 52, she won the pageant as the Mrs. Elite United States Woman of Achievement 2020, an award which celebrates one’s beauty and impact in the lives of others.
As one who had struggled with self-confidence in the past, Alicia passionately empowers others to achieve their goals and aspirations by embracing and owning their individuality, unique skills and talents audaciously. Alicia’s struggle with self- confidence dates back to her childhood experiences in Australia. She recounts that in the 1970s, she and her sister were the only kids with “darker complexions” and curly kinky hair, making them easy targets to bullies who shamed them for their accent, hair texture, and skin tone. Overtime, these experiences negatively impacted her self- confidence and understanding of self. She who had once been a bold and opinionated child prior to her family’s immigration to Australia returned as an insecure, timid, and afraid child to Trinidad.
Upon her family’s return to Trinidad, Alicia felt her options were limited especially when it came to her sense of creativity and interest in studying fashion. She longed to return to Australia. While she loved the land of her birth, she felt she would be miserable if she conformed to the traditional route of attending college and eventually securing a regular 9 to 5 job. “Regular education for me was like pulling teeth……. I couldn’t be a doctor, banker, or a lawyer”, she mentioned. Nonetheless, she worked as a flight attendant in Trinidad to save money to study fashion in the United States. Prior to her immigration, Alicia met and got married to her husband who is from Tobago. However, there were a number of unexpected twists and turns along the way, leading to her becoming a stay-at-home mom for a few years. While she had hoped to hold down a job for a long time upon her graduation from college, her work papers expired.
Despite her life’s unexpected detour, Alicia decided to start her family and volunteered in various capacities that came up – in church, at the PTA – while awaiting her papers to be sorted. During this time, she learned a lot the about media especially in the area of television while developing other skills like hair and makeup. These preparatory years equipped her to start and thrive in her numerous businesses in the following years that ensued. While Alicia empowers others in their identity, skill sets, and talents, she reveals that often times, she also struggles with fear and has to re-affirm herself when these negative thoughts creep in.
Furthermore, Alicia reveals that a lot of immigrants lose their voice while trying to blend in the U.S for fear of being constantly misunderstood or questioned about their land of origin.
She emphasizes the importance of speaking to be understood rather than trying to change how you sound and encourages intending immigrants to find an immigrant attorney in whatever country they intend to immigrate as this will help fast-track the process and limit unnecessary delays and hassles as seen in her case when her work permit expired.
Lastly, when asked if Alicia considered herself a success, she attests that she is a success having raised and nurtured three amazing kids who are advancing in school. Alicia also considers herself successful in her career because she is impacting lives the way she intends to do, and “how she is wired to do”.