Maverick ZINE — Tattoo Culture, Art & Artist Stories

The point of my seminar was to kind of set the tone for what metanoia tattoo Gathering is and it's about appreciating where you are as an individual and not like looking to anyone else and what they're doing like you are on your own path and you are on your own journey and you can't be comparing yourselves because you don't know what this person is all right guys welcome to support your local tattoo my name is Austin Spencer I'm super excited today we've got Mary Beth clar is that how you pronounce your last name right okay that's what I thought okay cool uh she's an entrepreneur a mother a fantastic tattoo artist an amazing illustrator and working on some really fun cool projects that we're looking forward to sharing with you guys so yes um so let's get going welcome welcome thank you for having me if I get to my radio voice on just kick me under the table I always get nervous and I'm like um I get into my animated voice so we like animated voices but don't worry we can just be weird together this is my first podcast so you're oh cool that's that's exciting it's mine too so so all right cool so you're a Las Vegas based tattooer right now you from what we talked about you spent a lot of time tattooing around the Pacific Northwest yes and your I kind of wanted to just get I en really enjoy hearing people's origin stories yeah where you came from how the hell you ended up in this wacky weird industry and it was very unplanned yeah yeah yeah so let's start there like you

mentioned that your husband was in the military and that was like what led you into tattooing like how does that work yes so I was tattooing was never my intention in life I was your like Miss Goody Two Shoes girl in high school I did choir drama Jazz choir student council volleyball like tattooing was never on my radar like at all um but I was always an artist I was always really into coloring and crafting and doing all that kind of stuff so I originally was going to college for Hospitality I was really into event coordinating and planning parties and things like that was something that I was really into in high school um with my job on at on student council so I actually got accepted to go to UNL student council I know plann the assemblies the dances all the good stuff that's F that's yeah uh so I actually you know in Oregon applied to go to UNLV to do the hospitality program I got accepted and I was going to do that and then last minute I just changed and decided to stay closer to home in Oregon to save a little bit of money and then transfer over and during that time I ended up taking a lot of like College art classes for my electives and just really fell in love with art um on a new level that I had never really like experienced before we were using a lot of different mixed media my art teacher was super incredible and really like championed me and my um interpretation of the assignments that she gave us I guess I I had a more abstract like layered look to

things I don't know I can't really explain it was just kind of got really weird um and so I just I I essentially just reell in love with art and and felt like I really needed to move in that direction but I didn't know what that was going to look like and ended up um deciding to do like I I was really in love with like the ads and The Vibes of like snowboard and surf magazine and stuff and I really wanted to get into like advertisement design for those companies oh cool so then I ended up getting accepted to go to San Diego State University to go in that direction but very shortly after I was accepted met my now husband Joel yeah awesome so that kind of put a pause on like all of my college Adventures yeah and he's in he's in the Air Force right yes when we met he was enlisted to go into the Air Force and we decided to stay together and long story short once he got to his first base I moved out there and we eloped and got married D yeah yeah he was in Alaska so we moved to or I I moved to Alaska and we decided to get married and um like a lot of stuff happened in between and couple deployments and things and then um eventually just decided that I would get into tattooing because it's a job that I could take with me anywhere oh wa okay yes it was like a logistically decision almost yes it was very logistic but you had your passion for art and everything obviously so yes yes yes thankfully I was like really into art but fell into tattooing as a result of like knowing that we

were going to be moving a lot yeah okay no damn so all your famili port or not Portland um in Oregon area some um yeah I do have a lot of family in Oregon okay that's that's where you went to high school and stuff or whatever okay cool yeah and then you ended up in Alaska yes that was our first base okay and that's where you started pursuing tattooing yeah so he deployed to Iraq like we found out on our wedding day that he was deploying to Iraq and I know it's such a shitty like wedding present I think we were like on our way to Pizza Hut for like our wedding dinner and then um then got a call and he had to deploy so during his deployment I worked in like this warehouse job um cuz I I wasn't in an apprenticeship or anything yet we just knew

like okay your next deployment I would go pursue and try to find an apprenticeship somewhere but during his first deployment I was kind of like working my way up to that and I was just working this random like warehouse job so it was dur it was like he came back from Iraq within a few months got orders to deploy again and then that that's when I moved back to Oregon since I had family there and I could live with them yeah we weren't up there just by yourself wasn't in Alaska by myself yeah and I did an apprenticeship um in a little town called Newport Oregan I don't know if they did that this back in the day I forgot uh they you do the what do what do you call it you don't have to go to the school back in the day right you still had like a traditional apprenti ship with with an artist so actually in Oregon it was tattoo school but the my mentor didn't treat it like this big school where he was pumping people out there was only probably three of us so it really did feel like more of an apprenticeship because there was only three of us and two out of the three of us they were already tattooing the other two guys that I was there with you had all men too um yeah that's like a what year was this again for because I forgot you 2008 2009 yeah okay so it was like was still pretty fun it it was really I mean it was pretty gritty time for me yeah yeah yeah yeah but I'm really grateful for it because like had that person not allowed me to work under him I wouldn't be here today and I

no matter how like you might have felt about that relationship or whatever or or maybe the skill sets that you were surrounded by what I found is a lot of people tend to just dud you take whatever way we can get in back in the day and make the best of it yeah but then also like I didn't know anything I was just yeah I me did we didn't I was just like you know but I'm just saying like I I didn't have an appreciation and a reverence for the craft you know what I mean I was young and stupid and I was just like oh this is just going to be my job and I didn't have like this intimate tie to tattooing that I think that you develop and you learn over the years yeah you know like you have this like reverence and love and appreciation for the craft of tattooing because what it's pulled out of you and and where it's where it's like taken you to you know what I mean um and the freedom that it's it's given you and so like I didn't have any of that understanding or appreciation for tattooing so there was a lot of like well when am I going to tattoo or like you know I deserve to be doing this right now and you know a lot of that like childish mindset yeah that's I was going to say it's like being a parent or something return on your parent is until like they're in their 30s so exactly so I know a lot of like my maybe bad attitude about my apprenticeship or like it was more internal I definitely didn't like disrespect anyone around me it was more of like an internal attitude um I look back

