BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
I’m from Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been in St. Louis for 5 years. In St. Louis, I have worked for the Fashion Fund Incubator and Summersalt, a swimwear brand. I started with Summersalt part time about 4 months ago, but I am now at the company full-time. Part of our initiative as a swimwear brand is to make women feel active, sexy, and confident on their own terms. We enjoy seeing what makes women feel inspired and confident. It’s an all-female company right now, which is empowering. I’m an assistant designer, but since it’s a startup, I take on roles in all different positions. We are a very collaborative team.
POWER
Being powerful is the ability to make big decisions on my own and feel good about them, not needing any guardian figure to check things. Whether it’s finding an apartment or signing off on a big decision at work, being powerful is feeling confident about it. I just hired my first intern; I conducted the interview and wrote the offer letter. That experience was empowering.
TATTOO
I got this tattoo on my arm about this time last summer. It was for my parents. My dad is a taxidermist. He used to be a banker, but decided to do this in his retirement. My mom has always loved her garden and taking care of plants. The Dogwood flowers in my tattoo are the North Carolina state flower. Now, when I see the tattoo, it reminds me of my parents and the support system I have at home. Since I put it on my bicep, it reminds me to go to the gym. I chose this spot because it’s a little more subtle. It shows, but it can be hidden by a sleeve. I had it done at TRX on South Grand in St. Louis. I found my artist on Instagram. My experience there was great. I direct-messaged the artist on Instagram. We met to go over what I liked and what the image meant to me. She spent time drawing the design, then we reviewed it together, and after about 2 hours, it was done. I have another tattoo that’s a key on my wrist. I just walked in to a shop to get that one. But with this one (on my arm), I wanted to really know the artist.
Check out Summersalt swimwear here:
TRX Tattoos:
