Shawna Holder @ Angel Ink Tattoo

Jason (00:00)
Hey, Jam here at Peaceful Media. Welcome to this episode of Marketing for What Matters today. I’m at Angel Ink Tattoo, which is a tattoo parlor in the front and a tattoo artist school in the back. And I realized that there might be the question, hey, you know, why marketing for what matters? What does this have to do with tattoos and tattoo artistry and tattoo schools? It’s my firm belief that until people heal their hearts,

There’s really no chance that we’re going to heal the planet. And if our job here at Marketing for What Matters and Peaceful Media is to uplift humanity and heal the planet, it does take the combination of the two things. I believe that as whole people, we can go out and work on the planet, work to help other people be seen, work to spread our love until we get that part right, until we heal what’s burning that needs to be communicated from our hearts.

then it’s going to be challenging for us to do that work out in the world. So let’s see how the simple process of receiving a piece of ink, ink spill upon your body can help people become whole and show up to the world in a much brighter and more loving way. Let’s watch what happens today. Hi, I’m Jason.

Chris (01:24)
Fran. I’m Carly. This is Bo Peter. And I’m Nicole. And this is Marketing for What Matters, where we explore how marketing paired with a regenerative mindset can uplift humanity, heal the planet, and still achieve profitable business growth.

Shawna (01:36)
We’re gonna smudge this morning and just get some grounding right prior to doing this healing tattoo. I know you said this a little new to you, but I can smudge you if you’d Great, so let’s talk about this tattoo and your purpose.

Chris (01:45)
if

I

do want to share with you. So really my intention behind this tattoo is very different. have several others. Within this past year we’ve had a couple of things happen in my life. We had a house fire and we were displaced from that. But more importantly, my mom unexpectedly passed away. And through that process I’ve done a lot of introspection, just reflecting and growth and

⁓ It’s really the lessons that I’m learning and continue to learn ⁓ are really poignant in my life. And they have a ripple effect on everything from my marriage to my friendships to being a father. ⁓ And there’s just so much to learn. And I wanted to do something to pay respect to my mom. I love it. And to…

also serve as a guide and guide me through all of my decisions and my times of struggle. to look down and have something that just kind of works as a spiritual compass. I love it. And to keep that direction going and just to continue this growth and to continue on this path and reflect on all the decisions that I make and will continue to make through my life. want it to be a prominent feature. So there’s a lot of intentionality behind this design.

Shawna (03:14)
I love it. And I really believe that by putting it in the location that you’re putting it on your forearm, it gives you free rein to look at it on a regular basis, you know, so that you can just have that reminder all the time. And I think that’ll be really helpful. Yeah. Yeah. Well, my intention with this tattoo is just to really help you, you know, transition through what you’re going through and, you know, ascend you to your higher self or help you with that process. yeah.

Chris (03:42)
Thank you. I’m excited.

Shawna (03:44)
Well, what we’re going to do next, I’m all set up and I’m going to get you situated, get you cleaned up and then put the stencil on. It’s got to dry for about 10 minutes, so we’ll take a break while we’re waiting for it to dry and then we’ll get rolling. All right. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you.

Jason (03:59)
So there are a thousand remedies for pain and suffering and grieving. Why’d you choose ink?

Chris (04:00)
So Chris.

That’s a fantastic question. I have several different tattoos that I’ve gotten through my life. Some more meaningful than others. And the idea of a tattoo as a form of therapy just really resonated with me because there’s multiple aspects why. One is it’s a permanent reminder. It’s way to visually represent.

the intention, the thoughts, the direction that I want to go with my life as a constant reminder to put in the work. ⁓ It’s also serving as, you know, as a way to respect my mom in this case, to respect that. And, you know, also just in terms of, you can take it off, yeah, you know, a therapeutic thing is kind of, I feel like having tattoos before,

there’s an element of physical pain that comes with it. And through that pain, I feel like breathing into it and experiencing that is really representative of life’s journey. And the path that I’m on and there’s gonna be struggles along the way and some of them are going to be painful. And it’s a constant reminder that if we do this work and we truly believe and we continue on the path that we’re on,

that the outcomes are going to be a beautiful thing in the end.

Shawna (05:38)
So tell me about your mom. What was her name?

Chris (05:42)
Barb. Barb. Yeah. And I thought it was so interesting. I mean, that was the whole intention behind this. is the whole reason for coming in and the design. And I found it so interesting when I came in and sat down. The first song that came on the radio was landslide. And that was the song that I put on her memorial for the

for her funeral, for her slideshow with the pictures. One of my favorite songs. Yeah, I felt like the synchronicity and the symbolism there, it just feels so right. And the fact that you’re doing the cleansing with the sage and we’re bringing a very spiritual and soulful connection to this.