and I'm like I could have been tougher yeah no I remember those type of moments too yeah yeah yeah definitely it's good though yeah yeah do you have any like kind of fun stories about that oh gosh what like you know there's got to be some positive obviously like experiences out of that one thing that I really appreciated about my apprenticeship was like my mentor was like a clean freak he was OCD about you know preventing of cross-contamination and like really taught me like all of the really important like cleanliness habits and the way that you're supposed to go about tattooing and cleaning and sterilizing and all of that um although back in the day you know that's when we were scrubbing tubes yeah so he had this like tiny ass little closet like it was nasty and there's a little sink in there and you're in full biohazard gear at least had you in there I know but still you're just thinking it's like it was a dark closet you can't see anything in there like designed scrubbing tubes and heaven forbid nobody ever drains the autoclave or the um uh what the is it called why am I brain farting it the little ultrasonic oh the ult my I worked with some people back in the day that were it just never got drained and it just turned into this swampy muddiness and it was like well The Apprentice has to deal with it you know and you're just over there like like trying to keep your mouth shut and like I didn't ever like I dude some of the guys I've SE seen them do some weird like not

even wear gloves and like pull out of ultrasonic and stuff it's so Rish well at least you had that information just you're instilled in you that's good yeah yeah and then I yeah and then I'm just like at my shop like let's Matt aside the floors yeah yeah breathing in all of the goodness like I might have cancer because of how much mde I oh dude that the day that's no good we keep positive yeah keep doing my breathing just cleaning the inside of me yeah my mentor told me I had to start smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee to be a tattooer oh you're like I but neither one I got the coffee part down not the cigarettes yeah what do so what was your like the your first experience of doing a tattoo by yourself like how was that or like was your

Mentor somebody that was standing over you and making you shake while you were doing I was a very like nervous Nelly for sure I was definitely one of those people when when someone's standing over you you're just like shaking but he would be like angrily tell me how good I was yeah yeah that's something I'll never L marry birth he'd be like telling me that I was doing a good job but he'd be like sound all angry about it and I was like well thanks yeah but yeah she said you could you feel like you could have been tougher but you I mean you you made it through it right I did yeah and honestly it was like a really short it was really short apprentiship like yeah totally he worked with me on my timeline because my husband was going to be gone for a certain amount of time oh cool you were all upfront about that and everything absolutely I said you know my husband's gone from this time to this time and when he gets home you know I'm obviously my goal is that I would move back um to Alaska to be with him like as soon as possible you know and he understood that and so we did like plan out the apprenticeship in a specific timeline oh that's great which it's it was more of like a school curriculum yeah um but yeah so he was really good with that but it was like in Oregon you know it's tattoo school so you pay so you know was something that I paid for it wasn't like a mentorship where it was like I'll teach you my ways and then you're committed to working with me and for me that kind

of made do you think that made it a little less person of that connection I think so yeah it was more of a transaction you know and I think that like later in life is when I looked back on it more of like that really could have been more of a mentorship or like it's I think it's more important to do more of a mentorship because I don't know I guess I just have like a really different like a greater reverence for tattooing now than I ever did in my younger years so I'm just like a lot more sentimental about that stuff and I realized my apprenticeship just wasn't really that way but that's okay you know yeah yeah I still really appreciate where I came from and like where I grow up in Better Homes than others but some of us they grow up in a really good home end up being and some of us they grow up in a really terrible home endend up being some of the greatest people you ever met yeah so yeah absolutely that's good yeah what kind of like did you have a direction of when like as far as styles that you were kind of really into when you were like starting out were you're just like this is what I want to do right off the B no not at all you know because back then it was like you know we had had like nothing to reference right it was kind of like at least for me like it was whatever was in my own head but like so I didn't come up in that like tat like edgy punk rock world right so like I didn't really know like where to pull any inspiration from I guess other than my own artwork and

maybe that's normal I I mean that's probably really super normal I don't really know for sure um but yeah I I really like liked designing stuff that was my own artwork which was really weird and abstract and like awkward and I didn't know how to design for tattoos but that's kind of where I started and that was all I knew so like I just kind of leaned that direction in my artwork which that's great worked out well for you it wasn't good I guess you're I guess if your Mentor wasn't helping you translate your ideas and Direction then and it didn't sound like he did really yeah I mean or maybe thinking like I just I I don't really know how to explain it I guess he just was okay with me just drawing what I wanted to draw that's cool and um I remember certain things like there one funny thing that always I'll never forget and maybe other people did this too but like he set up a pencil like um with an actual tattoo machine right so I had to do all of my drawings with the weight on there and I remember my thumb was numb for like four months sh yeah dude I thought I was like permanently done for cuz it was so heavy and I was like skiest little you know yeah no grip or anything yeah I just can't even imagine doing that now dude yeah I tried to go back to coils like not too long ago and I got halfway through the tattoo I was like no no yeah I was literally thinking about that the other day I was like I kind of like interested in like pulling out some of my old coils and just being

like yeah I'm cool and they're beautiful I'm going keep them on display have nothing but the most like um I respect so much the craftsmanship of building a beautiful coil machine but once I jumped into the rotary and then to the pen style machine I was like it's like you're you're guys blasting through these tattoo sessions you're doing like seven hours and then you're just like your clients chill they're like taking a nap and you're like yeah I'm just going to like have a little snack and then I'll get back to it I mean it it's mind-blowing like I don't know how for so many years I ever did it differently yeah well it's these days I've see some of my old school tattoo friends that literally used coils for 20 plus years they're like yeah no

once I tried that stupid pen machine I'm I'm not doing it anymore damn okay you made the move that's pretty crazy that's how I felt about when my me well not my mentor but like my business partner he's I feel like he's my mentor chance cuz he's older than me and he's well seasoned but like when he finally switched to a pen I was like dang I'm legitimate now because he a we can all do this together yeah well I want to talk about chance but before we get into that like um let's kind of like pop back into like where you you started tattooing so what did you do like after you got signed off for your apprenticeship and you're like so you're just set free you don't like or did did you try to work at that shop or was that a thing or no like so much happened oh my gosh so every this is why I like to get into people's stories because we all really have these most super unique stories I know I know it's really fun and I wouldn't like I wouldn't trade any of it right so I got my tattoo license moved to Alaska cuz my husband came back transaction was complete transaction was complete H's home let's go back to Alaska we had base housing with and so I was like I'm going to set up my tattoo shop in the basement that's what I was going to say like you got to built-in clientele yes yeah so so which was totally illegal you can't do that on base like there's it's not okay so anyway I had like but we had a huge a huge basement it was amazing yeah and so I had like half our basement was set up

