About Me

Meeeee

Greetings! My name is Dana Browne, I am a 29 year old business owner here in Barrie, Ontario (Canada)
Currently I own an all-female powerhouse tattoo shop called Ruby Tattoo Studio that focuses on empowering women and providing the most comfortable, inclusive atmosphere for any and all clients all while striving to give back to the community as much as possible.

On top of that, I am also a tattooist, artist, musician, gamer, interior decorator, car enthusiast, tech nerd, collector and jack-of-trades, to sum it up. (or Jill?) My skills range anywhere from french manicures and baking, to hanging drywall and small electronic repairs. I’m essentially all over the place, if you haven’t noticed.

That being said, I would love to say that I have an overall “theme” to this site, but I’d be lying. My main focus here will be along the lines of entrepreneurship and life-advice, from one bratty girl to the next. If I can even help just 1 person with my random tutorials or random knowledge, then it will all have been worth it.

Digging a little deeper… (This is your chance to venture elsewhere on this site, cause this girl loves to talk.)

I am a lover of all things japanese, especially the kawaii aesthetic. One of the first things you’ll notice about me is that I have pastel pink hair, my wardrobe is mainly pastel / bright colours and I wear a LOT of glitter. I am a plus-size lady (cute in the face, thick in the waist amiright?) who is currently trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. I have always struggled with mental health illnesses for as long as I could remember, more specifically ADHD and GAD (general anxiety disorder) I guess you can say the majority of the reason I am a Jill of all Trades is simply because I have spent many, many years trying to keep myself occupied and pour my art and soul into various crafts to distract myself from worrisome thoughts. (Those who are restless and/or suffering from anxiety will 100% understand what I mean) I guess the ADHD aspect has never helped, always wanting to try new things but also very easily distracted and constantly trying to juggle a million things at once. I have worked many jobs in the past, some I held for years but most I held for only weeks / months. I’ve had fast food jobs, dish washing jobs, babysitting, retail store, various jobs in the mall, my aunts bead store, furniture/mattress sales, door-to-door sales, wireless and cable sales jobs.. you name it. I never knew what I wanted to be/do when I grow up, so I took it upon myself to finally enroll in college for Interior Design.

Spoiler alert: was not for me.

I didn’t have the passion for design like I thought I did. The more further and further I got into the program, the less I was able to see myself having it as my career. It was time for a change – so I took Aesthetics the following year.

Waste of money.

I worked at Rogers for 5 or so years during/following that time, I was moving up in the company fairly fast but there was a point where I was almost taking it too seriously and I started to not like the direction my life was headed and I no longer felt challenged. I was poached by a furniture sales store – and boy, was that a challenge. The commission was great, coworkers and moral compass of those I worked with…. not so much. Needless to say, I was not happy. My best friend at the time, let’s call her… D, gave me some news that the tattoo shop she was currently working at was looking for a new apprentice. Honestly, without even thinking about it – I jumped on the opportunity. A $7 sketchbook full of 54 drawings I did up for the apprenticeship later, and I landed myself an incredible opportunity.

I won’t dig deeper into this part for now, but perhaps later I might – it didn’t work out. You can even say it actually helped fuel my passion to opening an all-female tattoo studio. I worked at another shop as soon as the first experience flopped, but that one in its own way was no better. It came to me that no one is going to just take my hand and walk me through life, or make sure I succeed – it was up to me and me alone. It was then that I decided to take all of my former management experience and tattoo shop experience to turn it into an entrepreneurial adventure.

That is how Ruby Tattoo Studio came to be.

It’s been 2 years and 4 months now since I started this venture, and I have loved every minute and aspect of it. It’s been a huge learning curve and a fantastic experience, that’s for sure. I have learned a lot about marketing, business, productivity, priorities, organization, taxes, social skills, fundraising, brand deals, thinking outside of the box, how to spot a good vs. bad potential employee, I’ve learned more about art, technique, networking, motivating, appreciating, saving, fixing/building credit, so on and so forth. From this experience, I hope to share as much advice as possible to anyone else who has been in the same position I was, someone who has been eagerly waiting to pull the trigger on a big career move but is hesitant, someone who is stuck in a dead-end job with no end in sight, someone who is tirelessly digging themselves out of debt or struggling with credit-application based rejections. Basically, I just want to help you while also helping myself and learning as much as I can from you, as well.

I’m going to leave this as it is for now, but to those who are still reading – I appreciate you and the time you have taken to even show just even just a little interest in who I am and what I have to say.

Until then – Stay sweet.

xo