A teenager has spent all of her savings opening her own business which is bucking the trend in the face of continued challenges facing Wales’ high streets. Elle Williams ditched sixth form and university to take on an intensive course in the specific but thriving industry of paramedical cosmetic tattooing and opened her own premises Black Rose Permanent Makeup and Aesthetics in Chepstow town centre in November.
Elle, who has Tourette’s and has suffered bullying from a young age, tattoos anyone who wants permanent cosmetic work but specialises in tattooing victims of domestic abuse, people who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and people with alopecia. She explained how she is at her happiest when working with clients who have experienced traumatic medical issues after realising the significant positive impact she can have on their lives.
“I knew from a young age that I wanted to do something bold in my life, something different,” Elle recalled, proudly studying her impressive, bright new space which she’s spent a month renovating and where self-employed beauticians and masseurs rent rooms from her too. “I had to think outside the box because I always thought I was quite limited. I was very creative growing up and really into art at school and dance and musical theatre too. But school was very difficult and the style of learning didn’t come naturally to me because of my Tourette’s. I had physical tics which meant I would sometimes throw pens across the classroom when I was stressed – especially during exam season. The tics were very bad at times – I’d often stop myself from breathing and would ram by elbow into my side until I was bruised. No-one really understood me and I got bullied a lot. I thought I wasn’t going to get anywhere in life because no-one took me seriously.”
