InkTales Podcast
InkTales Podcast
Megan's Journey: From Military to Green Salon and Meaningful Tattoos
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
From a cozy green salon in Lowell, Massachusetts, Megan, the innovative owner of Eyeful Beauty, shares her transformative journey. Raised on a ranch in eco-friendly California, Megan's commitment to sustainability shines as she reveals how her salon recycles 95% of its waste, turning hair into an unexpected hero in plastic reinforcement and oil spill cleanups. Her story takes us from the wide-open spaces of Northern California to diverse postings as a military police officer in the Air Force, revealing how her service deeply influenced her life and the meaningful tattoos she wears.
Listeners will find themselves captivated by Megan's personal tales that intertwine community and creativity. What started as a temporary stay in Boston blossomed into a permanent life filled with unexpected romantic twists and a salon with a community-centric heart. Megan shares anecdotes about the salon's welcoming embrace, offering beauty services for every budget along with humorous exchanges about quirky gym owner hairstyles. Each tattoo she sports tells a story — from a koi fish symbolizing personal milestones to shared ink adventures with her sister, emphasizing growth and familial bonds.
Tattoo enthusiasts and military aficionados alike will appreciate the rich tapestry of Megan's experiences, especially her military-themed body art. Discover how her fascination with zombie movies led to a unique tattoo, or how a pinup girl riding a .50 cal gun commemorates her Air Force days, including a memorable engine-replacement challenge in Iraq. These stories are not just about ink but about resilience and adaptability, with each tattoo serving as a permanent reflection of Megan's spirited journey through life, love, and entrepreneurship.
Eyeful Beauty
Speaker 1Hi , you're listening to the Inktails podcast , a show where I go out in the city , meet new people and get the stories behind our tattoos . I'm Tenoch . Come join me on my journey . Today on the show , I'm in Lowell , massachusetts , with my guest , Megan Megan . Welcome to the show , hi how are ? You . I'm doing great . Thank you for having me . Oh , no problem , we are here in your shop , we are . So what is the name of your shop ?
Speaker 2So I own Eyeful Beauty . We've been open for 15 years . We are a salon barbershop so we cater to our community and everyone in it . So , yeah , we are also a green salon . So we recycle 95% of our waste um , which is important to me and making sure that we're um as an industry as a whole . We kind a lot of waste , just making sure that we're taking care of our part when it comes to that .
Speaker 1What made you interested in becoming a green salon ? What got you into that ?
Speaker 2Just recycling . Originally , I'm from California . I just feel like they're really big on recycling . I also grew up on a ranch , so like we had to always like take our trash outside and you know , um like actually like take it on a trailer in our truck , you know , to the dump and um sorting it and stuff like that . So I've always just been used to it . Um , and when I came across a company that would actually take our sorted trash , I was extremely excited to partner with a company like that . So , yeah , they take everything . They take the hair , they take extra chemicals that are like leftover in the bowl . It's pretty cool .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's pretty cool . Do you know what they do with the hair ?
Speaker 2Yeah , they do a lot of things , so they actually made those plastic trash cans right there . They say that the plastic with the hair inside the plastic it makes it actually one of the strongest plastics that you can find . They also use it for any sorts of like oil spills . They'll make like what they call a hair loom and just imagine like a nylon sock or something like that , and they stuff it with hair and then they throw it out in the ocean and the hair will actually naturally absorb the oils out in the ocean .
Speaker 1Wow , that's really cool . That's a really good , uh like invention . That seems like it's very useful , absolutely , especially , uh , you know , being able to recycle the waste instead of creating something new that'll just create more waste , you know yeah , unfortunately , hair doesn't break down .
Speaker 2Um . So , just like , imagine a mummy even like sometimes a mummy still has hair , uh . So , uh , it's not like great that we're like throwing all this hair out in the land , um the landfill , so being able to recycle it , and especially for something good , yeah yeah , I never thought about that .
Speaker 1Like , what happens to the hair when you cut it ? Where does it go ? Because , like you said , it doesn't break down , so not really it doesn't break down very easily , that's for sure . Normally they just what throw it in the trash .
Speaker 2Yep , oh yeah .
Speaker 1Okay , so tell us a little bit more about yourself other than the salon , and maybe we can get back to how you ended up starting your salon . So tell us more about what you like to do , who you are , a little bit more about where you came from , from California .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely so . I'm originally from California . I was born and raised in Northern California in a little town called Grass Valley . We grew up on a ranch and I grew up raising livestock . My sister did pigs , I did cows , we had chickens , dogs , horses the whole nine yards . And I love that life I do . But it wasn't until September 11th I decided to join , or after September 11th I decided to join the military . I went into the Air Force and I was an MP in the Air Force . So I did that for eight years . I did a tour in Iraq and due to that tour I did get an honorable discharge , but I also got a disability because of it . So a lot of my tattoos , which we'll talk about later , are very military . They have the background behind them is a lot of my military life , for sure .
Speaker 1So did you go into the military with your virgin tattoos ? Oh yeah , Okay .
Speaker 2Yep , yep . Then I was like 19 , so it wasn't even like . It wasn't like the typical 18-year-old move .
Speaker 1How did you like your time at the Air Force ?
Speaker 2I loved it . I thought the Air Force was definitely one of the coolest things I ever did . I met some of the most amazing people and they're still my friends to this day , even if we don't see each other for eight to ten years . Every time we meet up , it's just amazing how connected we are , so they are definitely some of the people that I was with during that time are some of my best friends . Uh . So the military was awesome . The experience was awesome . I also went to Korea , which I loved . I just the culture there was so cool . I loved the food , I loved the shopping , um , so I loved Korea . And then , from Korea , I actually uh came here to Massachusetts and I was stationed at Hanscom , um , so that was like totally a different spin on where I had like come from prior in earlier in my career in the military . So , um , so they just deployed out of the space . So that's when I went to Iraq .
