My best friend says that I am the best gift-giver she has ever seen; in fact, she wrote an entire blog about aspiring to achieve the level of gift-giving I possess. I tell you this not to brag (although I am a gift ninja) but to prove that I take pride in being thoughtful and deliberate with time spent making others feel joy. Combine that with my creative spirit and add me entering my "f*ck it 40s" era, and what you get is a late-blooming tattoo artist looking to leave her mark on the world.

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My love of tattoos started when I was young. I remember finding beauty in telling the world who you were without speaking a word. The funny part was that for far too long, I held back on allowing myself to say to the world who I was through tattoos for fear of rejection. Anxiety can do that to a person, a battle I fight daily.

One day on that battlefield,  I told my therapist about how fascinating I found tattoos, to which she told me that when she was in school to become a therapist, they were taught that tattoos were a form of self mutilation- but after hearing my take she was moved to think outside the norms. This was the first moment I realized that people's perspectives on tattoos could change, and maybe I could be a catalyst.

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After many years, lots of therapy, and courage later, I took that step and became a tattoo artist. Now, I am on a mission to break the stigma and prove that tattoos can be beautiful and classy and that mental health is as important as physical health. It's an odd combo, perhaps, but then again, I have never quite fit into a box.