as like a little tattoo shop and you know obviously like I had very clean practices right so I'm like treating it like it's a you know super clean my professional environment I had all disposable everything like you know I it was super legitimate so no one had to worry about like anything when they were there but still it was basement tattooing my table was like a fold out like kitchen picnic table I did my husband's tattoo like he was laying on he's only been tattooed by me once okay and he was laying on a plastic fold out kitchen table and it's a big tattoo on his ribs and it was like it was it was a Google image Samurai we were like straight up looking online he's like I want a Samurai and so we're just looking at the B the coolest Samurai and then come to find out years later we meet someone who has the exact same tattoo anyway so was pretty like messed up but anyway okay yeah so basement Tattooing in Alaska and then someone told on me right so like I had to get out of there yeah yeah do you remember that guy babe I forgot his name um so yeah so ended up like trying to get a shop or trying to work at a shop in Alaska in Fairbanks cuz I was just outside of Fairbanks Alaska um and I was rejected the guy was like you have to redo an entire apprenticeship with me if you want to work here he wasn't going to let me like come in even though I was licensed he didn't he was he didn't like my tattoo work you know um and so he I think that as a business owner he wanted to um

like retrain me or whatever and so but he was kind of a dick about it but I mean who wasn't at that point in time so it was like whatever some good friends of ours um really really dear friends of ours had a house they lived off BAS and they had a spare room oh okay set up shop again sounds pretty punk rock to me you say didn't come around that right right yeah so um so I ended up setting up shop in there and it was like it was really really cool like situation I really will forever I will forever be grateful I oh that's cool I got so much business like I started making money for myself and my family and like that just helped us like in every like after we moved from Alaska to North Dakota um you know we had started building up a savings and stuff yet I I started tattooing on base again okay so we went from Al sorry just like all over the place here we were we finished our time in Alaska we got stationed in North Dakota and we got a house well first we lived in an apartment and it was small as but it was two bedrooms and so one of the bedrooms we set up as a tattoo shop and so our apartment on Town and then we finally got a house on base so I set up a tattoo shop on base and then I think someone found out about that again and I got told on again and so all this really look illegal in the beginning of my career am I am I supposed to be sharing any of this it's even better yeah I've tattoed out of my house I've definitely G through that yeah so anyway I did end up opening my

very first private studio in North Dakota my not North Dakota okay so you guys got transferred out there right North Dakota yeah and so I opened a little private Studio there right prior to that I did try work in a tattoo shop in that town for about a week and I had to Jet out because it was toxic as really nasty like just like answering the phone with a dirty glove like every day that I showed up to work I grabbed the mat aside and the wipes and I wiped down the entire freaking shop and I was like I can't do this like I have I had a daughter you know she's brand new baby my husband myself like I can't can't be living in working in this environment like you know that's dangerous so I I did I found I found a an open space that I could rent and I had a little private Studio yeah well you brought up you had a new baby too so I kind of want to hear about that cuz that's like I don't I had my kids later on in life and I was in a fortunate position where I already had a shop and I was able to like manipulate my schedule a little better to allow them into my life and um yeah let's go over that like what's it like being a first of all how like were you tattooing all while you're were pregnant like I was yeah like did you work like all the way up too and I was I got pregnant in my first year of tattooing so like I knew nothing and I was going to have to already like rearrange my whole life um because I had this sweet baby coming and um so I was super pregnant I I got pregnant in

Alaska and um she was born in Alaska and I was tattooing up until like couple days essentially before I gave birth probably my belly was super huge I'm trying to imagine like remember I was doing my belly was so big and I was tattooing this girl on the ribs and my belly was touching her back and the baby kicked and she was like did your baby just kick and I was like yeah she's like that was the coolest thing ever and I'll yeah I would think yeah or she probably won't either I mean not too many people get to like you know you don't let just strangers touch your belly one they're kicking and stuff yeah but I was like I'm sorry it's in the way but it was yeah I was like you're like using your belly as armrest or something it's like built-in tattoo Furniture super soft yeah so that was really cool so when we moved to North Dakota we had a brand new like we moved she was like a month old two months old maybe yeah and we moved to North Dakota so that whole situation was a hot mess I don't it has nothing to do with tattooing but trying to get settled there and get a place to live we were living in and out of like this hotel and like kind of this friend's house that was really terrible and like we had a brand new baby and then it was crazy trying to get settled there yeah um we finally did but um but yeah I was a brand new mom and a brand new tattooer and it you know trying to balance that and try to grow my craft and also like learn how to not people up you know what I mean yeah

tattoo wise yeah and you're were still trying to translate your own illustration style into tattooing which is a challenge and at least all those people are scattered across the country yeah and they're still honestly oh mine still live in the valley or whatever and I'm like oh God that's the worst these people though like they still like message me and like you tattooed me in North Dakota and it's my dream to get tattooed by you again it's still my favorite tattoo and I'm like are you freaking kidding me like that's a beautiful thing about loyalty you know the reason those people I guarantee love those tattoos is because I the experience I gave them it's not the tattoo it's because I like showed them that I cared about them and what I was doing and I was enthusiastic about it because like my design work and tattoo execution was like you know we were I was a beginner so it's like those people are loyal to me I think because of the overall experience dude I always try to teach anybody that's in my shop or anybody around me really like just don't dude don't be a dick man this is like a a pleasant this should be a pleasant experience like yes and like you said they're going to be just as they're going to be more likely to enjoy that tattoo as long as you're sitting there trying your hardest and they know that and feel it they're going to be stoked like nine out of 10 times they're going to Forever going to come back to you I've had people I'd be like I'm nervous to do this you