Speaker 1Okay , so you were stationed in California , then went to Korea , came here and then Iraq , or how did that journey end up ?
Speaker 2Oh , okay , so I'm going to skip that a little bit . So I was from California and I joined the air force , went to Texas for training and then from Texas I went to Minot , north Dakota , and then from Minot , north Dakota then I went to Korea , hanscom , so , um , yeah , texas is where we do a lot of our training , okay . And then , uh , you know know , I went to minot . Minot is a like nuclear base , so it's a missile base , um , and I was out on like the flight lines , like protecting the flight lines , and then when I came to hanscom , it was more of like a an office job that's a change of pace yeah it was .
Speaker 2It was like so crazy . And then when you're not in the office job , you're in iraq .
Speaker 1So that's at least how my tour went how was your , uh , what was it like when you got deployed to iraq ? I never really get to . I've never had like a other than janelle , like a veteran on the show , at least that I can remember .
Speaker 2It was a little surreal . So I was in the Air Force and my father would have been the first to tell you that I would have been safe . He's a Marine , so that I was safe from going to war , and you know my dad's very old school .
Speaker 2So uh , I thought I joined the right branch to like not go to war , okay , and I know that this is like right after september 11th , so like we were like in war already , um . But so I joined the air force and the first thing that happens is I get deployed . So I'm just like , oh shit , so I'm in Iraq with the Air Force . We're there to help the Army and we don't deploy like the Army does . The Army will actually deploy as like a whole battalion , okay , and we don't do that . Deploy as like a whole battalion , um , and we don't do that .
Speaker 2We only deploy as like um , individual , like what the army would call an MOS or like a certain career field , and we were all cops and we didn't have a cook , we didn't have a mechanic , we didn't have like any of the other things that like all the other people . So we're just kind of like thrown into this position and not going to lie . This is in 2025 . Originally , we were supposed to go to Mosul . That got canceled because there was like a whole bunch of messy numbers .
Speaker 1Wait , 2005 ? Yeah , Not 25 . I'm like we're still in 24 . No , no .
Speaker 2Okay , that's like a long time ago . So , yeah , 2005, . Mosul was pretty hot and heavy right during that time frame . So they actually changed it , told us we're going to the baghdad airport . That didn't happen . And then we're in saudi , we're like supposed to be like going to Iraq and we like barely know where we're going . So , um , it was just weird , like . I just felt like , um , it was an interesting time to like be going there , especially as an air force security force member , to um , uh , you know , help the army and do something that we've never done before . So it was very interesting . We were told we were going to be running convoys and then teaching security force members how to or , sorry , as security force members , we're going to be teaching the locals how to be police officers . Members were going to be teaching the locals how to be police officers and , um , it just wasn't very easy for us to like go in and start instructing um , so we came across a lot of like roadblocks , but okay , sounds very challenging it was .
Speaker 2It was a challenging time . You know we're also this is like 2005 , so like we're three years past the invasion , right , so we're trying to kind of like help them , but I think they were still mad .
Speaker 1Oh , I'm sure there was tensions of all sorts .
Speaker 2Yeah , so it wasn't the best time to be there .
Speaker 1So yeah , and how long did you end ?
Speaker 2up staying there Um . Our tour was around six months .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2Total , with training , everything like , came out to be about a year .
Speaker 1Okay , so you went there too long and then you came back to the States . Yes , okay To Hanscom .
Speaker 2That's where you had your desktop , yeah , and then you came back to the States .
Speaker 1Yes , okay To Hanscom . That's where you had your desktop .
Speaker 2Yeah , and at this point , like I'm really close to my enlistment to be up , so when I got back from Iraq I think I knew that I wanted to get out at that point . So I went to real estate school and cosmetology school , both at the same time .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2I think I figured out that I really like buying houses but not selling them , and as an old artist , because I used to really be into photography and painting and stuff like that as a kid so I just really wanted to get back to the arts and for some reason , when I was Googling jobs and stuff , cosmetology just kept popping up . So I'm like , oh , maybe I can just make hair my medium Okay . So that's kind of how that went . I instantly fell in love with cutting hair when I went to cosmetology school .
Speaker 1So it was your calling , right away it was yeah , it was pretty instant I loved it . Okay . So then you finished cosmetology school , and then how long did it take you before you actually owned your own shop ?
Speaker 2So I worked under two salons and I think it was like around year three or four , probably year three . I worked for one salon for about a year and then another salon for about a year and a half , and at that point I was just like , okay , I can do this .
Speaker 1I honestly really wanted to do it in seattle .
Speaker 2Seattle seems like a pretty interesting place to do hair . Yeah , I I I didn't think that I was gonna
Tattoos and Life Stories
Speaker 2stay here . Um , when I got out , like , I thought I was just gonna like finish school , enjoy like boston for a little bit and then head back to the West coast . And uh , unfortunately I had a boyfriend and so I stayed .
Speaker 1Is that boyfriend your current husband ? No , okay .
Speaker 2But thank God I stayed Cause . Then I met him later . Okay , Um lucky him .
Speaker 2Yeah , definitely , I feel very lucky , um . So , yeah , I I ended up staying low . I found low . I thought , well , it was like this super cool town I'm from the country , remember , so like the bricks , you know the brick buildings and the cobblestone streets , and just like this downtown feel where you're like walking everywhere , I loved it . And they didn't really have any like higher end salons , um , and I didn't . I don't know if I really wanted to be like a high end salon , but I just didn't have that salon that like I imagined in like a city , and so I stayed and I'm here now .
Speaker 1So do you ? Do you consider yourself a high end salon in law , or how would you categorize yourself ?
Speaker 2Actually , uh , so we have a level system here , and so we have levels one through six , so we can cater to like anybody's beauty budget . Uh , it just depends on the experience that you are interested in . So , uh , we do have some stylists that are in the higher end , so there is an option for that . But , uh , when I think of like a higher end salon , I just think of like luxury , and you know , uh , not to say that we don't bring luxury to the table , but it's just a little bit more relaxed . Uh , it's kind of like I always call it like a community hub . You know , there's people walking in , there's people bringing their dogs . We got dog treats , we got dog bowls everywhere . Like you know , it's just kind of , um , like a community hub and I and I love that .
