Stacie Becker is not your typical tattoo artist. The 38-year-old sophomore studio art major, who balances classes with her full-time job in a tattoo parlor, specializes in nipples.
麻豆精品 S淸My work] isn 麻豆精品 S檛 about business for me. It 麻豆精品 S檚 about giving women their dignity back. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S擲tacie Becker
麻豆精品 S淚 never thought my decisions would lead to this, 麻豆精品 S� Becker says of her unlikely path. 麻豆精品 S淭he reward 麻豆精品 S� I can 麻豆精品 S檛 really put it into words. 麻豆精品 S�
Becker 麻豆精品 S檚 enthusiasm is not all her own. It 麻豆精品 S檚 a reflection from her clients at Empower Tattoos in Altamonte Springs, where breast cancer survivors look in a mirror after maybe two hours under Becker 麻豆精品 S檚 magical talent and see what they thought had been lost forever: completeness.
From the most basic business standpoint, Becker is filling a need that previously had few real answers. Reconstructive surgeons can build breasts back up for women who have undergone mastectomies. They can even attempt an additional procedure to construct areolas, which means more cutting, folding and stitching. But that final step does not usually restore a realistic appearance long-term. It 麻豆精品 S檚 like a flower stem without the petals, leaving patients with constant reminders of what has been lost.
Or those surgeons can send patients to the tattoo parlor, where Becker uses less invasive instruments to create 3D tattoos that restore the shape and pigmentation of areolas. It 麻豆精品 S檚 easier and cheaper than surgery and, plainly speaking, she makes nipples look as close as possible to the way they did before surgery.
麻豆精品 S淲hen a woman gets her cherries back, 麻豆精品 S� as Becker puts it, 麻豆精品 S渋t changes her quality of life immediately. I 麻豆精品 S檝e seen how much it means. 麻豆精品 S�
What you hear in Becker 麻豆精品 S檚 message isn 麻豆精品 S檛 sales or marketing. She 麻豆精品 S檚 only worked with the medical community since late 2018 and officially launched Empower in the spring of 2019, so even she is still surprised to be discussing how tattoos impact the lives of breast cancer survivors.
麻豆精品 S淭his isn 麻豆精品 S檛 at all what I once thought I was supposed to do, 麻豆精品 S� she says. Like a priceless piece of art, her purpose has been woven together across four winding decades.
Finding Her Calling
Of the hundreds of pictures Becker drew as a child, she remembers the fountain. Actually, she remembers her grandmother drawing Becker drawing the fountain. 麻豆精品 S淲e had a cool bond, 麻豆精品 S� she says. Art became the core of her memories and of her passion, but it wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 be her major 麻豆精品 S� first at the University of Miami and then for a semester at UCF nearly 20 years ago. The adults knew better, of course: art 麻豆精品 S檚 a great hobby, but how will you make a living at it?
So Becker studied business while working at a bank.
麻豆精品 S淪omething was completely missing, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
Becker 麻豆精品 S檚 husband, Mike, saw some of the pieces she 麻豆精品 S檇 been painting on the side and suggested she apprentice as a tattoo artist. Together, they opened their own shop in 2009. Occasionally, she 麻豆精品 S檇 use her expertise to help a client cover up a scar. But the nexus happened in November 2018 when she designed a pink ribbon on the neck of a breast-cancer survivor. The woman 麻豆精品 S檚 plastic surgeon, Edgar Sosa, saw the clean lines of the tattoo and contacted Becker to see if she could put the finishing touches on his patients by creating nipples. That 麻豆精品 S檚 when she did a little research and found:
- More than 100,000 breast-cancer patients undergo some form of mastectomy every year in the U.S.
- One in eight women will be affected at some point in their lives.
- requires most types of health insurance carriers to cover all stages of reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy for breast cancer patients.
The more she studied, the more Becker realized tattoos would be a simple way to finish the difficult journey for breast cancer patients. No more surgery. No more poking and prodding. And no huge medical bill.
麻豆精品 S淚t isn 麻豆精品 S檛 about business for me, 麻豆精品 S� Becker says. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 about giving women their dignity back. 麻豆精品 S�
Only it hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 been quite so simple. There 麻豆精品 S檚 still the stigma of tattoos in the medical community. Unfortunately, and perhaps predictably, insurance companies are more likely to reimburse for costly and painful surgical restoration of areolas rather than preferred alternatives 麻豆精品 S� like tattoos. This despite the fact that many surgeons like Sosa and Charles Newman (another Orlando-area specialist who now refers patients to Empower) admit that the tattoo nipple is more authentic.
Becker has become relentless, reaching out to government officials, insurance coalitions, surgeons and the American Cancer Society. 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檓 willing to work with everyone because too many people need this, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檓 not slowing down. 麻豆精品 S�
Her client stories provide the fuel. Like her first breast-cancer patient after launching Empower. A retired kindergarten teacher who didn 麻豆精品 S檛 want more surgery, she just wanted to feel like herself again. Becker consulted with the woman, then went to work on the tattoos. Two hours later, Becker took a picture of the woman looking in the mirror 麻豆精品 S� the way her grandmother once painted a picture of Becker painting a fountain.
麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檒l never forget the look on her face, 麻豆精品 S� says Becker. 麻豆精品 S淎t that moment, it dawned on her 麻豆精品 S� and on me 麻豆精品 S� what it meant to have her breasts complete. 麻豆精品 S�
