New Canaan Woman Launches ‘Intentional Self Aesthetics’ on Vitti Street

New Canaan resident Dr. Teresa Alasio had already worked in a wide range of positions within the medical field when the pandemic hit in 2020, prompting her to take on a new professional challenge.

A New Jersey native who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology from Rutgers, Alasio finished her post-bacc pre-med work at Columbia and then entered the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, taking her medical degree in 1999. 

She started an internship in general surgery at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, then returned to Mount Sinai when she switched to anatomic and clinical pathology, finishing in 2004. Over the next two decades, she worked in fine needle aspiration biopsy during a fellowship in cytopathology at New York University, as an academic assistant professor and assistant program director of the residency program at SUNY Downstate Health Services University, at a reference laboratory in Westchester County, N.Y., then set up a biopsy clinic and, finally, was hired as medical director and chair of pathology for CareMount Medical.

“After the pandemic, I left my position at CareMount for lots of different reasons, one of which was that I wanted to stay closer to home and I wanted to do something that was more locally based,” Alasio recalled Monday afternoon from the office of her own newly established business, Intentional Self Aesthetics on Vitti Street.

A mom of two boys—a sophomore at New Canaan High School and a seventh-grader at Saxe Middle School (each of them formerly at the Rainbow Station preschool at the New Canaan YMCA and then St. Aloysius School)—Alasio remembered returning home from work in 2020 and 2021 and finding her boys “locked in their rooms.”

“It was a little bit stressful for me because I wasn’t there for them and I wanted to be more there for them,” Alasio recalled. 

She added: “There was a lot of isolation and there was some anxiety about that, and so I really felt the need to be here more. And you know what they say: Your kids need you more as they get older. It’s more important for your kids to have your presence. Those guardrails need to be in place. Anybody can take care of a baby—just change them, feed them. That’s it. But these emerging adults, they need their parents.”

An anomaly in the world of pathologists in that she’s always loved working with people, Alasio began taking classes and earning certifications in aesthetic procedures such as Botox while she looked for space to launch her own business.

In November, Alasio soft-launched Intentional Self Aesthetics at 23 Vitti St., where she will host a grand opening celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 25 (open to all, RSVP here).

Services at Intentional Self Aesthetics include injectables, body contouring, advanced skin rejuvenation, clinical skin care, PRP treatments, functional medicine and laser hair reduction. Alasio seeks to provide each client with clear, personalized and professional advice, she said.

“I’m here not only as a physician, as a provider, but I’m here as the medical director,” she said. “Every procedure, with the exception of something like facials, which are performed by the esthetician, every other procedure is performed by me, a physician. I don’t have any nurse practitioners or PAs or anything that are working here. And even for patients who come in to get facials, they’re all seen by me as well.”

Alasio said Intentional Self Aesthetics is similar to retail in that it’s a cash business (it doesn’t take insurance). Her clients are predominantly women and are mostly from New Canaan, she said, with a large number in the 35 to 55 age range. 

One of them, New Canaan’s Julie Toal, said she came in for a hydra facial “and it was fantastic—it really made my skin look nice and smooth.”

For Toal, who has known Alasio for 15 years, the most important factor is trust.

“She is a very dedicated professional, a committed provider,” Toal said. “She’s compassionate, she’s approachable and I think she’s a great addition to the New Canaan business community.”

Laura Budd, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“Dr. Alasio, with her background as a physician, offers something unique to her clients,” Budd said. “The space is beautiful, and we’re thrilled that she decided to open Intentional Self Aesthetics right here at home in New Canaan.”

Budd added: “Even before her doors opened, Dr. Alasio was actively engaged with the Chamber, attending many networking meetings and really getting to know other local business owners. We know she and her business will be a real asset to the community.”

Alasio said she’s received very positive feedback from her first crop of clients.

“Everybody thinks it’s beautiful, they are impressed by the space,” she said. “They are impressed by the level of service, the accessibility of the treatments. The range of treatments that are available. I think people are really happy.”

Alasio added: “This is not a back room where people get Botox. This is a real medical practice and it’s serious. We do medical evaluations of patients. Yes, the majority of people that come in to be seen by us are healthy and functional and well. But I’m trained as a medical professional and as a physician to identify any issues and to help people in that way. And I think that’s very important.”

Asked what it’s like to open her own business in the town where she lives, Alasio said, “Happy.”

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s just an exhilarating feeling. It’s knowing that  every last piece of everything in this office I picked and I had direction over and every decision that’s made is mine.”

The offices of Intentional Self Aesthetics occupy about 2,700 square feet on the second floor at 23 Vitti St., and Alasio said she already envisions expanding into an adjoining 1,0000-square-foot space. 

“I want people lining out the door,” she said when asked about her vision for the future of the business. “It’s just building up the business, you have your services that you offer. I want to build it and I’m here for the long haul. And I want clients who will return over and over again. I want relationships with people who want to not only improve their skin, but intentionally improve their appearance and their wellbeing and wellness, their overall wellness and self care.”

The New Canaan location has already made a difference in Alasio’s family life.

“I work five minutes from home now, it’s fantastic,” she said.

When one of her sons has tennis at 4 p.m., he can drop by the office after school and work until the lesson starts, she said. The other son asks to help out, and may come in to take out the garbage “or I can take him to school,” Alasio said.

“If he has a sleep-in, I can drop him off at the high school and buy him breakfast along the way,” she said. “And I think that’s awesome too. It just makes my heart burst with happiness, to be able to do that and be able to spend time with them. It just is worth it a hundred times over.”

Intentional Self Aesthetics at 23 Vitti St. (here on Instagram and Facebook) can be reached at 203-594-1890 and info@intentionalselfaesthetics.com. Details of the Jan. 25 Grand Opening can be found here.