know and they'd be like you can do it sure yeah you're like pulling own cheerer they're cheerleading you on and you're just like oh we did it and they're like yes that's like my favorite of I I have like yeah very very clear memories of that too and that's what's kind of fun too about you know pushing yourself as an artist is like if you don't push yourself you're never going to have those like memorable experiences and those transcending kind of like I don't know just the the ones that just push you up to the next Next Level it's like super fun that's rad dang you up in North Carol not Dakota and then you came back to Oregon or whatever mean so yeah so it was Alaska North Dakota then we got stationed in Vegas for the first time yeah and that's where I opened another private Studio I was about four years into tattooing at that point and I opened a private studio in Summerland which you can't have a tattoo shop in Summerland yeah yeah yeah so um I had to go through all this bureaucratic crap um I had to get like I I wrote to my city councilman Bob beus at the time I was like Hey dang what's up Bob so Summerland proper like which is a master plan Community um bougie yeah and I'll remember Bob Beers props to him um just for this one situation uh I messaged him I said hey I'm a military spouse I've been paying rent on this space the guy who led me to this space the realtor guy he didn't apparently know anything about tattoo zoing cuz I already signed my lease done all my stuff

like paid all this money and then found out after I'd already started tattooing that I wasn't supposed to be there I was brand new to the area so I didn't know yeah yeah yeah and so I just got a notice from the like someone from the city came and was like you're not supposed to be tattooing here and I was like what and so I wrote Bob and I was like um hey you know P the military spouse card right and I'm just like hey we don't know I'm not from here like I want a motion for approval so that I can be here I'm tucked away I was inside solo Salon I wasn't like a storefront property but they still had a problem with that and so he messaged me back and was like okay we're going to put in a motion for approval for you so I we just had to like wait four months cuz they only did it like every quarter or something and so um went in I had to wait I was paying rent damn in freaking Summerland at that time it was like 1,300 a month for 100 square fet of space my my thing was only 100 square F feet oh I have no which is the minimum from the health department anyway yeah and uh yeah pretty much went broke trying to keep that place open and then um it got approved so then I just started tattooing right away and I had like people on a wait list at that point cuz I had that was back when Yelp was like actually legitimate and people found me on Yelp my website everything so people were like waiting for me to start working so I did have that going for me which was such a blessing and um yeah

and then I I worked there for like 4 years and then that's how we can like segue into CH chance yeah yeah yeah and you yeah so you cuz was chance your first friend in tattooing yes okay my first yeah so he is your Guiding Light and your Mentor too like you know not that you need it but it damn feels great to have somebody that like especially as kind as chance like tented so you guys met and then came together like how did you guys meet I went to a birthday party and I met his sister that was there there and she had was showing off her fresh tattoo and I was like some really nice nine work I was like I'm kind of new to town I have this tattoo that I really want fixed up she was like oh this is by my brother and I was like would he be okay with tattooing another tattooer and she looked at me like I was crazy like well yeah of course like he's so great and I was like really and so she gave me his info and I messaged him and he was like oh yeah I'd love to and it it was like later probably at least a year or two down the road before I ever got tattooed by him but I did and you know realized you know he's so cool he was at another tattoo shop red-handed at the time and yeah it was awesome he made me feel super comfortable he fixed up um my neck tattoo and uh we just kind of had stayed in touch and then I had him after I had my son later on I started getting a sleeve by him and that's where we got closer because we had a lot more like sessions together and stuff so we just kind

of developed a bit of a friendship there and then kind of fast forward just some drama went down with the shop that he was at and yeah I remember that yeah yeah and they were all locked out y right so he called me just to vent he was like and I remember like when he called me in a vent I was like he called me like I was like honored that he wanted to talk to me about something like that I was like who even am I like I don't I'm not anyone cool or awesome and you knows he knows everyone in town right and he called me at a vet and I was like bro I was like just come work in my studio like I worked during the day and I knew that he worked afternoons so I was like well I only I don't work late into the night you will work later in the day I'm like when I get off just come use my space like for as long as you want whenever you want it's no big deal and he was like are you serious and um it was just I guess he wasn't expecting that so ended up being that like he was using my space his Apprentice at the time was there and then I think we offered it to Ryan also cuz there was like multiple of them obviously could and so I was like yeah whoever and like he was using my machines and stuff till he could get his stuff yeah all of his stuff was locked inside the shop so I just let him use everything and then that's how we like developed our friendship and like even further and I remember at one time like we got like yelled at because our shop just started spilling out into the hallway oh

cuz we had like apprentices so like I remember Dalia like I don't know Dalia and Bri like my Apprentice at the time were like doing paintings like on the floor in the hallway at Solo Salon in freaking Summerland which is like I mean if you Summerland people and they're probably having a hissy fit about it but um but anyway yeah they were like yeah you can't do that so we had to like contain into this 100 square foot space but so then from there I'm assuming you you found that larger space there was already a tattoo shop for years so you kind of lucked out there you got got to go in and where you're at now still to this day clean it up yeah and you just rest dialed it again which it looks fantastic by the way thank you I was told you had a lot of input on that and it looks really nice yeah so we just like you know there was a whole shop of like really good people that didn't have like a place to go that they were all together they were like a tattoo family you know so um chance and I decided that we just wanted to open up a tattoo shop together and he knew going into our um Business Partnership that I might not be there cuz we knew that our orders were coming up and that we likely wouldn't be able to be in Vegas anymore so ended up that we opened up the shop and within 6 months I had to move away and he never wanted to own a shop and there he was alone owning the shop without me like on paper we owned it together but I was gone and he was running that place for like four

years by himself yeah okay cuz that that's kind of what I I remember going in there and saying hi and stuff and then I never saw you but I heard about you like like I was just this weird you had a booth but there was like you were never there I heard you had some funny uh like so when you guys named it it's itive tattoo right yeah we really wanted to call it um friendship tattoo and our logo is going to be like a handshake and no one liked that no one did okay so but it works out great like it's Collective tattoo pror and it's really nice because we are a collective of artists like every single one of us has a different style so that's something that I really love is like when people ask me you know like oh you own a shop like what kind of styles do you do and I'm like everything you know and I tell them what I do what chance does and what all of our artists do and I'm like there's really an artist there for anyone who wants any type of tattoo so I really do like that and yeah so I think Collective is really is is it collected with a K he tell you about that so me and Bri were like with him so bad one day and I remember the client that I had too and we were all just hysterical chance isn't at the shop cuz we were taking turns this was in our small green room I call it the green room cuz I painted the walls green oh so we always call it the Green Room that's the Summerland shop and um we were like okay we have the name but we got to with him about the uh the spelling and we

