Liverpool Grad Has The "Make Up" To Succeed

When Alex Canavan '22 was a student at Liverpool High School her passions were dance and makeup. After graduating she pursued a career in dance, but when things didn't work out she switched to makeup. By day, she worked at Macy's as a counter representative for MAC Cosmetics. At night, she tended bar to help make ends meet.

While bouncing between two jobs, she started her own business, GLAM BY AL, which provides makeup services for weddings and other special events. That gave her three jobs to juggle. "I was doing what I loved but found myself in the never-ending cycle of work, work, work with no way of being able to free myself up to focus on me."

Covid took care of that. When the pandemic arrived, work stopped like someone had turned off a faucet. So in January of 2021 she became a Business Administration major at Onondaga Community College. "I loved my professors, even those outside my major. There was a mutual respect amongst them and adults like me that we were there for a different purpose. And with many of them working in the subject matter they were teaching, I found the discussions to be enlightening and something I could mold into what I was trying to currently do."

Her time at OCC also presented her the opportunity to intern at Equitable, a financial services company. Her performance resulted in her working there part-time as  she pursued her degree, which she completed in the summer of 2022.

As she continued her work at Equitable, Canavan was asked to come up with a way for the company to highlight International Women's Day. "I didn't want to do just a social media campaign, I wanted to hold an actual event." Her mother, Amy Canavan, was Program Director at the Women's Opportunity Center. "Growing up I always admired my mom because she worked full-time and was always lifting others up."

They collaborated and created the CNY Women's Summit. Despite having just a couple of weeks to plan, they created an event which included a panel discussion and networking opportunity exclusively for women. Over 160 women attended. The following year the event more than doubled in size. "I'm hoping this will become a mainstay in Central New York for a long time."

The CNY Women's Summit brand has grown to include monthly networking events. There's also a podcast in the works, The Cultivate Podcast, which will focus on conversations with key local leaders and opportunities for women in the region. Canavan still has her GLAM BY AL business, and she is also the Marketing Executive for The York restaurant at 247 West Fayette Street in Syracuse's Armory Square.

Her relentless work ethic coupled with the education she received at OCC has given her a strong foundation to continue to build upon. "OCC provided the flexibility to pursue what I was thinking about doing professionally both from a tactical and networking standpoint. My education there helped me get where I am today."