About Ink is Therapy
I was born in Nanaimo, BC and grew up there until moving to Vancouver in grade 7. Growing up, I was always drawn to anything creative - acting, modelling, drawing, painting, fashion - anything that let me express myself.
But underneath all of that, I was also carrying a lot I didn’t know how to talk about.
When I was a kid, I experienced childhood sexual abuse, and for a long time after, I struggled to feel connected to my body or even safe inside it. I didn’t have language for that at the time, but I knew something felt “off.” When I got my first tattoo at 15, something clicked. It felt like I was taking back ownership of my body. That moment was small, but it was powerful - and without me fully knowing it at the time, it changed the direction of my life.
In high school, I dove into anything that blended movement, healing, and self-awareness. I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training, and then additional trainings in Yin and Trauma-Informed yoga. I also took a personal training and group fitness course and taught throughout high school and a little after. I loved helping people feel strong and confident, but something was still missing. Teaching movement was fulfilling, but it wasn’t fully “me.”
Tattooing found me in a very full-circle way. It combined everything I loved - art, creativity, connection, storytelling - with something even more meaningful: the ability to help people reclaim their bodies and mark their own healing in the ways I once needed myself. The more tattoos I created, the more I realized how many people were carrying their own stories, memories, grief, transformation, and resilience into the chair with them.
Ink Is Therapy grew out of that realization. It’s not just a name - it’s the truth of how I got here.
Today, my work is grounded in trauma-informed care, compassion, and the belief that everyone deserves to feel at home in their body. Whether I’m tattooing, creating content, running community events, or writing honestly on my blog, my goal remains the same: to make people feel safe, seen, empowered, and connected to themselves.
I’m still learning, still growing, and still figuring it out - but that’s the whole point. And I’m grateful every day that the thing that helped me heal has become the thing I now get to share with others.