were just like I don't know we did all these different like we did Collective like with the c or with the K in the middle and in the K oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah oh my gosh yeah it was oh no it was pretty ridiculous and he was like trying to be really really nice about it he was like well of course you know he's like maybe we can just talk about this later and like so and then dude like literally I don't know a few months ago there is a collective tattoo paror with a K that exists there you go shout out to Collective tattoo part yeah I I also talked to chance too he was telling me some kind of crazy story this is like every tattooers I think one of their worst nightmares is the random snapping of your wrist what did that happen like you broke your wrist and had to get surgery or something like it was we're really going to talk about that again I don't know I just heard it was I was like that's wild like that's all of us never obviously want to hurt our nice I have a nice little scar right there and you got surgery in Switzerland in Switzerland it was a emergency surgery in the middle of vacation so we went there with some friends to go snowboarding um the Swiss out snowboarding dude like everybody's broken their I know it was ridiculous so I'm like epic trick planned out is like we spent about a week in Zurich and then we made our way over to zermat which is like freaking like if you looked up Christmas online I mean this it's the most beautiful it's like this tiny village

in like the middle of the Alps right dang it was so amazing and so yeah we went snowboarding there and it was like the first of like three days that we were going to be snowboarding and it was like the third run of the day and I snapped my wrist yeah and so it ended up like you knew exactly what happened no I was convinced that it was sprained so my wrist is like this right and it's like I felt it balloon up it was like this big and I'm just like oh it's just bent like this because it's swollen and then we're going to go back to the um Chalet and we're going to straighten it out I was thinking we'll just wrap it and straighten it back out and it'll be fine out and my husband's like no that's not good so we had to walk down like to the next lift and then start making our way down the mountain cuz it's huge we weren't all the way down we were just like I don't know halfway down or something it's hard hard to kind of remember but like we had to walk and like take these lifts down and then we had to go to a nearby Village like there's no cars in zermat or anything so we had to take like an emergency medical taxi to get to the nearest hospital like a village or two away or something like that called V place called Vis but funny thing was also before that we we went and had like an emergency X-ray done and um and it come to find out it's broken in multiple places whatever but like I was like it's not like I straight told the lady I was like I'm being real stubborn about this I was

in my head like this is like when you're going through shock this is what happens like I was literally in my mind I was like Switzerland is conspiring against me to take my money and they're forcing me to have surgery so they can take my money me a dumb American I'm like they have enough money like they're not needing my dumb American Dollar and so I don't know why but anyway so we go and we have the emergency surgery and um they were they treated me like royalty cuz I was from Vegas like they were like so excited and there was just a line of us in the emergency room all there for the same surgery so oh cuz it's like a key snowbo right so like everyone's bones are broken from zont from snowboarding or or whatever so yeah that was that situation but like it was an In-N-Out surgery so we did the surgery like at midnight and then I slept a little while and when I woke up they had like like multiple fresh bread and like fresh butter like waiting for me and like a little espresso oh my God and it was like I was like this is amazing yeah if you had to get that surgery done anywhere that's the it was going to be there and then we just like then we just took a train back to zerat and then we just finished vacation holy damn yeah I mean were you freaking out though about not being able to tattoo that's like I was really I quit snowboarding because of that when I opened up my shop in like 2003 I was like I'm good I got a good good concussion and yeah couldn't remember my like

address when I was trying to check into my hotel I know I knew like half my name and I was like all right I'm done with this oh my gosh that's super scary that's way scarier than like breaking your wrist but so I stopped and then yeah that's the last time I went snowboarding gosh it's probably really good probably a really good idea yeah and so then instead I'm like skateboarding now yeah and I'm just like well I just got to be real careful with that I was at a kids's birthday party yesterday and they put the kid and my kids were like dude if you just flip it over and you could land on top of it and I started to do it and then I was like what the am I doing this is like a total dad move that I'm just going to eat in front of everybody break

my elbow be real bummed out yeah whatever yeah we don't to do that yeah I was pretty nervous but the doctors honestly the doctors in Switzerland were so amazing like they were like this happens all the time you're going to be perfectly fine and they had really good instruction on you know post care of like you know movements that I needed to do with my wrist I actually wasn't in like a set cast or anything like it was like a removable one cuz I have a metal plate in there okay and um so like I would have to take my cast off throughout the day and like do these special movements and then um when I got home I started painting like immediately and I think that that alone was like the best physical therapy I could have done was like these movements and I actually sold a lot of paintings like that to help with me not working I was really blessed and fortunate that people I was like this is how I have to make money right now like anyone who wants a painting I'm doing commissions and I sold a bunch and it was like really super special good um but I was going to traditional physical therapy I was really on top of that and I know some people are bad about that but I was like I'm working again and I think it I was like out for four weeks and I was back tattooing oh it was insane like I way yeah it was like 4 to 6 weeks and cuz I remember I had a timeline like I remember when I had the surgery and I remember like I canel all these appointments and then I was like this day I'm going

to work I think it was like April 21st or some random days I was like yeah cuz March was had surgery and then I was like okay April 21st be yeah okay yeah and so and I remember who like my first appointments were going to be some really good clients of mine from Utah was the whole their whole family like gets tattooed by me oh cool and they were all coming out for the week and so I knew that like they were going to be really understanding if I wasn't up my full game yeah okay yeah so anyway it ended up being really good and I'm back to normal let's jump back into also your style and like uh cuz I feel like you really did develop this beautiful style that's very unique and I don't know like at what point in time were you kind of like Yep this is what I want to do right I mean you from what I see is a lot of black work dot work very flowy and beautiful I love flow so I'm like very adamant about yeah composition start yeah so was there like a day where you were like I don't know were you just drawing and then this clicked and you this is what you wanted to do and stuck with that right yeah so I knew I really wanted to get into composition is everything right I feel like I did a lot of tattoos I thought were going to be good in my past but compositionally they were just like off you know a little bit and so I I learned over the years that like to have a good tattoo composition is key and it needs to fit each person individually like in a very specific way so I knew that

