I grew up in Rochester, NY, where I attended Catholic schools for 13 years, just enough time to confuse anyone. Even worse, my high school was all girls. Wouldn't the nuns die if they knew one of their girls owned a tattoo studio! Needless to say, at the age of 17, I was ready for some action, so I headed to New York City. I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, where miracles do happen, because I received my bachelor's degree in Marketing and Communications. I don't know how I did it between working and partying. I thought I was going to hit it big in video production. Doesn't life take mysterious twists and turns?

  The best thing that happened my last year in New York is that I met my husband Greg. My downfall was when I quit a job before I had another one. Not a good idea when you have no money. I ended up working temp jobs for almost a year, living barely from paycheck to paycheck. When I moved to Key West with Greg, I was so ready to get out of the city. That was almost 18 years ago. Time flies when you live in Paradise.

  The progression into tattooing for me happened ten years ago. We had owned our business for over two years, but most of that time I held another full time job managing retail gift shops for a large company. I worked for them for seven years, and then they fired me!!! Can you believe it? On my thirtieth birthday of all days. It really sucked at the time, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.

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