By: Alyssa Kay

If home is where the heart is, then on-air radio personality Alicia West definitely knows the feeling. After starting her career far from her hometown of Toronto, Canada fate brought her back.

Like many, West grew up with a passion for music (hip-hop and R&B), but her love for entertainment came from watching and idolizing some of today’s greatest television hosts such as Ryan Seacrest and LaLa Anthony.

“Growing up I really wanted to be like LaLa Anthony. I loved that she worked in radio with Ludacris and eventually moved to TV as the host of TRL Live. She’s always been goals for me. I didn’t have MTV as a kid, we only had basic cable that stopped at channel 28. I used to put it on channel 29 and hope that MTV would kick in....i‎t did sometimes but barely!”

West received her Bachelor's degree in Advertising from Sheridan College and later received her Master's in Radio Broadcasting from Humber College.

Wanting to fulfill to her dreams of being amongst the greatest entertainers in the industry, after graduating Alicia traveled around to different cities within the U.S. This became a huge obstacle but also a great lesson for her; “Getting into the industry was a challenge in itself. I had to move to three different cities in a different country before I was able to secure my current job. It definitely takes patience and persistence.”

Not letting anything get the best of her, West still went forth in pursuing her dreams of becoming the next LaLa Anthony. After moving back to Toronto from the states, West landed a spot on 93.5 The Move as a midday host. Uniquely, the station serves as the country’s only hip-hop station.

“The best part is being in my hometown on the radio every single day. So many people have shown me love that it just makes my heart warm! Being able to engage with listeners is definitely one of the many highlights,” says West.

Alicia is an entertainment mogul in the making. Having been working in the industry for some time now, Alicia West has yet to reach her full potential. “One of my many career goals is to be number one in a major market and syndicated! I'd also really like to get into TV. I want to be like Ryan Seacrest, he's never not working.”