I duped my mother into letting me get tattooed at age 17 for a school project. I got a B+ on a research paper about tattooing. At 19 I started getting tattooed in Philadelphia at punk squat houses and South Street shops. Through some mutual friends , I got a part time job working for Howard “The Cosmic Commander” Saunders at Kadillac Tattoo in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia.I did my first tattoo in September of 2001, and after a proper apprenticeship, tattooed full time around May of 2004. During my time in Philadelphia, and since my mentor had been getting tattooed in the Bay Area in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I got to meet and get tattooed by some great legends in tattooing in America. I have traveled to Australia several times over the past five years to work for the living Aussie legend Tony Cohen at his Illustrated Man Tattoo Studio in Sydney.  I’ve also had the pleasure and great honor to tattoo at Jeff Kohl’s Studio XIII in Edinburgh, Scotland..and a very life-changing two weeks at Theo Jak’s Infamous Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. When the chance to come and join the family at Electric Ladyland presented itself in June of 2011, and knowing the caliber of tattooing and legacy of working under the establishment Annette had built in New Orleans, I moved to New Orleans without much hesitation. I’ve been blessed to have had the chance to work for , learn from, and get tattooed by some of the best and most solid people working in this field. Tattooing is not merely a job, or an occupation.. it’s a lifestyle choice and a major part of the lives of those who choose to embrace it.