I started tattooing back in 2000 after the whole Y2K thing. Literally.  Two days after.  I bought some tattoo equipment from a pawn shop, and as soon as I got back to my house, I began making a lot of my friends really ugly.

I've been interested in tattooing for as long as I can remember.  Growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia I recall sneaking across Jefferson Davis Highway (US 1) to go skate the Woodbridge Ditch (R.I.P.)  I remember these older dudes ripping who had tattoos all over their arms and legs, and I thought to myself... If you want to be a good skateboarder, you'll have to get some tattoos.

I started drawing my ass off to a point that it's all I was doing in school and at home.  I started taking art classes and stared getting tattooed.

I went to get my stomach tattooed by my friend and Fredericksburg legend, Gary Clark.  I watch his every move and just tried to copy what he did.

That didn't work.

However, I did land an apprenticeship, and work at two shops in Virginia for almost a year.  In between working in a kitchen and tattooing part time, I was ready for something new and different.  So I left Virginia and Moved to Florida.

When I arrived in Florida, I started working in kitchens again, hanging out doing the bar thing and met an amazing women named Samantha (who in a whole other story becomes my wife and mother of our two boys) who helped me get my head straight and got me focused on our future.