Shawna (06:11)
Also.

My

favorite kind of tattoos to do are memorials. Yeah. Memorials and spiritual tattoos. are my favorite,

Chris (06:37)
So we are definitely in the line. The design is on point. Placement’s on point. have arrived. We’re there. We’re at the process begin. This is it, right? Like, we’re good. We’re done.

Shawna (06:45)
Okay, have, well, we’re almost arrived.

We’re done, that’s it. See you later, now have a good day. So this is gonna dry for 10 minutes. We’re just gonna pause and let that get nice and dry before we move on to the next step.

Jason (07:05)
You

and I connected beforehand and we were talking about the power of healing people with ink so that they can go out as healed people into the world and therefore have a ripple effect in healing the planet, which is just part of our mission with this podcast. Can you speak to what you’ve seen happen in that transformation of grieving and pain?

Shawna (07:23)
Absolutely.

Jason (07:32)
in people as they go through this process of scarring their skin and receiving a blessing of this ink. What you’ve seen happen and as people go out into the world and come back to see you, what’s happened since

Chris (07:48)
then.

Shawna (07:49)
I feel like I don’t provide healing for people. I provide a piece of artwork that resonates with what aligns with them to help them heal themselves. That’s really what I’m providing. I’m providing a space to come in and experience pain because sometimes pain is part of healing ⁓ or the part that gets us to the place of change so that we can heal.

part of this will do that. then ⁓ Chris or whoever I work with will have that reminder with them. And it’s like a spiritual tool is what it becomes then. A spiritual tool that they can take with them and, ⁓ you know, utilize, get out and use whenever things are hard, whenever times are tough, whenever…

The tears come, the reminders, know, for Chris, it’s his mom and just needing direction and having that compass helps with that direction, that spiritual compass that we talk about. So I feel like it’s a tool. It’s a tool like for some people, it’s a Bible or it’s a feather or it’s a drum or a rosary. They’re tools to help us be our highest self. You know, I had a gal that had lost her son. ⁓

on the basketball court at 15. He just had a heart attack and died. And she came to me and she wanted a basketball tattoo, you know, and she was like planning, you know, his memorial while she was getting this tattoo. And she was pretty scrambled and pretty upset. And I’m like, okay, guys, time out. Let’s pause. Do you really want a basketball or is that just gonna be a sore reminder? Let’s think about a memorial.

that you’re gonna love and live with for the rest of your life. Your son’s gone. ⁓ And so we ended up doing a name and a banner and some floral. And a couple months later, she came back to me after things were a little bit more calmed down and she just said, thanks for not tattooing a basketball on me. I’m like, absolutely. So I just feel like a lot of times people come to me and ⁓ they’re trying to honor people in their lives or honor a…

a child being born or honor a divorce happening or big life moments, loss of loved ones for sure, loss of pets and having this little token that they get to take with them, just it helps them get through the next day, get through the next hour, get through the next year.

Jason (10:32)
effect does that have on the on the planet? Maybe to make it a little bit more local like what does it do in the community?

Shawna (10:41)
I feel

like when people work, when all of us work towards healing ourselves, we heal one another and we heal the planet. In the end, there’s nothing more to say to that. I I constantly work on healing myself and trying to be my highest self. I set by example through my community in a pretty big way. And…

provide space for people to sink into that so that they can get through their trauma, get through their grief, their sorrow, the sadness, and heal that inner wound. But yeah, I’m just like all the people, I’m doing the same thing right along with you. I’m not anything special. I’ve done a lot of the work.

I have a bigger bandwidth to be able to help people do that.

Jason (11:38)
So I imagine because you run a school out of here that many people who are sitting in Chris’s seat right now go, my goodness, this was an amazing, this is a profound experience for me. How do you do this? How did you make a career out of this? How did you make a vocation out of this?

Shawna (11:57)
I sort of just fell upon it. I saw an article in a newspaper about a woman that owned a private practice in a career school that did permanent cosmetics and traditional body art. I checked it out. It aligned with where I was at in my life. I’d been in food service most of my life, but it was always an artist. So I came to the school in 2000, and it just looked like it was gonna be a really fun time. And I went to school and opened a private practice.

two weeks out of school, started in a small studio in Southeast Portland. And then after three years moved my business to a home-based business in Camby for four years. then I opened the studio in 2008. So I’ve been doing this for 24 years and love it more and more every day.

