Meet carlie anne

We were lucky to catch up with Carlie Anne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carlie , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I believe that confidence is a direct correlation of self-love and therefore tying into self-esteem. mac miller said “I saw a mountain across the horizon. I got there, it was just a pile of rocks. there was a point in my life where I felt so much shame, so much drudgery that I wouldn’t see my mountain. I couldn’t even conceptualize there would be a future and it felt black to look into my next day. Today I wake up happy to be alive. I can genuinely deeply in my soul say that I love myself. when I reflect on how I got from then to now, I observe the things that plagued me. my environments, my habits, and the words that came from my mouth. words are the very literally the most raw version of manifestation that every human being holds. when you speak you create a reality. we are all so quick to make a self deprecating joke on our looks, our intelligence, the stature of signature we have in society, and it crumbles our foundation not allowing the garden to grow.

my journey into confidence grew from learning to be very specific and careful with my words. I started this when I truly did not feel it. I would look in my mirror and say aloud “I love myself.’ things I love about myself in my personality and my outward appearance and I felt stupid. but aware that the brain is a tool and it can be trained I continued. I followed through with practices that honored my body and soul like making myself good meals. journaling intrusive thoughts. I created a morning routine for myself. reminding myself that I deserve to have structure I deserve to have a healthy body with energy all while saying this out loud.

when I went further into this practice, I purchased a manifestation journal. in this journal you speak in the present tense of things you may not have in that moment. I started that three years ago. I remember when first moving to my new city I knew no one. I was living in a room I rented with people I did not feel safe around and I would climb to the top of the mountain on this one trail I would reach the peak, close my eyes an Invision a coffee in my hand. I’m opening my front door. and this is my view. I see the valley and the lake and trees and I feel content. years later I live with this view out of my front door. I applied what I wanted. I wrote it down. I spoke my truth from my mouth as my future self. the future me I wanted to be. our minds are filled with self doubt. our spirit is not. to kill the ego is to understand perception of others do not matter. it’s to understand the mind is the ego and the soul is separate. when you hear “I’m lazy” or “I’m not pretty enough” this is not your spirit speaking. it’s important to understand your thoughts are not you. and therefore are not your identity. the reality you live in can be changed. you can speak your way out of your gutter and this heals and improves when you let go of shame. shame of self, shame of comparison shame of “what will people think of me if” there are a million different versions of me. its not my responsibility to be loved and liked by everyone. infact to say there are people who don’t like me in my current life shows me that i respect my boundary’s in not letting others walk over me or use me for my kindness. there is a difference in kindness and self destructive people pleasing. “i come first” and i always will. i also practice gratitude. to answer this question there are simply an ocean of things ive done but even when i found my resources and didnt beleive them to be true i stuck with it and thats how ive gotten to this point in my life

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

my profession is a full-time tattoo artist and I couldn’t choose anything else. i believe i am meant to be doing this. i wanted to help people ive always found joy in a level of service to others and i think there is something so sacred about allowing someone to mark ones skin. there is an energy exchange that happens when you give that trust. i love that im able to connect with people and create things from both our minds that is then able to be shown visually. my goal is to contue to grow my skill set as well as my understanding of people to create not just immaculate work but an incredble experience that when you walk away from the appointment, years later you can feel the joy and the comfort of the time we speant together. my clients are the most important part of my job and make it my utmost priority to give my resect and love and consideration to every one that comes through my door.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

beside manner, ability to learn, and self discipline.

there is a difference between honesty and tactlessness. to understand people while being authentic is incredibly important. i don’t push boundaries with my clients and I don’t let them push mine. what that means is I’ve taken time to know what works for my and stay withing those lines. personally i really enjoy to talk to my clients i like to hear stories and allow them to share parts of there life. i also listen when they say they want silence. i don’t push people when they either don’t like a design or a concept into getting something i want instead. and every one that walks through my door is appreciated deeply. I hold value to small simple tattoos and make an effort to do my best and be incredibly present during these moments.

I don’t think I know it all and I don’t think I will ever stop learning. the belief that my style can change and there can be a better way to do something is heavily ingrained into me and allows me to grow with my industry.

how many people do you know used to be an artist. but then they grow up, life gets in the way and now they haven’t drawn or painted in years because the inspiration isn’t there. guess what. I rarely am randomly inspired out of the blue. constantly creating works of art is a skill that needs to be trained to grow endurance. just like working out there needs to be a warmup. I don’t sit down and create a work of art in ten minutes I allow myself to get into the flow state. that takes time. and sometimes, I don’t want to. I choose to sit down when I don’t want to. I push myself into my creative space. and I choose to do this so I can show up for myself. no one is going to do it but you. greatness is an act of habit.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I rarely reach the point of being overwhelmed. I used to constantly experience burnout. I worked every day I did it all by myself and I would be so exhausted putting out things I don’t like and not liking my job. I love my job I was meant to be an artist. if you’re tattooing someone and you don’t want to be there, your body is telling you it needs rest. delegate. you are not meant to do it alone ! I know when you start that can feel hard but there are ways to do it. when I started I had a day planner. I’ve moved over to a client booking program. it cuts out the back and fourth email and creates phone calls follow up emails. email reminders. this is INCREDIBLY useful. so many industries use this I don’t know why so many artists haven’t or haven’t been taught this. timed social media posts and group posting helps you stay of the internet. I now have my very close friend Ciana I’ve hired part time. she helps me with organizing and honestly so much more. I cant begin to stress the importance of having someone you trust to work beside you and help you. thank you Ciana for being such an incredible partner in this journey. finally if you aren’t good at something, find someone who is.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Stabdaddi
• Other: [email protected]://10kultratattoo.as.me/schedule/72313f4f

Image Credits

@eliteambitonsphotography