Speaker 2So it's a little bit more relaxed . It's not so like uptight maybe , I don't know , not so bougie .
Speaker 1Yeah , I was going to say I'm like it's not as bougie .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Okay , so I'm going to put you and Brett , our coach , on a hot seat on this one . Does he come and get his hair done here ?
Speaker 2Oh , my God , I'm so glad you asked . He used to .
Speaker 1What happened I ?
Speaker 2don't know .
Speaker 1Brett what happened ?
Speaker 2He says I cost too much .
Speaker 1What Brett says you cost too much , brett , quality cost .
Speaker 2Yeah right , he should know .
Speaker 1Yeah , he's got the bougiest gym around . Yeah , we will not talk about how much it charges . But also not cheap . It's worth every penny , that's right . That's why we still go there .
Speaker 2Yeah , we do . It is worth every penny . But yeah , and you know I will say I'm only behind the chair two days a week and I know that those two days are really hard for him , so I'll give him that .
Speaker 1He's the owner . He can take any day off he wants . Don't let him fool you with that .
Speaker 2Especially for , like , the amount of time he's in front of the camera . I mean , come on , man , get your shit together .
Speaker 1Okay , so we got the hard question out of the way , so we'll start off simple , like I do with everybody else what was your first tattoo ? Let's dig into that one .
Speaker 2Okay , so I had just finished basic training and there was a tattoo parlor right outside the base and of course I walked my little happy ass over there and I'm not really sure why I picked a koi fish , but it's a koi fish and it's okay it's on my right hip , like not in a super obvious place . Uh , my mother is mexican . You might understand and appreciate this , but I just really figured I should probably hide the first one . Oh yeah .
Speaker 2We're on the same page over there , but then I just didn't care after a while . But yeah , so that was my first one . It was in a spot that didn't really show too much , but a koi fish represents strength . That was one of the things that I was like . Yeah , that's me .
Speaker 2I just finished basic . So I have a koi fish and then I think my second one um , may have been my mermaids on my back . Uh , my sister and I . I came back from the military and I came , uh , my sister and I decided that we were going to get the same tattoos . So we actually have the same tattoo in the same spot , which is kind of cool .
Speaker 2Are you guys twins or just we are not twins yeah , they are two mermaids and they're holding hands , so they kind of and all of my work is very traditional it's definitely like heavy lines and stuff like that , definitely like heavy lines and stuff like that . So so it definitely all of it kind of stays the same in that sense .
Speaker 1So did you guys get this tattoo together at the same place , at the same time ?
Speaker 2We did . Yeah , and that place Corey Norris , I think , is his name .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2And he is in Grass Valley . That was it .
Speaker 1How did you guys like , did you feel bonded together a little bit closer ? Or what were the feelings after Especially getting something you know with a sibling that's matching ? You know , like I , have siblings , but we don't have anything matching . We're supposed to get one .
Speaker 2Yeah , my sister and I , I always felt close with my sister , but when I think we're really close in age too so we're 21 months apart and I think , as the older sister you know , she was always around , right , so she was only like a grade under me . So no matter where I went , she had to go . All her friends were her friends . You know , it was very much a small town kind of thing . So I think we did actually become more close after I left .
Speaker 1Okay , yeah , and so when I came back from the military , I just I don't know she wanted to do that with me and I was all for it . So you said you got the one , the koi fish , when you were in the military . Did you get any other ones while you were there , or just the ?
Speaker 2koi fish , no just the koi fish .
Speaker 1But that's what started everything . Yeah , okay , well , we'll stay in that general area . Let's go with the symbol that you have at the very top of your neck area .
Speaker 2Let's go with the symbol that you have at the very top of your neck . It's my um , it's my uh astrology sign , which is a cancer my birthday is July 16th .
Speaker 2I hate that one . Okay , tell me why you hate it , why you hate it and why did you get it ? Okay , um , so now I'm in korea . So I have a feeling this might have been like my like fourth one at this and you're actually like going in order anyway . So . So now I'm stationed in korea and , um , I go to this guy . I swear I had to like it was probably his house , I have no idea . You had to walk through like a back alley to go up some shady ass stairs Like I hate myself for that one . He had me standing up and every single time he like hit my spine . I swear I saw stars and like I was standing up .
Speaker 2I may have like locked my knees , but at one point I literally was wait , you were standing up the whole time I was standing up because I think he thought that I would be like less fidgety I don't even know and so finally I like ended up asking him .
Speaker 1No , he doesn't speak english I was gonna ask him like does he speak english ?
Speaker 2no , no , I'm in korea . God , this is like the worst idea ever . Okay , I'm also by myself .
Speaker 1How did you get to the picture ? Did you just show him a picture ?
Speaker 2Oh , yep , Yep , I did , I was like you know , and he yeah , it's ugly .
Speaker 1Okay , so , since we know you , you don't like it . I don't like it , but I don .
Speaker 2I literally thought it was crooked and I was just like oh my God , to make matters worse is not even straight .
Speaker 1It's not like you can fix it .
Speaker 2I did get it fixed . My recent tattooer kind of like evened it out for me , okay .
Speaker 1But yeah , my tattoos are so difficult to fix right , so it's crooked .
Speaker 2Yeah , especially like a circle . It's a circle , everyone , a lopsided circle . Yeah , it's supposed to be , and that was the other thing I forgot about this . It was supposed to be a moon , because I'm a moon sign .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2And I wanted like the six . You know , it looks like a 69 , which is supposed to resemble like the body of a crab , you know , and it doesn't look like a moon .
Speaker 1I thought it was like , just like a like , the representation of , like a water sign .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're not wrong .
