Alum bunny hops to success

April 23, 2009 by Shane Collins 

Alicia Taylor adds Playboy model to list of accomplishments

Walking onto the set for the first time, naked, toned and ready to share the body she worked years to maintain with the world, Alicia Taylor was shocked by how comfortable she was posing for Playboy.

A UNLV alum and local business powerhouse, Taylor, 37, said that when asked by Playboy to pose for their “Women of Wall Street” section in the May issue she jumped on the opportunity.  Opportunity is something Taylor has never passed up.

Taylor is a Las Vegas native, graduating from Rancho High School and continuing her education at UNLV, where she majored in business management.

“I graduated from UNLV in 1996, but started in 1989,” Taylor said.  “So I was on the seven-year program, the Las Vegas four-year plan.”

Taylor reminisced on her days at UNLV, when the basketball team won the championship, only to lose to Duke the following year, and added that she was involved with the Black Student Association and ran for homecoming queen as a sophomore.

“Overall I have great memories of my time at UNLV,” she said.  “I started working full-time as a manager in finance as a sophomore, so by that time I was taking night classes, or once a week classes, but I still got involved when I could.”

Theodore Ransaw, a graduate assistant who teaches Afro-American studies, said he met Taylor through a mutual friend, and that she is still the same as when they were in college together.

“You would think she would have changed, but she hasn’t,” Ransaw said.  “She is still very nice, attractive and extremely smart.”

After graduating in ’96, Taylor continued working with Norwest Financial, which later became Wells Fargo Financial, where she worked since 1993.  After jumping around from different financial institutions, Taylor found Mortgage Solutions LLC in 2004.

“I’m the equivalent to being the president and CEO of a large corporation,” she said.  

Ransaw said Taylor has been able to successfully navigate being an attractive businesswoman, while demanding attention and respect from her peers.  

“Also, her cross cultural communication skills and being able to interact with people from different cultures is supreme,” Ransaw added. “She’s always been that way.  In the early days when other students were trying to get things started, she was already modeling and working in finance.  She’s always been extremely sharp.”

Ransaw added that she is the only person he knows who constantly travels out of the country, and said he’s called her when she’s been in Brazil, Dubai and other exotic destinations.

In addition, Taylor serves as communications chair on the local board of the Entrepreneurs Organization, a worldwide business organization, and spearheaded the Homeownership Initiative Foundation, which helps low-income families receive government grants for home purchases.

With all her accomplishments, Taylor said she wanted to show the world that women can be successful, strong and beautiful, and chose to pose for the famed magazine.

“I decided to pose for two reasons,” she explained. “First, being at UNLV, 20 years ago, they asked me to do it for the women of UNLV issue.  It was after we won the WAC basketball championship.”

Taylor added that at the time she was a freshman, and posing nude for a magazine was out of the question.  After 20 years and owning her own company, they asked her to pose again and she jumped on the offer.

“I can’t actually get fired now,” she laughed.  “When I heard about the ‘Women of Wall Street’ issue, I sent in my headshot and a few photos, and within an hour they responded showing interest and asking for additional information.”

Ransaw said he was surprised when he found out about her spread in Playboy, but he said he could believe it.

“[Taylor] is not a normal a girl,” he said. “She has always been breathtakingly beautiful, outgoing and successful—all these things.  I just didn’t put it past her.”

A flight to Los Angeles was booked in November, Playboy flew her out to the Playboy mansion and she was having dinner with Hugh Hefner himself. 

“[The experience] was absolutely phenomenal,” Taylor said.  “[Hefner] is a great, great guy.”

She explained that she stayed at the mansion for two and a half days.  Thursday night she had a dinner party with Hefner and other guests, had a movie night on Friday and was waited on hand-and-foot the entire time.

“It was more than I expected it to be,” she said. “They have a limousine that picked me up at the airport and drove me around.  They have a chef on staff and if you can conceive it, they will make it for you.”  

“Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week—whatever you want, they completely cater to you.” 

Taylor added that she stayed in the Pamela Anderson suite, where photos of Anderson’s Playboy spreads and original Anderson documents hang on the wall.

However, Taylor said everything at the mansion was extremely secretive—no phone calls could be made and when she wanted to leave, they called for transportation they provide.  This is to prevent random visitors from showing up at the infamous mansion unannounced.

On the set of the photo shoot, Taylor said she felt completely comfortable posing nude, adding that the photographers and producers on set were professional and treated it as a corporation’s daily duties.

“At my age, I’m not that concerned with whether or not somebody sees me naked,” she said.  “I was more concerned with getting a great shot, than I was about posing nude. The people on set looked at me more as a piece of art than a naked woman.”

Taylor hopes the shoot will enhance her clientele at her already successful company.

“I am expecting the spread will have an effect on my professional life,” she said.  “I’m expecting it to increase business and increase visibility of Mortgage Solutions.”

As for posing nude at 37 years old, Taylor said her secret for staying fit and in shape is by living a pescatarian lifestyle, going to the gym at least four times a week and constantly staying active by running in marathons.

Although Ransaw said Taylor still acts the same, dresses the same and looks the same as she did 15 years ago, change is bound to happen in Taylor’s near future.  She is in the running for the Bravo TV show “Real Housewives of Las Vegas” and remains in love and married to her high school sweetheart, Darwin Evans.