A Wisconsin girl at heart, I moved to Colorado in 2016 to pursue my Masters Degree in Art Therapy. Four months after completing my degree, I began my journey into tattooing throughout different shops in Boulder County. It didn’t take me very long to recognize that the traditional tattoo shop atmosphere just wasn’t aligning with my personal goals or what I think a tattoo experience could be like. Having a private studio now is such a breath of fresh air. The decision and process of getting a new tattoo can be intimidating, at every stage; reaching out, going into a shop, exposing a part of your body. Trust me I get it. It is a permanent alteration of your external expression, and you deserve to have that experience be handled with care. I keep a trauma-informed lens in mind throughout the process and it is important for me to emphasize that all bodies are worthy of a good tattoo.