DL: It’s sort of a weird, long multi-answer! In 2014, I was anxious about getting my side tattooed and multiple people kept suggesting Matt/Honorable Ink as a safe space for women, talented artists, and the rest is history! We reconnected last year when I came back for another tattoo and basically started a body suit in the last 12 months, and along the way we realized he was the one that actually fixed a botched belly piercing of mine in 2006 while working at another shop! All that to say, getting this much work done in a year Matt and I became fast friends. We have similar personalities, so doing this with someone trust so much felt right.

MM: It was wild to realize we had met each other a long time ago! And spending so much time together working on big tattoos definitely got us chatting. We both share a similar sense of humor and set of values. I think we inevitably started talking business due to an entrepreneurial spirit that we both share.

DL: I think it was during a long tattooing session, we were spiraling on ideas about where we feel the industry is lacking. A proper skincare routine felt like our lightbulb moment.

MM: We were definitely talking about aftercare. The tattoo industry has never really offered a comprehensive take on the subject. We had the idea of creating a system of products that would be good not only for the tattoos immediate aftercare needs, but also offer products that you would want to use every day. Historically, tattoo after care products are not your go-to cosmetics. We saw an opportunity to change that.

DL: Giving back is such an important part of my life. In my mind, there was no question that we would turn this into something to give back to the community. We have bigger goal of creating a nonprofit to help artists sometime in the not to distant future.

MM: One of the things that seemed important to me from the beginning was finding ways to stand out as a company. To me, that means taking deliberate steps to connect with our clients. We believe that by being charity driven, we will gain the community’s trust as a skin care company.

DL: I think it’s always on my mind – because I’ve been working for a nonprofit as my day job for the last 4 years!* So I think my wheels are always sort of turning on how can I do something today to give a little back. It means to me that if I can make someone’s day even just a little bit easier, it’s worth it.
*Diane works for Family Services in Poughkeepsie, NY which serves over 70,000 people a year in Dutchess, Ulster & Orange Counties

MM: I’ve grown to appreciate the many ways that tattooing supports clients’ various needs. For some folks tattooing is akin to therapy. For others it may be commemorating a loss or celebrating a birth. Many are marking an occasion or solidifying a bond with a matching tattoo. I’ve always felt really good about
creating that space and feeling for people. It’s driven me to participate in and support various charity events through my work over the years. We’ve done fundraisers for animal rescues, toy drives, cancer research, children and women’s shelters, and many more. It makes me feel incredibly good to be able to bring some positivity into the world. I am a believer in egotistical altruism, so it’s a bit selfish in that I believe more good will come from the good that I create; and thereby creating a better world for me as well as others to live in. (Diane interjects that she thinks more people should think like this, the world would be a better place!)

MM: Well that’s kind of the thing, it really hasn’t evolved during my career. Most people use really harsh and drying soaps, combined with salves and petroleum-based products that you wouldn’t use on a day-to-day basis for your tattoo under any other circumstances. While there are many of schools of thought out there on proper tattoo aftercare, there really is no unified theory. We believe we are offering a more comprehensive look at the subject in terms of overall skin health. We wanted to create products that you would normally use on a day-to-day basis that are also safe to use on an open healing wound such as a tattoo.

DL: Because there’s just too much out there that’s not actually useful or helpful to healing your skin. With skincare in general there is really mixed information on what proper care looks like. It felt important for us to have products that are meant for healing, but also meant for lifetime use.

MM: Healing your tattoo is about so much more than just keeping it clean and moisturized.
The skin is a living organ with a complex biome of microorganisms that live on
it. Treating a tattoo like a sterile environment doesn’t actually promote the healthiest healing. We believe that treating the tattoo as a healing organism will allow for the best possible results. We also believe these products will help maintain the best skin health possible for the life of your tattoo.

DL: Well, it truly combined my and Matt’s personalities together into one uniform business idea that just felt right. It really made sense to me given that we
both bring a lot to the table. We have a similar vision for our product line and towards giving back in a meaningful way.

DL: That your purchase is doing more than just changing your skincare routine in a meaningful way, its giving back to causes that matter.

MM: One hope is that people will see us as a trustworthy brand. We stand by our products and we stand by our community.

DL: We’re still in such early stages so its hard to say! Just that it’s been a bit
stressful but exciting as we check off steps and get ready to formally launch.
We wanted it to be perfect so there was a bit of trial and error to getting the
products right. Luckily Matt keeps me grounded, because I’m a crier!

MM: I think what’s been surprising to me has been how much people’s opinion on tattoo aftercare varies. It makes me excited to approach our brand with a scientific mindset in order to produce the best possible results. Diane and I both believe in this approach, and we can’t wait to show people what we are creating!

DL: We want to build an empire, we want to give back to our community in a consistent, meaningful way. Ultimately our goal to be able to support tattoo artists to receive & maintain health coverage, a vision we have for when we launch our own nonprofit.

MM: Our goal for Inky is simple. It’s to set the new standard for skincare in the tattoo industry. We have lots of products we are thinking about launching, and this is really just the beginning. Our ultimate goal is to create a community in the
Tattoo industry that supports and promotes our clients, our craft, and the
artists that make it all possible. About half of our population is tattooed and
about half of all practitioners in the industry have zero health insurance or
access to benefits that every person should. This is similar for hairstylists/barbers, nail professionals, massage therapists, and many other
body arts industry professionals. Like Diane said, we are aiming to build an
empire. The tattoo industry has been fragmented for all of its existence. I believe that by creating a real network of wellness services for the industry, we can unite and support each and every person that works in any of the bodily arts.