ABOUT US
Your Body - Your Ink - Your Stick
Michelle Axium, CEO of Tatty Stick, is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in both Emergency Medicine and Family Practice. Passionate to share her knowledge of tattoo care, Michelle is inspired by the dedicated tattoo artists she meets throughout the country, appreciating their incredible talent, and working with them to grow as a community of amazing individuals.
BackGround
Michelle created the Tatty Stick brand in 2018 following extensive research on tattoo healing. Her work began when she took her son for his first tattoo on his 18th birthday. Michelle was surprised at the lack of post-care options and remembered using lotion on her own tattoos years earlier. Now, as a nurse practitioner with years of experience on wound healing, she knew there was a better way to heal tattoos.
As the creator of the Axiomm line of skin care products, Michelle had already created products for cuts, burns and abrasions. Through extensive research, Michelle formulated the Tatty Stick to ensure all ingredients were tattoo safe and would not cause fading. In fact, her son Joey refers to himself as “Patient Zero” because he was the first to test the Tatty Stick formula. Michelle believes nature has a lot to offer in tattoo healing, hence the tagline "Made from nature because you are too!"
Mission
Michelle poses this question: “when you were a child and skinned your knee; were you told to put lotion on it?” Certainly not. Then why are we healing tattoos with lotion? It is a wound. It needs to be treated correctly to get the best outcome.
The tattoo industry knows that ointments are not recommended for tattoo healing because the petroleum creates a barrier and delays healing but many don’t know that lotions also have petroleum in them (some ingredients have different names for petroleum and may not be obvious).
"The goal of healing a tattoo is to have vibrant looking tattoos that look amazing for years to come, reduce itching and heal quickly without infection." - MIchelle Axium
Michelle resides in Illinois with her husband Steve and is mother to a blended family of six beautiful girls and two handsome boys. She is also extremely proud to be the grandmother of two amazing grandchildren. Michelle enjoys a busy lifestyle that includes camping and traveling as well as enjoying time with her family.
Michelle still practices medicine, although most of efforts are focused on the Tatty Stick company, and supporting the tattoo community. You may see her at conventions, at tattoo shops or on social media promoting a better way to heal.