Jason (12:50)
Why do you call it Angelink?

Shawna (12:52)
I

don’t know. My business before was called Beautiful Faces because I do a lot of permanent cosmetics also, ⁓ a fair amount. I’d say it’s probably half and half. And ⁓ I noticed that a lot of my male clientele was surprised that I did body art as well. And I realized that it was time to change the name. And so that name kind of rolled around in my head. just sort of…

got downloaded to me from source and I sat with it for probably a year, year and a half before I actually changed the business name. Super, glad I did it because I had a lot more male clientele that was like, okay, you do body art too. So when I first opened this place, there was two artists working here, only one suite, not two, and we’ve just expanded and expanded throughout the years.

Jason (13:40)
What’s one of the most healing transformative pieces of ink that you have on your body?

Shawna (13:44)
There’s a butterfly in the center of my chest that has very specific amounts of sections in it for lost babies.

and a lot of healing that had to go around that to get through that period of time. Both my husband and I have the exact same tattoo because they were children that we lost.

Jason (14:09)
you speak to the process you guys used through this artwork and come up with the final

Chris (14:13)
to work.

the final

product? Yeah, so it’s something that, you know, I definitely have toyed with the idea. And as I’m getting on in years, my intentionality behind my decisions is becoming more more prevalent. And so I wanted something that was more intentional and I have these events occur in my life that were unforeseen, unpredicted, unplanned. And ⁓

really rocked my world and I feel like I could have gone a couple of different ways with it. I could have let it drag me down into the depths and despair and I could have had a very different outcome but instead I’m leaning into it and learning through the process and really using it as a foundation for where I want to go in my life, which is significant with

the pictures that are represented in this tattoo and then also the compass, because I’m using this as a moral compass, as a spiritual compass, ⁓ as a universal symbol. So anytime I need direction, I can look down on my arm and see the artwork and the memory of my mom and keeping that at the forefront and our relationship and the trials and tribulations of that. And there’s things that I won’t ever get the chance to repair.

but what I can do is I can learn from it and pass on that through my legacy with my kids and always strive to improve those relationships. And that’s really what my intention behind this is. And kind of leaning into like the synchronicity and everything and the symbolism and really being on this path and listening to the signs and being aware.

of the signs that the universe is providing. With the hummingbird, a hummingbird has always represented my mom. Ever since I was little, she always had stained glass windows of hummingbird designs, and she always had the hummingbird feeders up, and she always had hanging cardenas, and all these different flowers. So just, all throughout my life, it was always hummingbirds. And it’s really interesting because after she passed away, I did the eulogy.

and knew that I wanted to incorporate a hummingbird. So, you know, I incorporated that into there and I was like, I want to everyone that’s in attendance something that represents my mom. And we found these little hummingbird pendants that we were going to pass out. And, through the process of my mom passing away and everything, we had to clean out her apartment and, you know, all this kind of stuff. had a, some of her stuff was in storage. And one of the things that was in storage was like a jewelry box. And

I was going through, this was after we had already planned everything out and we bought the pendants that we were going to pass out and everything. I opened up this jewelry box and sitting right on top were two hummingbird pendants. And I was like, okay, such an interesting connection.

I don’t know. There were so many signs and so many parallels and it was just like, this was the right decision. And the urn that I chose, know, cause she was cremated, the urn that I chose was a purple urn that had hummingbirds on it. And yeah, super cool. ⁓ And then entering into this sort of path that I’m on now, ⁓ more of a spiritual soulful path. ⁓ I felt

was called to purchase some Oracle cards. And I had no experience with Oracle cards, no experience with tarot cards or anything else. And I was just like, I want to do, you I want something. I’m feeling called to get them. And so I went into a local business, Soulful PDX in Southeast and Julia, one of the co-owners was speaking with her. I was like, how does one, like there’s so many to choose from, you know, like how does one…

choose an Oracle back. She’s like, that’s a fantastic question. She’s like, well, you look for ones that you kind of, you know, vibe with the art, the art speaks to you. And then what I recommend everyone does is just sit down, set an intention, ask a question and open it up, open multiple up that call to you. Because sometimes it’s the way that they’re written where there’s a disconnect. And other times it’s the way that it’s written.

Shawna (18:18)
It is a fanta-

Chris (18:44)
because that’s what is leaning you towards the right deck. And I was like, oh, okay. And I happened to have my daughter, Emerson, with me. And she’s like, I can watch Emerson if you want to sit down with us. I was like, cool. So I sat down with three or four of the artwork that really called to me. And the first deck I opened…

I just said the intention, was like, you know, lead me to the Oracle decks that are going to provide me with the most wisdom. And the first card I pulled out of the entire deck, the Hound.

