I started tattooing in 1991, when my sister (Lucky Linda) was tattooing out of the back room of the hair salon my mother owned in Shakopee, MN. She was getting swamped with tattoos and needed help. I remember her saying to me, “You can draw. Why don’t you come and do tattoos with me?” My general reaction was, "Tattoos?" I don’t want to draw skulls all day and I had no idea what tattoos were all about. I just recalled seeing lots of mangled, scratcher tattoos. I didn’t want to produce or have any part in that kind of art. Meanwhile, I was struggling to pay rent, getting a job, and being a 20 something with no direction. Begrudgingly, I said yes.

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I was lucky enough to be able to work with Mike Malone and learn from him. I fell in love with the art of tattooing. Mike "Rollo" taught me how to paint flash, fix tattoo machines, and tattoo worth a damn. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Mike (or Linda, for that matter).

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25 years have since passed. I have worked in Rochester, MN, at two different shops — Rochester tattoo and Pat Brittan’s Shop, Infinity Tattoo. After my daughter was born, I took a break from tattooing for a couple of years and worked in the corporate world — all the time bemoaning the 6 am to 2 pm grind and the sheer madness of corporate leadership. I eventually found my way back to tattooing. I bounced around a few different shops and, as luck would have it, Lucky Linda needed my help once again. That's how I landed here again.

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I pride myself on being up front with anyone who comes in. This also means that I do talk people out of tattoos. Believe it or not, I actually say no to many potential clients. It is not really about making money, it’s about doing the right thing. I like to feel integrity in everything I do — it is a virtue.