freehanding was going to be really important as well I was really into doodling and stuff like in school before College like I've never been this really incredible like fine artist I've always been doodling or abstract right so going into kind of like the floral like ornamental stuff was really helpful for me because my brain understood that and I knew that I could build flowers and ornamental designs based upon what the physique of my client is if that makes sense right yeah I've always found that's the best way to do it dra and drawing on exactly so I would um I just kind of started leaning in that direction now I didn't get to start on huge pieces right away you know when you're dabbing into a new style people aren't going to be like yeah I want a leg sleeve so it kind of this transition in my Artistry happened at a really good time so it went right from when I moved to from Vegas to Oregon I was in a financial position that I was like if I didn't work every day that we were going to be okay so I was able to do this financially I was able to say no to a lot of things if I needed to because I wanted to focus on this specific style that's a tough part in anyone's career it is it's really really tough and I was really fortunate to have the financial freedom to be able to be in this space so I I had just moved to clth I had opened up another private Studio this was not in my house really adorable Bayfront downtown clal Oregon it was like in 100-year-old building it was

really really adorable and when emails started coming in you know I just said like hey I'm really uh focused on this type of design so if I would love to do your tattoo but it's really important to me that I put my spin on it and I kind of lean in this direction and it would either be a yes or a no but honestly like clam Falls is a really small town and people were just stoked that someone who cared about what they were doing was their tattooing yeah and a kind approachable human a kind approachable human and and a female yeah because there wasn't any really females there and so pretty much I honestly don't even remember anyone saying like no like I don't even really recollect that so much people were really open to it so slowly but surely with each tattoo I was able to kind of start getting into the style that I am today and you know my Styles evolved a little bit sometimes it's a little more edgy graphic sometimes a little bit more like feminine yeah um and like filigree is and then right now I'm really into just kind of doing some weird stuff like bringing back like my old art and I've been doing a lot of fun sketches and things like that to try to like oh yeah you to show me some more stuff yeah I I feel like I have like I work so long on getting like the foundations of a good tattoo going that now like it's weird once what I was trying to do in my apprenticeship right this funky kind of weird stuff was hard to execute because I didn't have all the foundations right now

that I do it's feel like pull from the old me and like my old art that I used to do like in college like prior to tattooing and I can start putting that into tattoos now in a solid way so that's kind of like this direction that I'm going right now and it's kind of fun fun and fresh and new yeah yeah that's what you always need those those points in time in your life and career but I think that like when you're an artist and you really want to make that shift you need to do it with confidence and patience and patience yeah and and I really think that anyone can do this if I could do it then anyone can do it it's really just a matter of like setting boundaries and then communication and and good communication and like it's so important you know this is a whole thing like I'm literally like writing a seminar on this to be honest I know I'm excited I want to talk about this about establishing trust with your clients because it's so huge if you want to further your career as a tattoo artist you need to trust that your client trusts you because you can not do your best work when you're walking on eggshells around your client or drawing on eggshells around your client you're going to be nervous you're going to be questioning everything that you do when your client has that full trust in you then you can blossom as an artist so this communication via consultation or conversation or whatever needs to happen that has to happen in depth the Stepping Stones to building the the

confidence yes in you your and there's key language key phrases and key ways you can start to build that trust with with your client it is not difficult you just have to put yourself out there and be confident enough in yourself to be able to like get that new person or that new client to be able to trust you yeah yeah oh I want to hear more about the seminars because like I was uh fortunate enough to be a part of your metanoia tattoo Gathering um the first one just passed right super exciting it was amazing you did such a good job with everything I was I was so impressed I really was like I I sat there and I was just felt like I was like a sponge I was just like it I was really inspired everybody there had such a great positive attitude too and I mean it was a room full of just like glowing everybody was so cool it was so cool and you did such a fantastic job you hold yourself so well you got up there the seminars were really cool they were very informative Laura did such a good job Lauren Lauren Gregory okay I said yeah I said Laura hers was so great I missed yours unfortunately so I'm looking forward to hopefully catching it next year if I can I think we're going to um that I feel like my seminar the point of my seminar was to kind of set the tone for what metanoia tattoo Gathering is and it's about you know appreciating where you are as an individual and not like looking to to anyone else and what they're doing like you are on your own path and you are on your own

journey and you can't be comparing yourselves because you don't know what this person is what their life is like outside of tattooing and how it differs from yours yours so uh mine was uh establishing balance the key to a sustainable tattoo career and it was a lot like centered around you know making sure that you unhurry your life yeah and uh like being okay with rest basically all that to say um I will be kind of revising the seminar that I did or at least this is my plan I'm still like yeah in this transition of planning for everything you learned from the first one and yes yes and and so I want I want people to people who attended last year to still be able to resonate with everything that we do for 2025 but I kind of want to like revise and revamp and rework the seminar that I did so that new people coming in can also have the opportunity to hear it because it really sets the tone for metanoia metanoia is transformation transformation of mind and heart is really like what metanoia means and that's what I want people coming in to understand is like you don't have to stay where you're at in your mindset where you feel like you're constantly comparing constantly competing you're you're striving you're working you're grinding to get to the next level and like showcase what you can do like that that's we have this one freaking life that we get to live and we need to appreciate all of the Beautiful Moments in between point a and point B you know yeah one thing that I've

just noticed so much for myself too that I had to like unlearn and undo about my life was like you know with being in the military a lot have to do with it was about like okay open the shop but in two years I got to open another one so I can't enjoy what I'm doing right here so I'm like reaching for the next thing and what's the plan and how is this and then it's hard to like really truly value what you're living in right now and that's what I really want to Champion people in is to have high regard and high value for where they're at In This Moment regardless of if they're at where they want to be in the future like when you have this peace and love and appreciation for your life where it is right now it makes that process so much more beautiful to get to where you need to go because you're enjoying everything about getting there you know what I mean and metanoia I think it it is just bringing together a community of women and my biggest heart mothers in tattooing to just like lean on each other and just be there for one another share their story so you feel less alone and just show each other love and support yeah help each other navigate through it all yeah you know inside and outside the tattoo shop exactly like it and it was seriously like the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced there's nothing like this in tattooing no I know that's why that's why I love it and I I mean I we connected before this even came about you know and I I felt like that was just a