Speaker 1I was like oh , okay , something like that . Yeah , all right . So we didn't like that one . No , so same thing , we'll stay there , let's go with this . No , I think that one's going to kind of lead us into here , so we'll kind of stay away from that for now . We'll come back to it . Talk to me about this bear .
Speaker 2Oh , yeah , I forget he's there too . This bear oh yeah , I forget he's there too . I'm pretty sure that in my um , my other life , I was a bear , and a grizzly bear at that .
Speaker 1Why ? What gives you that feeling that you were a grizzly bear ?
Speaker 2No , I really do . Just like love grizzly bears . I just think that they're like these beautiful , massive animals that will tear your face off will tear your face off and also could be cuddly and sweet how'd they make that happen ? Like little teddy bears thanks , disney right , um so , and then a little bit of like the california thing . So I'm rocking a whole bunch of reasons why I got that one . I think that one probably has the least background story . Just California bear Just liked it .
Speaker 1I dig . That bear has a really like fierce-looking face , but still kind of like friendly . It's the eyes . How old were you when you got that one ?
Speaker 2Ooh , I don't know , Probably over , yeah , no , maybe like 28 , 30 , 34 .
Speaker 1Did you get that in California ? No , no .
Speaker 2Nope , that is actually . That artist actually did a lot of my work . So that's Josh Brooklyn and he's out of Lowell Inc .
Speaker 1Oh , okay . Well , since we're kind of like touching on California , tell me about the California tattoo .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that was , I think , after the moon incident . I got that one just because I've always I don't know California's my home . You know , I got that one just because I've always I don't know California is my home . Uh , you know , I don't think I'll ever go back there . Um , but it's just such a beautiful state , you know there's so much like you got the mountains , you got the desert , you got beautiful agriculture , you have ranches , you have mountain life , you have ocean life . It's just like , I don't know , it's a beautiful , freaking state and if you've never been you need to go yeah , I love california .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's great food is so good . I mean , people are generally pretty awesome , like good , great people watching yes , like , so , yeah , I , I just love it . So it says Cali , grown , I think , and then the heart is yeah , it's got a little heart . Yeah , the heart is over where , like the area that I was born , Okay , or raised . I should say Sorry .
Speaker 1So that's kind of like on your shoulder blade . How did that compare in like pain , compared to the one that you got with like the circle and the mermaid ?
Speaker 2You know , it's so weird . I don't know like what it is , but I just don't remember any of them being painful until I was like 30 . And then , all of a sudden they became painful .
Speaker 1Threshold changed huh .
Speaker 2It really did . Oh , I guess my chess piece was probably next right .
Speaker 1Well , let's talk about that one . Yeah , let's talk about the chess piece , since we just mentioned it . Um , it's a pretty prominent piece , it is okay it's one of my favorites .
Speaker 2I love it . Um , you know , they are , uh , zombie hands for our and they are making a heart sign with their hands , and I think you got some roses on it . Yeah , I got some roses . That's actually a cover-up .
Speaker 1The roses are the cover-up part .
Speaker 2Yeah , I had two nautical stars under them Also . I thought we were crooked , so that's why I got the cover-up . But yeah , there's nautical stars under them Also . I thought we were crooked , so that's why I got the card . But yeah , there's nautical stars under there . I actually always forget that there are stars under there until I see like a picture of myself .
Speaker 1And then I'm like oh , my God . Yeah , because there's like two little stars over towards the end . Was that part of the original one or did ?
Speaker 2they add those . You mean these guys . Yeah , those are just part of the other one . They're part of the other one .
Speaker 1yeah , All right . So let's talk about the zombie hands . What inspired zombie hands and why zombie hands ? I'm like making a little heart .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Because normally you see people with the heart and like rays coming out , you know , like the traditional one .
Speaker 2Mm-hmm Okay she knows one , um , okay , a couple things I I think that we're gonna have a zombie apocalypse someday , okay , so you just want to be ready , yeah , uh , so I'm just gonna throw that out there . No , I'm just kidding .
Tattoo Stories and Military Memories
Speaker 2Um , I love like zombie movies , the idea of , like you know , people escaping from some crazy lab , like I , just so . That definitely was the inspiration behind the artwork . And then it was like the hands are like kind of peeling back , that you get the skin is like peeling back , so you kind of see the bones . But and then I love hearts , I just love hearts .
Speaker 1I can see why it's definitely one of your favorites . It's very artistic . It's like once you start looking at the details , like you said , the skin peeling back , the bones expose like the stitching kind . Of like Frankenstein , he has it all over his necks and stuff .
Speaker 2Yeah and then uh again . Like I like the hearts , I at the time I think I was , you know , a little on the emo-ish side throwing up my heart sign everywhere Like oh , that was a sad time in my life .
Speaker 1So when people can actually see it , do you get a lot of questions about that ?
Speaker 2Oh , my God , yeah , yep , that one , and then my pinups on my calves always .
Speaker 1Okay , so let's go to the pinups .
Speaker 2Conversation .
Speaker 1Okay , before we go to the pinups , what kind of questions do you get on your zombie hands ?
Speaker 2Yeah , Are those zombie hands ? I was like yeah , pretty obvious question . Yeah , um , yeah , I think they always ask if those are like zombie hands .
Speaker 1I'm like yep that's the number one question just like weird .
Speaker 2I was just telling my husband the other day when I was taking these pictures uh , for you , I'm like the one on my neck . I used to have like really short hair , so it was very like predominant , and when my hair was short I used to hate it so much because people would be like , hey , are you a hairdresser ? And I'd be like , first of all you know that . And then like , and then I realized , oh , it's this tattoo on my neck that like is telling everyone I'm a freaking hairdresser . So , um , yeah , just people just ask really obvious questions sometimes .
Speaker 1Yeah , I guess they ask obvious or really stupid questions about them , you know , but I don't want to say stupid . You still have short hair , by the way , just so people listening . She still has very short hair , but it's hiding a little bit more okay , so let's get to these pinups that you have on your calves , because obviously they uh attract a lot of attention and a lot of questions , so let's get to it .