Shawna (19:17)
Was that a hummingbird?

Chris (19:19)
was the hummingbird. And I was like, done. I’m not even looking at these other decks. I didn’t need to. ⁓

Shawna (19:20)
course it was.

You didn’t need to.

took

you to the right one right from the beginning.

Chris (19:32)
And it’s so interesting because the hummingbird just in general as like a, you know, an animal guide or a teacher is really, you know, we oftentimes associate hummingbirds with moving around so fast and they’re just there and then the next minute they’re gone and everything else. And that was something that I wrote in my eulogy about my mom was just, you know, the constant moving around and showing up and then just in a split second being gone.

Shawna (20:00)
One of the really cool things about Spirit Guide as a hummingbird is hummingbirds can move horizontal, backwards, up, down. They’re the only bird that can move in all four directions. And those four directions, give us a lot of, in the indigenous culture, they give us a lot of, you know, the four directions, the four phases of life, the four seasons, the four, help me out here, four seasons. There’s one more.

for ⁓ directions, seasons, phases of life. Yeah, there’s a couple more of them, but they help guide us. Elements, that’s the other one. Elements. Or elements, yeah.

Chris (20:42)
And for me, when I opened this particular deck, I, so one, was the card. That was the first thing. And I was like, my gosh. Okay. So then I opened the actual wording of the Oracle deck and I really liked the format because this is like, there were three different sections and it was, you know, what it means as a messenger, what it means as wisdom, and then the teachings and I mean, they’re all intertwined, but ⁓ it was so relevant to where I am.

at with my life and I was just talking about, you know, the fast-paced movements of the hummingbird. It’s so important to slow down, to connect, to ground, and to not let the fast-paced life dictate your decisions.

And that’s something that I’m really going through right now on my path is learning to slow down, to connect, to feel grounded, to take the time out and be present and engage with the people that I care the most about. And so part of me doing this too is, you know, there’s so many components to this. So there’s obviously the hummingbird that represents my mom.

You know, there’s the golden ratio compass that has the four cardinal directions and using that as a moral compass. ⁓ I really like this design because you have the fractals that are in there and that’s representative of nature and they follow this particular pattern that just, I just find beautiful and inspiring. Looking at my relationship with my mom and really wanting to use that as a guide with how I show up in my life with my kids.

you know, this is gonna serve as a constant reminder of that and give me inspiration to get out of my stuff and really show up and slow down and be present, be grounded. I love that.

Shawna (22:33)
Good. When did your mum die?

Chris (22:36)
She passed away at the end of September this year. So it was a week before her birthday.

Shawna (22:43)
How was she?

day.

Chris (22:44)
D… 3? Yeah.

Shawna (22:50)
What would your mom say about this tattoo?

Chris (22:52)
I think that she would love it.

Shawna (22:55)
Yeah.

Chris (22:56)
Yeah.

Shawna (22:58)
Make her happy. Yeah, make her smile.

Chris (23:00)
Yeah, for sure. I was listening and it’s, know, I I feel like, you know, anytime someone, a loved one passes away, especially when it’s, you know, apparent, you just never know how that’s going to show up or when down the road that’s going to hit you or even just with massive amounts of emotion or small little moments. last week…

You know, even though we had decided, okay, we’re gonna do the statue, we’ve got the design, everything else. And I wholeheartedly, 100 % choosing in, no reservations whatsoever. And I was listening to this rap song from Atmosphere, it’s an old song. And it’s a song that he wrote about his dad who passed away and he sees somebody walking down the street. he’s like, you know, all through the lyrics, he’s like, is that you?

no, couldn’t have been you, because you passed away. But there’s one line that just hit me like a ton of bricks that says, I pushed when I should have pulled. And I feel like that is very representative of my mom and my relationship. Yeah. Was I built up these huge walls and just constantly pushed when really I should have been pulling.

Shawna (24:12)
That’s a tough lesson.

Chris (24:13)
It is a tough lesson.

Shawna (24:15)
What is your hope for this tattoo?

Chris (24:18)
What is my hope for this tattoo?

Shawna (24:21)
want

out of this the most. I mean we’ve touched on it a little bit.

Chris (24:25)
Honestly, feel like my biggest hope is that I can show up in a way that does this tattoo honor.

Shawna (24:35)
Aww. That’s cool. Yeah. I like that.

