- May 2, 2024
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When Tara Gower was 18 years old, she found herself at a bike week event in New Hampshire. There, she met tattoo artist Miller Cotton, who soon asked her to be his apprentice.
“I had no responsibilities, nothing holding me down, just a motorcycle,” Gower said. “So I did it. It was like running away and joining a motorcycle circus.”
She traveled the country with Cotton, who owned several tattoo studios but spent nine months out of the year on the road, stopping at motorcycle events and tattoo conventions on the way. As they traveled in their caravan consisting of a trailer converted to mobile tattoo studio and handfuls of people on motorcycles, Gower learned the art of tattooing.
“It is, first and foremost, an art form,” Gower said. “Of course, I’m drawn to the creative expression. But in the last five years, it’s become more about the act of service.”
Today, Gower is the manager of Inflicting Beauty Tattoo Studio & Full Hair Salon, in Flagler Beach. The best part of her job, whether she’s styling hair or tattooing, she said, is being able to do something that makes a visible difference in a person’s day.
That’s what led her to founding Tattoo for Pink, a charity that donates medical tattooing to clients — mostly women — who need it. When she started it two years ago, the charity focused mostly on women who survived breast cancer, but she’s since expanded her focus.
She offers areola tattooing for women who have undergone mastectomies as part of treatment for breast cancer. This is the final stage of reconstructive surgery for survivors, and the procedure helps women move on with their lives, Gower said.
For clients who suffer from alopecia areata, a disease that causes the loss of hair, Gower tattoos eyebrows and permanent eyeliner, which helps offset the appearance of lost eyelashes.
“There are a lot of services I give that are considered vanities when there’s nothing vain about them,” Gower said. “There’s not an insurance company in the world that would pay for permanent eyebrows. So I thought, ‘Why don’t I?’”
Many of the people she’s served, especially those surviving breast cancer, have been financially decimated and uprooted from their normal personal lives. The impact these procedures have on people’s confidence levels is significant, Gower said. They leave the studio standing up straight, smiling and ready to move on.
“When people tell us what’s going on in their lives and what they’re going through, how many times do we say, ‘I’m sorry’?” Gower said. “I feel like it’s time for us to start saying, ‘How can I help you?’”
As a tattoo artist of 12 years and a hair stylist of eight years, Gower knows her unique method of help is through Tattoo for Pink. She noticed the need for her charity about six years ago when she started medical tattooing and saw how great the need was for something that is often overlooked.
“I don’t think anyone can say they don’t know someone who’s been impacted by breast cancer,” she said. “I was seeing the clients who needed them, and they’re mostly young women without health insurance. Can you imagine being a woman in your 30s without breasts?”
Inflicting Beauty largely donates the time Gower spends when donating medical tattooing to clients. She currently averages about five procedures each month through her charity, which also works to raise money for other forms of aid for clients, such as breast reconstruction.
Gower is currently forming a partnership with her friend, Kate Owens, who owns a salon in Western Florida and offers styling to women in need. Together, they hope to offer a network of beauty treatments and corrective tattooing for people across the state. Eventually, Gower hopes to have a larger network of people who join the cause, including plastic surgeons.
Tattoo for Pink is hosting a party and fundraiser 7 p.m. Oct. 6, at Finn’s Beachside Pub. The party will include raffles, live music and double-your-dollar gift certificates — for a $50 donation to the charity, guests will receive a $100 gift certificate to Inflicting Beauty.
“At the end of the day, I’m not rolling in dough, but man, am I blessed,” Gower said. “Things weren’t always this easy. They weren’t. So how can I not want to help those in need?”