Speaker 2They're very patriotic . I want you to think old school pinup One is riding a .50 cal . If you don't know what that is , that's a really big gun that you mount on top of a Humvee . I worked in the armory and when I was in the armory I also got trained on all the heavy weapons .
Speaker 1So part of the reason why I actually got deployed is because of my certifications the classic pinup on top of the 50 Cal with an American flag behind it . It's kind of . It's really cool though I love it that she's riding a 50 Cal , there's a big old flag . I'm like you , you can , it's typical . Like you see the nipples kind of protruding out .
Speaker 2She's got her heels on .
Speaker 1Yep , I can see why you get a lot of attention on that one .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm mostly men . I'm not going to lie , I have a lot of naked girls on my body . I realized this morning that I actually forgot my Betty page that's on my side , totally forgot about her . But she's another naked woman on me , um , but yeah , and then she's also wearing a beret . So I wore a beret in the military . So that was , yeah , that's me . That's like a , that's like a cartoon vision of me .
Speaker 1What Like the anime version of ?
Speaker 2you .
Speaker 1Okay , all right . So what about the other one ?
Speaker 2So the other one , going back to that whole story , in Iraq we didn't travel with mechanics and so I was in charge of my MV and I was in charge of everything about it the engine , the mount , the radio , everything , the wheels , and at the end of the night we would have to like take our trucks in and service them and just make sure everything was good to go for the next day . Well , we had a bad trip engine with like old school army manuals , like nut by nut , just like it was crazy . It was probably the craziest thing , the craziest puzzle I've ever done in my life . We did have like a little bit of assistance from the army , but like they thought we were a joke , they were just like , oh God , here comes the army asking us questions again so it was just like they literally gave us like these three ring binders that would like laminated pages inside .
Speaker 2Figure one do this , figure two do this . So yeah , I'm like really proud of that . I I freaking fixed my engine .
Speaker 1That's a huge accomplishment , like swapping out an engine and fixing it , like with a binder , with a binder step by step .
Speaker 2Hey , I'm like also not good at stuff like that , so like yeah , it was just a project . That's even a bigger feat than if you're not good at that , totally , it's nothing . Not where my , uh , my wheelhouse ? How long did it take you to do that ? Oh , we , I only had like two days like we had to like we were there 24 7 like getting it done .
Speaker 1Yeah , it was insane that's a pretty , that's a pretty insane cool story like you can be like yeah , I swapped an engine on a Humvee in Iraq with a binder .
Speaker 2Yeah , I will say it's easy , like if you just follow the instructions right . Like it's pretty they make it as easy as possible .
Speaker 1I'm sure that's why they build them that way , you know , because you can't have super complicated things out in the field , otherwise you know you're never going to get anywhere .
Speaker 2Well , you need your people to be able to do it Right . You know so , yeah , but yeah , it was very cool . So , I got my pen up on an engine and she's , like you know , hand in the air holding a wrench , being like hell . Yeah , I did this .
Speaker 1Is that your other side of your military ? Yeah , the mechanic and then the writing goods .
Speaker 2Yeah , exactly .
Speaker 1That's really cool . All right , so take us to the Betty Page then , since we kind of talked about her .
Speaker 2So I have a Betty Page on my side . It's just a classic photo of Betty Page with , like , her hands behind her back , or her neck , I should say , and you know that S shape body that she had , you know , with her legs kind of like crossed over to the side . I just love her . And if you go into my bathroom at the shop later , uh , you will see a wall that I have done of like old vintage pinups and my old shop used to kind of really resemble that . I had , like Marilyn Monroe , james Dean , all that . So I kind of like lost a lot of those , like that part of it , but I just really truly loved that era . I think I was born in the wrong decade , um , so I think that's kind of why I just love the pinups and also , um , the word Eiffel . So the name of my salon is Eiffel beauty . The word Eiffel is a name of a pin-up magazine back in the 60s and 70s oh okay .
Speaker 1That makes sense . Cool , that's a very interesting story on how you got your name for your salon .
Speaker 2The wallpaper that I made in the bathroom is all the covers of an Eiffel magazine .
Speaker 1I'm going to have to visit this bathroom and take some pictures so people can see it's pretty cool , okay , so I want to go to this other pinup slash girl that you have with like a rose in her hair .
Speaker 2So that's my mother , that's my cartoon version and my anime mother , oh , okay . I told you she's Mexican , so you know , I kind of have like the classic , like frilly dress , the roses in her hair .
Speaker 2You know she naturally has black curly hair , and then this is my dad , dad , the wild cowboy that she met that's crazy um , you know , I had him make sure that his nose was like a little crooked , uh , because my dad's nose is crooked , it's obviously like , uh , you know , just kind of an interpretation of my father . I've always imagined my dad as being this like young cowboy kind of thing from Kansas , and so , yeah , I've always wanted to put their signatures on the top . They are not together anymore . This is the closest they've been in years .
Speaker 1Do you make them talk to each other ?
Speaker 2Yeah , Be nice .
Speaker 1What do they say when you got them and were they together when you got them ?
Speaker 2No , they were not together . My dad , really , I would say just , you know , saying nothing means a lot .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2So , yeah , I think I got a bunch of nothing . And then my mother yeah , just , my mom's thing was always like how are you going to get a job ? Or like what you know , you know , like what about when you get married , like you know you're , it's just going to be like showing , and so they always worry about that stuff I'm like , I got my own job , mom , like I mean I think she was even saying that after I opened my salon .
Speaker 1What's funny is I think my parents asked me the same question one time who's going to hire ?
Speaker 2you .
Speaker 1At that point I'm like Dad , I own my own gym , no one's going to fire me , they forget . And I'm like look at me , now I have a real job in the corporate world . Yeah , in the corporate world , exactly . And I'm like look at me , now I know I have a real job . Well , not like that In the corporate world .
