Owner/Artist

I started Chaos Tattoos in 2019 after completing a business course with Anderson Career and Training Institute. Without ACTI and all my experiences,  I wouldn't have had the tools and knowledge needed to pursue this career path. There are many things about this business that I love, it has given me new challenges and has allowed me to grow my passion for art and learning. 

Along side this business, I am a single parent who is actively involved in my sons life. We do many activities together and I do my best to teach him outside of school. We also have a dog that we both take care of. 

I first started tattooing working in another Edmonton shop about 12 years ago. I was there for a short while, but always loved the idea of becoming a tattoo artist. But at the time it was just not in the cards. I worked for many different companies over the years, learning different skills and figuring out what it was that I truly wanted to do. I worked in restaurants, retail, construction and finally ending at a welding shop. I did various types of jobs, from cleaning to quality control, to inspection. 

In 2016 my son was born and from then I decided that I was done working for another company. I always knew I wanted to do my own thing, work for my self. But this was the push I needed to go that direction. I wanted to spend as much time with my son as I could in the early years and really build a bond that I never really had with my own family. I wanted to be present when he needed me the most and let him know that he can always count on me. 

It took a couple of years of banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. I once again tried different avenues for income and realized that I just didn't like any thing that I was trying. However, I learned a lot about running a business from some of those endeavors that eventually lead me to ACTI, which ended up being the missing piece that I needed to succeed. I was on the edge of just going back to a regular job when I was able to get into there program and once again tattooing was on my mind. It was a toss up between tattooing and graphic design as I  had a previous college diploma from Guru Digital Arts College in digital media. What helped make my decision was the amount of people that still asked me on a regular basis when was I going to start tattooing again. No one ever asked me to do graphic design, but I was always asked about tattoos. So ultimately I decided tattooing was going to be the best because it was something people actually wanted and enjoyed from me. 

And thus, Chaos Tattoos was born. 

I chose the name Chaos Tattoos in hopes of encompassing all the chaos that comes with life. Sometimes things get chaotic, but in that chaos there can be fun, adventure and learning. 

Thank you for reading my story.

-Kaitlyn