“Girl, why are you rebranding?”

Why Good Ink? Why a rebrand? Why use all this time and energy to do something “different” when Emily Mercer Beauty and everything I had been doing was still “working?” 

It came down to being in alignment and the natural process of outgrowing something. When my business started in the winter of 2014, I was solely a professional makeup artist. In the first years of business, I was throwing all the spaghetti at the wall and seeing (and praying) that something would stick. This was the truth of my business “strategy.” I was freelancing for places like Nike, Columbia and Adidas in the e-commerce industry. I was booking myself out for each year's wedding season which, over time, kept consuming more months of each calendar year. To throw into the mix, I was also taking indie gigs where I had complete control of the look and feel of a specific character. 

And back to the idea of “outgrowing something”…I am just not that woman/that artist/that business owner anymore. There was so much that I absolutely loved about being a makeup artist, but also, there were many pieces that felt so, so bad. As I like to joke with my close friends, I am a Venn diagram that consists of one huge circle being my “super fabulous super self care skincare makeup beauty girly pop” and then my other huge circle of “MAJOR HIPPIE.” 

Any time where I felt that my clients had the impression that they “needed” makeup. Gross. That my clients should be concerned with the natural shadows, wrinkles, and discoloration of their faces. Absolutely not. If I heard the disdain from clients feeling let down and unattractive form another “trend” that they did not see themselves reflected in. Oof, I really hated that. 

This is where the latter part of my Venn diagram would begin to lose her mind. My spirit would be so upset if any of my clients felt that they needed to perform and “mask” in order to achieve a standard of beauty, desirability, femininity, etc etc. 

Where am I going with this? Right, ok. Again, this is about alignment. What was aligned? Creating. Using my hands. Helping people feel good. This was in total alignment. What was out of alignment? Selling makeup by preying on perceived “flaws.” Trends. Outdated beauty rules. The makeup industry in most ways.

So as much as I love some Emily Mercer Beauty, I had to let her go. I had to let go, open up space, and let something else come in. 

So in deciding on a name, I wanted something completely simple and straightforward. No confusion. You know exactly what I do and why I do it. Preferably using as few words as possible. And, at the same time, something that speaks to the deeper layers…or,  the healing nature of my work.

So, one day, I was eating granola and I had out my notebook that had a running list of potential business names. And there on the granola package, it listed something like “good for you ingredients.” My first thought? “Those ‘O’s’ in ‘good’ are so cute.” I KNOW. Ridiculous. But then I started to think about the word “good” more and more. So simple. Clear. Straightforward. And I realized that the word “good” makes perfect sense for what I do and what I offer. 

I tattoo for the “good” of my clients. I tattoo to help my clients feel “good” in their skin. I tattoo in such a way that is meant to be therapeutic, rehabilitating, and self affirming. This is how Good Ink was born, out of this very simple, yet powerful ideology. (And granola). 

This is the place for hyperrealistic tattooing. My shop is where you’ll find tattooed eyebrows that completely blend in with all of your facial features. My tattooing style is the type which “completes” any surgical transitions that one has undergone. This is the place for those that want undetectable work that makes their day to day just a little bit easier. My tattooing is meant for those that want to move onward and upward as who they are, now. 

This is Good Ink.