Speaker 2Yeah , in the corporate world , exactly , and I have a lot of tattoos Nobody cares , nobody cares .
Speaker 1Now , yeah , I'm like it's not like 1980 , where everybody cared Like ooh .
Speaker 2Oh my God , I see like police officers doing details like so crazy . Yeah , like you have doctors that are tatted .
Speaker 1Yeah , so it's not the same anymore . No , no .
Symbolic Tattoos and Personal Stories
Speaker 1When did you get the inspiration to put those on there ? Was it like right , when you got your first tattoo , like midway through your journey ?
Speaker 2No , I think these two came after my calf tattoo . I feel like there was just definitely like a six-year period where I was just getting something all the time . I knew I just wanted to have some sort of dedication to my parents .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think when you love your parents , I think you always want some kind of tribute . You know , especially if you love , if you love tattoos and you love your parents , you always have something .
Speaker 2That's why I like to make it just even more personal . I want to put their signatures on it , yeah .
Speaker 1And I like that you did it in like a um , like that pinup style kind of rendition , because it's not . I think you have to have the perfect artist to do like a portrait to come out perfect , Otherwise it just looks weird .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1But the way you did it it's like really like a beautiful tattoo , but it doesn't ruin the aesthetic of what you want . It's captured like in a great way , where you're like you can't ruin that .
Speaker 2It's when they're , when they're doing it , because that's yeah , I will say um , my betty page is a portrait and it's . You're right , it's hard , it's , it's not .
Speaker 1She's not perfect , that's I will say yeah , I think portraits is one of the most difficult things to get right . Yeah , Because every proportion's got to be like spot on , Spot on . You can't , because you can't correct that . Like if you do line work and you make it crooked , you can make the line maybe a little thicker Right , or you can fix it with something else . Mess up a portrait their mouth that smiles crooked is crooked .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're going to make bigger lips .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm crooked , yeah , you're gonna make bigger lips . Yeah , I'm like , no , my mom doesn't have those big old injected lips . Or I'm like , oh wait , when did she get like a wonky eye ?
Speaker 2yeah , exactly slow on that eye , oh my god okay , uh , what about the tattoo on your hand ?
Speaker 1And why on the hand Hand ?
Speaker 2tattoos are always very , very . The most interesting tattoos to me are hand tattoos and like face tattoos yeah . Because they're so bold . I feel like I was really rebelling when I did this one .
Speaker 1I don't like against what and who ?
Speaker 2Well , I okay . So when I came back from Iraq , I definitely had some hard times . So there was like a period of like I don't know . I want to say like six years that I kind of did struggle a little bit with depression and just kind of like getting back into civilization . I also like got out like of the military when I or no , I'm sorry , yeah , I got out of the military when I came back from Iraq . I was only in the military for like four more months and then I got out .
Speaker 2So it was very strange to go from like that life and then uh , back to my desk job for like four months and then , like now in the real world , um , so it was , it was hard and I just I think that I was just rebelling . Like you know , I think most people my age at this time , right , I'm like around 25 . Most people my age are like finishing college and like having kids , and I'm like around 25 . Most people my age are like finishing college and like having kids and I'm like dude , I I want to smoke pot right now Like I haven't like had fun the last like eight years . You know , I've been deploying , I've been in the military and I've been very dedicated and disciplined and , um , the complete opposite , right . So I just went from one extreme to the next , which also wasn't good , but I will say my gym life is really what pulled me out of all that . So Okay .
Speaker 2All right .
Speaker 1So why that tattoo ? Then like get rebelling , but why that ?
Speaker 2image . No , so like I enjoy , like hunting . I did an elk hunting trip when I was in Montana once with some military friends and I always just like I , literally to this day will always always remember that um trip . It was just amazing . We were out on horsebacks , um in the snow , like I saw wolves , I saw bears , we and we took out two Elks . Like it was just like the most , like it was amazing . So I always , I think my thought was to kind of like that story , but at the same time my finger wasn't big enough for an elk head , so he made it more like a deer head and long story short , no deer has antlers that big . I don't know what I was thinking , but I like it sometimes .
Speaker 1So it's just a good memory from that trip .
Speaker 2Kind of Jacked up memory .
Speaker 1Okay , so if you had a , if you can go back and change that , would you move that tattoo somewhere else ? Yeah , totally , where would you put it ?
Speaker 2I think I would just put it higher up .
Speaker 1Like on the actual , like the whole hand , instead of like it running down the finger .
Speaker 2Yeah , so I have the head and like the neck of the deer is like on my middle finger and I would actually like move it above my knuckle , so like the top of my hand was like the art .
Speaker 1Okay , but you know , can't move that one , nope .
Speaker 2I don't know if you know this , but it's permanent .
Speaker 1I'm like I guess you can go and get it zapped off , but I heard it's very painful .
Speaker 2I can't believe some of the things I see , though , like it's amazing what they do .
Speaker 1I know it's crazy .
Speaker 2It is crazy .
Speaker 1Okay , we're getting close . Here we are . I want to go to the one , the big piece that you have on your arm .
Speaker 2It's a long one .
Speaker 1Yeah , so let's go to that one and then we'll go to the big finale , the obvious one that connects you to the shop . I'll leave that one for the end , okay , but let's go with the arm , because that's a pretty big piece with a lot of art in it . So I don't know if everything has a different meaning to it , because sometimes it does , but take me through that one .
Speaker 2Okay . So when I was in Iraq I was doodling . I like to just like draw , but more like sketch doodle . I don't know if I really want to call myself a drawer .
Speaker 2I think it's a nervous thing that I like to do . I will and I like to do like , little , small little lines , stuff like that . So I had drawn an actual grenade . Um , and that was I . The grenade was a majority of this eight by 10 piece of paper that I drew it on Right , okay , and um , so it was big , and then every single like imagine all the squares on it , you know , on the outside of like the grenade .
