Michelle

What inspired your most recent tattoo?

I got the orchid because it’s everything I am learning to be— delicate without being weak, beautiful without needing to be seen, feminine in a way that’s mine, not anyone else's. It reminds me that softness is power too.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

The orchid is who I am—soft, strong, all woman. The rose and “Simply the Best”—that’s Mom, always in me. The wild rose grew from northern soil—my roots, my blood. The wave is where I breathe—Florida sun, salt, and peace. The arrow? That’s survival. That’s me choosing myself, again and again.

What would you do with the $25,000?

With $25,000, I would open my own tattoo studio. Not just a shop, but a sanctuary—where pain becomes art, memory becomes ink, and people walk out feeling more themselves than when they walked in. Every tattoo I’ve ever gotten holds something: my roots, my grief, my strength, my joy. They speak when I can’t. That’s the kind of space I want to give others. A place where the design is personal, the atmosphere is safe, and every line carries meaning.