In her own words:
From a very young I have always loved art. It was a form of therapy for me almost, a sort of outlet. Growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted to be but I knew I wanted to draw and be happy. My grandmother put me in any art classes she could afford and really pushed me to be creative. By the time I was 23, my only career accomplishment had been bartending and I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life. After years of trying switching my major back and forth in colleges, I felt lost and stuck.
It’s around this time that my life got turned upside down. I received news that my mother had been killed suddenly and tragically. I was angry and sad but it was such a big wake up call… Would my mother be proud of who I am? I just imagined her watching over me asking why I wasn’t doing something with my art. In the month to come I would get some great wisdom from the man who would soon become my mentor.. “Why don’t you become a tattoo artist?” I had honestly never thought I had it in me, but something clicked and that moment on I pushed to become one. I wanted to make my family proud, my mom proud, and most importantly, myself proud. I quit my job, broke it off with my boyfriend, and drew everyday while looking for a shop to apprentice under.
Now, let me tell you, being a girl in the tattoo world can be rough- the guys won’t always take you seriously.. But I knew if I worked hard enough and could hang with the boys I could be just as good one day. Finally after months of being under a not-so-good mentor at a shop over an hour away me, the man who put the whole idea in my head finally agreed to take me under his wing. He said as long as I worked hard, he would show me the ways of tattooing. For a year I came in 4-5 days every week, all day from open til past closing and worked for free at the shop. Just to prove to them and myself that I deserved this and belonged here. An apprenticeship isn’t easy, it is work..hard work.. But it will reward you with a skill you will use forever.
I am grateful for my journey and even though my mother isn’t here to see me succeed at my own career.. I know she is in spirit. Without our hardships in life, we can’t grow, sometimes you need challenges in life to better yourself. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it… You can.
