Fàsaidh is a tattoo studio designed to be a welcoming and inclusive environment, run by women, aiming to be a progressive force in the Highland tattoo culture and art community. We feel it's a bit of a social hub. I designed it to feel like you're walking into a comfortable and stylish expression of ourselves.
When I was little my mum really encouraged me to be creative. I was diagnosed autistic pretty young and found connecting with people and expressing myself quite difficult. Drawing became a great way to do this and I fell in love with tattooing pretty early on because of my auntie taking me to her tattoo appointments.
I saw it was a way to continue making people happy with my art in such a personal way while also making a living, especially when pursuing art is so often discouraged as a career prospect. Inverness is a fast growing city that has embraced its place in a modern Scotland – it's a city that invites guests from around the world as a gateway for those who wish to explore the beauty and charm the Highlands has to offer, so there is no shortage of new faces coming by the studio. There are unique businesses and a vibrant culture of residents – new and old – it is a great community to be a part of as a business owner.
Opening the studio for sure. I was down in the central belt for around 10 years where I worked in different studios evolving as an artist but missed my home. It was a lot of work as well as a lot of risk.
Things didn't all go to plan as a lot of difficult curveballs both with the build itself and in my personal life were coming at me thick and fast so I think the greatest achievement was discovering the wealth of support and love I had from people in my life, recent and long standing, who got me through it as well as creating a space that brought many of them together and for some even a career. I don't think I'll ever top that. My mum, she has run her own childminding business since I was around eight years old despite not having the easiest launch pad to start from.
She's gone from strength to strength, gaining achievements and awards, overcoming her own challenges while creating a really unique and successful business in the Crown area. Be adaptable; plans change, things will happen unexpectedly both good and bad. Plan for anything but expect to be outmanoeuvred sometimes, it's how you recover and redefine these situations that will forge you into someone who can roll with the punches.
A friend once said to me; ‘fail fast first!’ When you make mistakes early on then you learn early on, so don't be afraid to try. Trying to define myself feels like trying to bite my own teeth, I'm much more for letting my actions speak for themselves so I encourage people to pay a visit, check out the studio and experience my team and the space for themselves..
.but I will say we're all into the local house music events that we support and we are all dog lovers; so feel free to bring yours to say hello..