Speaker 2Every little square had a symbol in it and every symbol meant something to my time in Iraq . So you know , you kind of , you got the heart in there , you got your um , the healing snakes , the Phoenix rising from above , the Lotus flower , um , you got some doves . The stars reprimand , uh represented um all the people that I know that I lost in Iraq , represented um , all the people that I know that I lost in iraq . Um , and then right in the center , so , anyways , I , so all those symbols right were in all the little squares , and so when I took , when fast forward , I took this picture to a tattoo artist . When I came back , this guy was in cambridge somewhere . I don't know why . I found him . His name is , I remember him . I remember his name was Sky and I also remember him being from Northern California . So I was like hell .
Speaker 1yeah , there's the connection .
Speaker 2Yeah , and when I took the art to him he was just like dude , this is really cool , but like it's so intricate that like it needs to be like your whole back or like we need to like change it . So he actually took the whole drawing and turned it what I like to call inside out . So now the center of it is the outline of the grenade , the OM symbol is inside the grenade and then all those symbols are on the outside .
Speaker 1So then you have a 30 in there , right , is that , or is that it ?
Speaker 2the om . Okay , that's the om symbol . Looks like a 30 I know , I'm like getting old . That's the other thing . Right ?
Speaker 1you don't want portraits when you get old they age with you , they start to get wrinkles .
Speaker 2So , oh , yeah , that's what you're saying . Yep , so it's a big piece . I love what he did to it .
Speaker 1No , I look at that . It looks really great .
Speaker 2Yeah , I love it way more than what I had come up with , so I love it .
Speaker 1I'm like like your idea sounds great but , like you said , it's very intricate to draw that , especially on your arm if you're doing a grenade , with all those pictures being really small yeah , which is like the kind of stuff I like to do because I'm like that's a lot of time in the chair right .
Speaker 1That's very little room for error because and then people really would have to squint to see that because like , oh , what's in it ? So the idea of him turning it inside out is really a great idea . Yeah , because now you see all the intricacies of what you drew , and then the grenade . Everyone still see that that's a grenade .
Speaker 2So yeah , people always find the grenade . They they never see it right off the bat , but when when they do see it , they're just like how ironic that you have the national peace symbol inside of a grenade . And I'm like , yeah , well , war's fucked up .
Speaker 1Well , do you get a lot of questions on that one ?
Speaker 2I do . I don't usually elaborate too much , but I just kind of like , let them come up with their own theory .
Speaker 1Yeah , that seems like a little bit more personal to go into .
Speaker 2It is . I think that's why I'm like . You know , I don't talk about it that much , I just kind of like yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , I feel like there's a lot . There's just a lot to unpack on that For a stranger just to be like , hey , what does that mean ? Yeah , exactly , it's like ah , this is something I got .
Speaker 2A lot of times people will point something out on it , and it's usually either the grenade or the healing snakes .
Speaker 1I like the flowers on the bottom . I like that nice subtle pink where everything sits at . I think it rounds it off really well , thank you . It gives it that like feminine touch at the bottom .
Speaker 2Mm-hmm .
Speaker 1All right , grand finale here , oh the grand finale .
Speaker 2yeah , so I mean I got East Coast , west Coast going on .
Speaker 1Oh wait , we still got to get the other end . We went California .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Now we going on . Oh wait , we still got to get the other and we went california .
Speaker 2Yeah , now we got to get the massachusetts one that you have right , and then we'll go to the grand finale , because we did okay , okay , okay , geez , I got one more tattoo , so I thought I did um , so right , I got california on my left shoulder , and then I got massachusetts on my right shoulder , and and so , like I said earlier , the heart is over my hometown in California , and then the heart is over Lowell in Massachusetts , and then , um , it says Eiffel beauty . So that was my tribute to the shop .
Speaker 1When did you finally get that one ? I ?
Speaker 2think I probably got it like year . Oh , I got , I know . Actually I went to Seattle , so I would say within the first year .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1First year .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was bold .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm like you better stick with it at that point . I hope I don't go under . Well , I'm like , I hope you don't decide to make a name change at that point .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , seriously , Rebrand . What the heck is .
Speaker 1Eyeful Beauty . They're like don't worry about it , yeah , it's something yeah . Well , you can always just say it was the magazine back from the day . So you do have a backup .
Speaker 2Yeah , just give them a fat lie , all right . Just give them a fat lie , all right . I have a feeling I'm going to be here forever . So eyeful beauty it is .
Speaker 1There it is , it's permanent .
Speaker 2Yep .
Speaker 1Just like it is on your skin .
Speaker 2Yep .
Speaker 1All right . So the most obvious one that everybody asks you back to the reference of the hair , are you ?
Speaker 2a hairdresser ? Exactly the scissors . Yeah , are you a hairdresser ?
Speaker 1Exactly the scissors .
Speaker 2Yeah , so I have a straight edge and scissors on my neck because I am the barber here . I mostly do short haircuts and beards , lots of shags and texture , so short hair is definitely my thing . I picked hair because when I was in Iraq I was cutting all my troops hair because they were scared to go to the local barber .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2So that was the first time I actually picked up a clipper and I really promoted through the base and through , like we had a recruiting center right down the street so I had a lot of like the recruiters . I just did a lot of short hair .
Passion for Hair and Tattoos
Speaker 2Um , I educated for a company and I taught color for almost six years , but I ended up coming back to hair cutting . It's just my jam , it's where I feel most comfortable .
Speaker 1You got to do what you love , right yeah ?
Speaker 2So I got my straight edge for the barber aspect and my scissors for the cosmetology .
Speaker 1Did you get that after you graduated or when you knew you wanted to do this career path ?
Speaker 2It's actually probably like one of my last ones I got .
Speaker 1So you got Eyeful Beauty before that .
Speaker 2Yeah , huh , yeah . So I was teaching with this company for about eight years and I taught color for about six , and the last two years that I was with them , I was part of the barbering team . And when I became part of the barbering team , that's when I got it . I wanted to like have it when I was out on the road , so yeah , I like it , though .
