Brandon salon hopes tattoo removals, job training will offer hand up to people in recovery
Studio Serenity wants to remove employment barriers
Six years ago, Jessica Chartier was fighting to get her life back on track after years of living with addiction.
When she started her recovery, she hadn't graduated high school, had no formal employment training and had been incarcerated. It felt impossible to find a job in Brandon, Man., where she lives, she said.
"I had nothing that I could put on a resume," said Chartier.
When she heard similar stories from others in Narcotics Anonymous meetings, she wanted to make a difference.
That's why she's opening Studio Serenity with her best friend, Sasha Boyd — who she met in recovery — which will offer tattoos, tattoo removals and haircuts.
The body services shop has also created a program to train and certify people who face employment barriers due to recovery or incarceration. They'll help with tattoo removals.
Boyd, a hairdresser and Red Seal barber, has been in recovery from methamphetamine addiction for two years. She says her hair salon chair will be a safe place where people can talk about what they are going through.
She and Chartier hope their shop will show people it's possible to recover and that "sobriety is the new cool."
"I hope that the more we talk about it, the less of a stigma that it is. I'm not ashamed to say that I recovered from it. I'm proud that I can be an advocate for recovery and say that it is possible," said Boyd.
As part of that message, the studio's walls will be decorated with photos from people in the recovery community.
Studio Serenity is located beside the John Howard Society in the heart of Brandon's downtown district — a location Boyd appreciates, because it's near many of the city's recovery resources and the bus station, making it more accessible.
The shop officially opens on Saturday, but Boyd and Chartier have already started working with clients in the last couple of weeks.
That includes Anthony Campbell, who started getting tattoos from Chartier soon after he began his recovery in 2021.
He says the city needs something like Studio Serenity to help people struggling to find employment after recovery or incarceration. When he got out of prison, he felt hopeless because he couldn't find a job, he said. His search was also stymied by his facial tattoos.
He eventually found work in 2022 and started getting some of his tattoos removed at Brandon's Skin and Vein Centre.
"It's a life change … to remove the face tattoos," said Campbell, who's planning to get a tattoo removed from his hand at Studio Serenity.
Facial tattoos 'a big impediment'
Studio Serenity has partnered with its neighbours, the John Howard Society of Brandon — a support organization that works with people who have been incarcerated — to offer tattoo removals on a cost-recovery basis.
The organization has rented a space and offered three months rent-free, along with funding to purchase the tattoo removal equipment and other tools, said Ross Robinson, its executive director.
The partnership is a good fit, he said.
"Facial gang tattoos are a big impediment to getting ahead in society," said Robinson. "First impressions are 'killer,' and to improve a person's first impression is really important."
Chartier had her first recovery meeting at the John Howard, so it feels like a full-circle journey to work with the non-profit, she said.
Studio Serenity is named after the Serenity Prayer — a prayer said at the end of meetings in some recovery groups. Chartier says it's gotten her through some of the toughest moments of her life.
Serenity is also a reference to peace and calm, something she hopes to bring to her clients' lives.
"When you come into recovery there's a lot of shame and guilt, and that's a consistent reminder when you have that [tattoo] on your body," Chartier said.
"So, if we can help people to remove that and love themselves and the skin they're in, that will just boost self-esteem, boost employment opportunities."
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