person that I wanted to like learn from too you know and I I really enjoy surrounding myself with people that uh inspire me and you fall in that category so thank you it was cool to see your project come together not not only come together like just I mean even every aspect of it coming together like The Branding and everything the presentation is like you know that's where I guess you're advertising kind of maybe like passions from in the past all come together yeah and uh I'm a sucker for that so I love it all I think you did a fantastic job it was really cool so I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this and where it grows and goes and I think it'll be really rad and I like I don't know one thing I noticed is I was so inedibly impressed with how people came from all over the country you know this was this the world I had a Canadian and I had a beautiful girl from Finland fin yeah yeah I spoke with her like what the heck that's flattering I remember like the payment coming through and I was like holy like what's happening but east coast California Arizona like the only people that were from Vegas were like my friend yeah and then so cool crazy yeah and I mean dude just like it just spread like with metanoia it's so much more than like I'm not for I'm not trying to like push this out there into the world like I'm a big believer and like this metanoia is going to reach the people that need it yeah you know cuz not everyone's going to be on board with something like

this it's a lot of love it's laugh we cry we eat together we're sharing stories this is not like some hardcore yeah like tattoo convention situation you know this is like coming together of it it's a it's a support system metanoia is different than even what I thought it was going to be like it's so much more of me just facilitating a a community of women to come together and like uh support one another and like I could probably like dip out and it could still Thrive you know what I mean do I want to dip out totally no way but like I mean if they're as passionate as they are about it like I think they could keep it going if they wanted to you know like it's not I don't know just it was a GL it was a I don't know I feel like as artists we're

real sensitive to the energy that's around us and I've always very much so try to gravitate towards positive healthy energy yeah and um which I don't know I kind of go so many different directions but when I was in there I felt it like I remember it was remember I got up in front of everybody and I was kind of nervous like talking in front of everybody and then I had that little incident with my wife in a car accident I was super worried but I found myself just like wanting to hug everybody I like teared up in front of watch it it was cool it was great it was cool it was beautiful and like to me that just said so much about the energy in the space that like everyone was welcome to like be their full authentic self in that environment because no one was worried about what anyone was going to think yeah and like that I think that's why a lot of us could break down and cry is like we've all like held so much of this like hurt and pain and insecurity in our souls for so long and then we finally were in the space to like welcome just letting that out like there were so many like Divine things that happened while we were there like connections with with women that happened that were like it's very personal so I'm not going to share other people's story but there was things that happened that I was like are you kidding me like they just met just now and like it was just really intense and like I was so appreciative of like the positive feedback that I got from everybody like

people noticed all of the very small details of the event that I was really OCD about but for good reason like I was really obsessed with the food that was going to be there I was like this needs to be that by the way yeah it was good F was like over there eating double seconds I'm like where's it going it was so good but like I wanted these women to feel like almost a retreat like experience and that they were being pampered and really well taken care of and like food is a huge part of community so that was a really big deal to me was to have like really good Gourmet like healthy nutritious foods and um lots of snacks and things like that too to make sure that everyone you know was taken care of while they were there and like the detail of

like the order of the seminars was very strategic and curating an album essentially yeah the the whole curation of the entire event like I was very strategic and like I spent an entire year like I was hardly tattooing like I was like tattooing like once a week because I was just so focused on this and um you know it was a was like a big sacrifice for our family to do it but it was worth it because like when it came down to the event like people noticed that stuff and not that I was like looking for a specific recognition in that but like there was a reason for my madness you know what I mean yeah I just feels good like you you put those endless sleepless nights and stuff into things and if someone just brings one person has just has to be like the coffee mugs are beautiful you're like oh my God my sister made these and I we chose the dyes and all you know like I know you put a lot of work into and it showed it was cool yeah it was just really important that everyone knew all of the care and concern that went into it because they're the reasons that I did this they their lives were the reason that it was so important that everything was just as it was supposed to be but then at the same time not to keep dragging it out I knew there was going to be this overall Grace for anything that could go arry yeah because I knew the women coming to the event were going to know and understand every all the effort that was put into it that if something did go wrong yeah it's I'm constantly

trying to learn how to teach myself that too like don't be so freaking hard on yourself man like you you you can only try and to execute Perfection so much and Perfection always isn't what you really want you know because you'll have these Fun accidents in the event or whatever that end up teaching you something like oh I can apply this for next year's EV yeah um there was so many great questions everybody was asking was I was just really impressed I was back there taking notes on my phone it was cool so I'm looking forward to like I said seeing where you take it like what you well we're doing three days in 2025 that was like the only like change like feedback change really like that I received was like we need more time yeah you know and uh so quick so yeah so we're going to do three days for 2025 and I'm really excited about that sweet yeah awesome yeah well what else is going on in your life you have a lot going on so running a shop with chance you've got a great team over there everybody's super talented and I've been personally tattooed in there multiple times I know I know yeah and then like what else you got going on you're obviously a mama I am a mom you have one or two kids two two okay two my son is his name is Kaa and he's nine and my daughter is 13 okay her name is Ka okay yeah so I have a teenager damn mine just turned three this weekend and she seems like teenager already right yeah yeah it's crazy to have a teenager cuz when you're a mom you're still just

always going to think that your child is 3 years old yeah like when I go to work I'm thinking of my kids as three-year-olds and then I come home and I'm like yeah like why are you a teenager and a 9-year-old it's so crazy it is it's it's a trip it is a trip and it's like it goes so fast and like not to like reiterate but a a huge reason I have heart for moms is like you know as a woman in the industry trying to make a name for yourself but then you have this calling to be a mom as well you're trying to navigate and balance like growing your craft as a tattoo an artist but then you're like I want to invest all I can into my children because that I won't get back you know and so I'm a big advocate of like just chill yeah like do your tattoos do your thing of course like make progress but Focus your energy on your kids when they're little because that time is so fleeting and don't let anyone tell you that that's not okay you know what I mean that's why that's where the comparison kills comes in where you like you can't compare yourself to the people around you when you have kids like your energy is on them and like enjoying them like truly enjoying the fact that you have these little humans that you brought into the world and um yeah so so that's what I've constantly had to tell myself too you know like my kids are getting a little older now so I'm starting to have more freedom which is it's been really fun like going to more concerts with my husband more impromptu date nights

and like little trips and stuff like that and it's it's been really special and awesome I feel like I'm getting to be a kid again but I also like don't have a lot of regrets cuz I remember I like really invested as much as I could into my kids when they were little and I'm obviously still investing into them but it's like a different kind of investment now I always like to hear it uh any type of little tidbits or advice or knowledge that you could um offer to young women getting into tattooing and or obviously experience I mean sounds like we we' we've given already a lot of like great knowledge oh gosh I don't know I I don't know like young you know young tattooers right now is such a different world so I don't know I I think like you said