Chris (24:39)
The intention behind it is to serve as a visual, to serve as a… When I’m in my stuff and I’m not sure which way to go to look down. And that’s all great and well to say. But in the end…

I want to look back and say, yeah, I did that.

Shawna (24:52)
I think with the Oracle Deck, just setting intention, it’s a manifestation is what it is. our manifestations can be as powerful as we want them to be. And we all have the capacity to do it. Some are not special and others don’t have the gift. We all have the power to do intention and manifestation of whatever our hopes and our dreams are. You you want this to be a moral compass and a spiritual compass. And so it is.

You know, and the only thing that keeps us from moving forward on that manifestation is our fear. That’s it. It’s just simply our fear. And so it can be whatever you want it and need it to be because you already have the power. You already have that skill, you know. And I find that the more that we believe that we have that skill, the more that we practice, the more that we get that affirmation that, yeah, we can do this.

So kudos to you for leaning in. It’s the road less traveled, but we’re meeting more and more and more people on our path that are traveling it more and more frequently now as part of the shift of the planet and the healing that’s happening. There’s also the turmoil that goes with it because that’s, it’s just supposed to keep us, keep us paying attention. It’s a psychic energetic shift that’s happening on the planet and

We’re all part of it. Some of us are ascending, some of us are declining. It just depends on how much we want to grow and how much we want to heal. You know, I became aware of the shift about 15 years ago and…

started manifesting things in my life.

particularly shift, change, personal growth, healing, being willing to look in the dark shadowy spots and sit with them and heal from them so that I didn’t have to take them forward, not only because I didn’t want to be suffering anymore, but also I didn’t want to make those around me suffer because I hadn’t healed from that trauma. And especially my kids, didn’t want to, you know, ⁓

pass that on to them. Whether I succeeded or not, I don’t know, but time will tell.

but just doing that healing work.

has helped me to just be a better human and be able to live on the planet in a good way that ⁓ isn’t harmful to myself or others. And that’s a huge big deal, because I have spent some time in my life harming self and others, and I no longer wish to do that. So the trend that I’m seeing is that, you know, part of it, I think, was just my manifestation of manifesting the right people in my life.

and slowly but surely the

Weeds, so to speak, dressed up as flowers kind of just went away. ⁓

people that are aligned with healing work.

with healing themselves, with sustainable living, taking care of the planet, all those things are the people that are in my life now, the people that I spend time with, the people that I grow with and help me grow and call me out of my stuff when I’m in it.

And I just feel very grateful for that. And I feel a sense of security in those friendships that I have never experienced before. They’re all on a similar path. I’m on a spiritual walk, ⁓ on a healing journey to help themselves. And that just feels good and aligned. And there’s a lot of it going on. Or maybe I’m just more in tune with it. I don’t know, but there’s a whole lot of it going on. And I love that. And that’s where my spirit needs to be.

Chris (28:37)
It kind of brings up a question that I have. So I feel like I’m relatively just self admitting, you know, new to this path, this process, or at least recognizing it and choosing into it. through that, I’ve noticed an uptick in my wanting or desiring for self expression via obviously a tattoo is a very permanent form of self expression.

But also just little things like Would I love this little water bottle sticker would I love this gemstone would I love this bracelet and Just kind of leaning into that and feeling more than going into the analytical part of my brain and I’m curious to know does that Have you experienced that with regard to? Customership coming in like is there an uptick in?

self-expression and people seeking out tattoos or like the way that that’s kind of changed or is it still just kind of all over the place?

Shawna (29:43)
I feel like tattoos in general are more and more popular than they have been previously. So yes, I do feel that way. I think as long as I’ve been tattooing, people have got tattoos for so many different reasons, right? They’re either real deep meaning reasons or there’s a whim, you know. ⁓ So yeah, I feel like it’s kind of, it’s all people, you know.

Different people want different things, but some people are a little more on this, you know, journey of healing and other people are not. So yeah, I feel like it’s kind of all over. As far as tattoo popularity, it just continues to grow. So does the amount of artists in the world too, but there’s more skin to tattoo, so.

Chris (30:35)
There’s more skin to Tansy.

Shawna (30:38)
So we’re just, just went over aftercare and I’m going to wrap it up for him.

Chris (30:43)
The experience itself was amazing. ⁓ I feel like this was for sure the right place and the right person. Everything from setting the intentions with a sage and just our conversations and knowing how much you enjoy doing intentional spiritual work. I mean, I just I feel that coming through. I truly do. And I truly appreciate you.

Shawna (31:08)
And she was. Thanks for allowing me to be part of this process with you and ⁓ helping you on your journey.

Chris (31:16)
Thank you so much. ⁓