Speaker 1It's a good placement . Yes , some people can pull it off like neck tattoos Like I don't have a neck , so I can never pull off a neck tattoo . It's like good placement . Yes , some people can pull it off like neck tattoos Like I don't have a neck , so I can never pull off a neck tattoo . It's like a blob . Yeah , it's like maybe I got like half an inch of a neck .
Speaker 2I was going to say maybe just a tiny little heart .
Speaker 1I put like dots .
Speaker 2Does your wife have a lot of tattoos ?
Speaker 1No , no , she has maybe like four , not that many .
Speaker 2And how many tattoos do you have ?
Speaker 1Probably a couple more than you do .
Speaker 2Okay yeah , are they all like together or are they separated , like mine are ?
Speaker 1Right arm , left arm , back side , ankle foot yeah , so all over the place , okay , but keeping the chest clean , Okay . I would like to do something on the neck , but I don't have a neck , so that's not going to happen . Nothing on the hands .
Speaker 2Have you now . This is about you . Okay . Do you have any weightlifting tattoos ? I do you do . What do you got ? I ?
Speaker 1have an Olympic weightlifter doing a snatch in the three positions on my back .
Speaker 2We both have one . Oh , in all three positions .
Speaker 1So from the start to the middle , to where he's all the way at the bottom , nice . And we both have matching ones .
Speaker 2Who , you and Janelle . Yeah , me and Janelle Nice .
Speaker 1We got that in Colorado .
Speaker 2That's cool .
Speaker 1Second most painful tattoo I've ever gotten . Oh really yeah .
Speaker 2My neck was really painful , but my hand was the worst .
Speaker 1Yeah , because right on part of it hit the shoulder blade and it's all blacked . So it's all black because it's just the outline and it's all blacked in . Yeah , it hurts so much how big , are they okay cool two inches each guy yeah cool , but there's three of them . And then you have the barbell circle , like right , yeah yeah , I , um , I don't know I have .
Speaker 2I have a couple things on the horizon , but I haven't yeah , what are you thinking of coming like ? What's next ? So I have a thigh piece that I really want to get done . I love the desert , I love New Mexico , I love Mexico . I just love that like desert beach life , and so it's like a desert with the beach , kind of like coming up with cactuses .
Speaker 2Ooh nice , the original drawing . It's also a desert , with the beach kind of like coming up with cactuses . Oh , nice , um , the original drawing , it's also a heart shape . Um , and then that the heart , the actual shape of the heart , was , um , what do you call it ? Like um , barbed wire fencing oh okay , um , but I just haven't decided if I really want to pull the trigger with the barbed wire fencing . Either it was going to be like the kind of like that fencing , or maybe making it look like more of an old mirror .
Speaker 1Oh , okay .
Speaker 2With like the picture on the inside .
Speaker 1So one tattoo artist gave me really good advice when you're debating on what to do . Really good advice when you're debating on what to do . He's like get the tattoo drawn out , put it in your mirror and look at it every day for like a month .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1And if you fall in love with it after a month , that's the picture you get .
Speaker 2And if not , put the other one on and see which one you feel comfortable with . I've been holding onto this one for like four years .
Speaker 1Yeah , but it's different when you visually put it on and see it , because you kind of start to see it and imagining that tattoo on yourself and I was like that's a really good idea , because then you get an idea of what it's like to see it every single day .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , I still like the idea of the barbed wire . It just feels like this is you ? Yeah . It's you anyway , I don't want to do it , but I kind of do it if I have to .
Speaker 1It's just calling to you .
Speaker 2At least it just won't be like the barbed wire band around my bicep , who's that actress from Baywatch that had the- .
Speaker 1Pamela Anderson yeah who also had a movie called Barbed Wire .
Speaker 2I did not know that . Yeah , she has a movie called Barbed wire .
Speaker 1I did not know that , yeah , she has a movie called barbed wire . It's very bad . Yeah , yeah , she I think . Uh , if I remember correctly , she was like an , like an action star . I'm like so unbelievable . So unbelievable .
Speaker 1There's a lot of action on the beach yeah , stick to stick to beach action scenes much better , okay , so before we close off here , once again , just tell us a little bit about your shop , where you're located , a little bit about your social media , some of the services that you offer . So if anyone hears you know , hears this that's nearby , maybe they can come by check out your shop , uh , and , you know , get one of the wonderful services that you offer .
Speaker 2Yeah , definitely , well , thank you . So again , my name is Megan Osborne . I own Eiffel Beauty in downtown Lowell . We are a salon and barbershop open to our community open for the open to our community . Um , we have different price points for everyone's beauty budget . So if you are interested in speaking with us , we can always sit down and do a consultation on whatever you're looking to get done . We have curly , we have a curly hair wait , sorry , we have a curly hair specialist . We have an extension specialist . We have a short hair specialist . We have a fashion shade specialist . So , um , we definitely have a team here that's like super educated and wicked creative . Um , I am very proud of my team right now . We really drive really well . Um , but we work as a team here . So if you're looking for that type of environment , come on down .
Speaker 1And what is your social media page ?
Speaker 2So you can find us at Eiffel Beauty Salon or Megan Hara .
Speaker 1All right . Well , Megan , thank you for being on the show . It's been wonderful to have you and hear some of your amazing stories from the background of your tattoos , and you know . Thank you for your service . Yeah , you know , it's great to have you here .
Speaker 2Thank you , I appreciate it .
Speaker 1And Brett , don't forget to come back .
Speaker 2Yeah , Brett , get your butt back in my chair .
Speaker 1And again , this has been your host Tinoch , on another episode of the Ink Tales Podcast . I'll see you on the next one . Thanks for joining me this week for another episode . Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at the Ink Tales Podcast and our website at inktaespodcastcom , where you can see photos of all our guests and their website at inktalespodcastcom , where you can see photos of all our guests and their tattoos . Please subscribe to the show to hear more fun stories from exciting guests . Who knows , it might be you . You .