kind of I don't know you have anything to go about like yeah you know I mean I think there's so much and and anything that I would say as like wisdom or advice comes from my own experience right and you know I've been tattooing since 2009 I've gone through a lot of like ups and downs and that and like I've had times where I'm like crying in bed at night like before I go to sleep like that was such a terrible tattoo I that person up so bad I'm like so embarrassed but then you like you keep going and you learn from that and like and that would be any advice I would give is just to keep going but like with that just stay freaking humble like don't be a jerk don't be an ass like don't care about social media in the way that people are or the way that social media is telling you to care about it you know like I think that has done a lot of damage to people and their um feelings about who they are and and their Artistry is through comparison of themselves toward other people on social media so I think that that is like a really huge thing that you should just completely omit from your life yeah um and whatever you need to do to do that do it so that would be a huge thing that I would say and that's from my own experience I got caught up in trying to like be like okay well I guess I need to do this now viral or do whatever I have to do oh it's for all in the name of my business you know and then at the same time sacrificing my mental health because of it it was so bad that I like

cancelled my Instagram that I've had for whatever 10 years and I have a new one yeah I have I went from you know whatever 20 something thousand followers and now I'm like you know a thousand or whatever just cuz people like came over but I'm like that makes me so happy because these people actually like I've connected with them or tattooed them or whatever and it's like I just symbolically wanted to leave my past situation behind and it wasn't always like that there was just a weird period that like anyway I'm not saying like other people need to do that that was just a personal thing that I wanted to do but I like that you weren't afraid to do it I wasn't afraid to do everybody's afraid to let go I mean I have like a hoarder mentality on a

lot of things try to go through my Instagram and like should I delete this should I not you know I'm like what the does it matter I don't even post on there yeah it it just doesn't matter because that's not your that's not your life that's not where your value is you know and so I think that you should just get rid of that I think like my word of advice right now is like you know with that and with with the anger that I've had toward um social media is like I'm just going back old school like I you know I went I was like so crazy busy because of social media for so long that I let my website expire I wasn't like doing any of this stuff like I refused to hand out business cards or any promotion cuz I was so busy now you know with Everything's changed I'm like I'm so glad it's changed because I'm like building a fresh website for for people to actually connect with me and and get to know the real me on there and like share my story and and share photos of my family and I'm making business cards and flyers leave at the C shop straight up like I'm going to make like pack we like to eat out a lot and go to concerts and stuff I'm making little packets and I'm take little packets with me everywhere I go and I'm going to leave that everywhere I go and I'm really excited about like like taking it back old school like what it once was um and and so I would say you know have a little more old school mentality keep it local kind of you know approach to things keep it local

because you know you still have to do that like you have to people aren't going to always know you from around the world like that's and your tattoo needs to look good in real life not just on Instagram yes exactly it needs to look good in real life at the coffee shop when they're sharing who did your tattoo type stuff if it's not standing out it ain't going to it no one's going to talk about it exactly and like my word of mouth people are like my favorite ones they're like oh I heard about you through this person that I met at some random place like I have a client right now like she's a older like retired lady and she met one of my super young clients like at a bar and she was like who did your tattoo I need that and so I have like new client who I'm she has a sleeve but I'm reworking the entire thing and I'm like that was an in-person connection that she made and that I'm like I love that and it's super exciting and I'm really getting into wanting to dive into tattoo history more I think that's kind of where a lot of my I want to like have a lot more knowledge about tattooing where it came from um the different styles why they exist like I want to really focus on that and so I would really recommend that other people get into that too and these are things that I feel like chance has held in really high regard and I have really wanted to like kind of get on that level as well I'm guilty of notd like especially in my younger years of tattooing just being like I that's cool

man but like I just want to like do my graffiti and draw or whatever I you know just get you on certain styles of tattooing and now I'm like oh tribal let's do a tribal tattoo you know what I mean now I'm like it's all nostalgic now nostalgic and you see that there is this art form to each and every genre and there's people that just crush it and you know yeah it's cool yeah I think just overall just appreciation for wherever you are not wherever you are at now having a humble heart and those like appreciation and humility I think those are the key elements that are going to like be the driving force of a successful tattoo career because those key elements are going to like translate in every aspect of your life like whether totally I think

they only attract people like you don't need to tell anybody that you're anything they should know just by seeing your actions and whatever you're creating or everything so I agree that's fun totally agree well I just want to say thank you so much for coming this was really fun I knew this would flow good CU you and I have always like had great conversations um we hope to have some like bigger maybe like round taes in the future so I would love to have you back and specifically talk about tattoo history or whatever else we want to talk about learning chance gave me a big book and I'm reading through it okay cool yeah I have some fun projects I'm working on on the back end specific to tattoo history so that's awesome but uh let's see how does everybody reach you nowadays I mean oh okay um email is great I'm in process of working on my website so it's not quite live yet but it might be by the time this comes out yep if you want to reach me um on Instagram it's m to theb tattoos and um my email is Mary bethcar tatos gmail.com see importance of mailing list too yeah yeah that's I'm definitely going to have that integrated on my website is like mailing list so that way like I don't have to worry about Instagram to get yeah stuff out there to the world like it goes straight to the people who actually care about it because they signed up for the mailing list yep um but yeah just email and and Instagram and I have your Collective tattoo Collective tattoo is is our shop so feel

free to stop by anytime yeah here in Las Vegas Nevada and we've got the metanoia tattoo Gathering coming up in 2025 yes yep yep late February uh 2025 um the website please go to it fill out the form um the like the contact form if you want any information on it whatsoever and we will get back to you it's going to be a blast and then like our Instagram is you know we have tons of videos and um explanations of like what what we've done what it actually is but the website is is a more Clear Vision you know and we have we have have some like videos on there as well that like can really explain you know what what we've got going and fantastic videos too yeah well thank you very much I greatly appreciate it thanks so much man means a lot to me that you took the time out of your day to be here so it's it's I'm so grateful that this was my first podcast in the whole yeah I haven't I haven't done one myself like gone on someone else's but that's I got invited the other day to be on a couple so I was like that's exciting so conat but uh cool well thank you so much and have a good one guys tune in and don't forget to check out everything Mary Beth is doing it's amazing have a good day