How BratTats Happened
What kid doesn’t want to be like their mom or dad? That’s exactly how BratTats was created. A sweet, sassy 4 years old wanted to be like her mom with a REAL tattoo. The duo soon realized they weren’t the only ones loving bold ink.
What is the ink? Ink is a beautiful way to communicate with others. Founder, Calinn Green’s, tattoo sleeve is a memorial for her mother. Calinn says “I wanted a reason to tell strangers about my mom”. Ink has been a conversation starter, an icebreaker, and a mutual ground to appreciate artwork and creativity.
Calinn’s sleeve includes the name of her daughter “Serenity”. Serenity was 4 months old when her grandmother passed away. Although she didn’t know her grandma, she hears about her all the time when her mom proudly explains her cow tattoo.
BratTats is a veteran-owned, woman-owned business. BratTats is different because we are passionate about helping children express their creativity by encouraging them to be bold and unique. By hiring local artists we are able to support artists and their families.
About Calinn
Calinn Green is a veteran and military spouse who has been dedicating her time and talents to helping veterans succeed in business. Using multiple platforms online and networking in the area, she is able to bridge the gap between veterans and civilians.
As a photographer and videographer, she has created videos to help veterans communicate their passion and the desire to continue serving in the community after serving in the military. She is passionate about sharing veteran stories and experiences in a positive way adding credibility to veteran professionals.
Calinn immersed herself in the Trust Vets community this last year. Trust Vets is an organization for veteran professionals and business owners. Leading Trust Vets meetings in the south metro, Calinn is connecting those in business and strengthening the community of veterans who crave a support system. She has opened the veteran networking meetings inviting civilians supporting veterans to help integrate and create a common thread of interest between patriots and veterans.
Managing social media for Trust Vets, Calinn is able to visually communicate the importance of doing business with veterans and the value veterans have in the community. Calinn encourages her peers to tell their stories to help people connect with the person behind the business.
As a spouse, Calinn identified a need for a spouse group that was not branch, or squadron specific. She started a spouse group and has over 60 members in a few short months. This group has been crucial to helping families connect with each other and also learn and discuss resources that are available.
Calinn identifies herself as a veteran advocate and enjoys helping in any way possible. This last month Calinn helped lead the Flags for Fort Snelling mission along with 3 others. Organizing thousands of volunteers and placing flags at each headstone for the first time in over 35 years helped bring the community together to support our fallen and families of the fallen. Though this tradition Calinn made certain that the community knew how important this symbol was to our veterans who are still living. Bringing the community together for the fall has shown that Minnesotans are grateful for the sacrifices that have been made and they support our veterans.
The Story of Calinn’s Sleeve Tattoo
Roses
The last few years my mom really enjoyed walking around the farm and gardening. My mom was so beautiful and full of life. She loved music, especially Christian pop music on KDWB. There’s a song “ I am a flower quickly fading. Here today and gone tomorrow.” was playing a lot after my mom passed and it resonated with me. She was this bright beautiful flower we got to enjoy for a brief moment.
My mom was always the one to “stop and smell the roses” she took the time to enjoy little things. I loved going on walks with her and pointing out small fascinating things. When we went on trips together we would just explore and find entertainment in the mundane.
Serenity- My daughter has a strong connection to my mom. She’s never known Grandma Wendy and for years it was too difficult for me to talk about her. Serenity will say things like “Grandma Wendy would like this” and she’s always right. She helped me get through the hardest thing in my life, losing my mom was so painful. Her young little mind would ask me powerful questions like “If people go to heaven when they die, why is everyone so sad when people die. They should be happy. Cows are in heaven.” My mom was a dairy farmer. Comments like that made me so happy and sad at the same time.
Serenity was a birth control baby. I went to a crisis center when I found out I was pregnant. I really did not want children and I knew it would change my life forever. I wanted a career and stability. My mom explained to me when I was a teen that she had an abortion before I was born. I didn’t realize how it had impacted her life until she was seeking support groups and therapy for it decades later. My mom’s experience and her transparency guided me to keep my little Serenity.
My mom was there in the hospital the day Serenity was born. She said she had never seen a baby being born and was so grateful to be able to be with me. She was supposed to be out of town that day but plans got canceled.
When my mom was in hospice she would say that she had the best medicine- and she would look at the little baby she was holding. It’s still so painful to think about my kids not being able to spend more time with my mom.
The Cow
Honestly, Holsteins weren’t my mom’s favorite but I thought it represented dairy farming. Originally the tattoo artist sketched bull and I laughed, you can’t milk a bull. Farming was a lot of work, and extremely taxing on my mom but to me, the cow represents how hardworking she was. She never complained about the manual labor or thought of it as a “man’s job”. My mom grew up on a farm too so she was always carrying her weight from the start. Without knowing it, she taught us about gender equality. The cow reminds me of how she cried any time we lost a calf. She was so compassionate and loved the animals. She took it very personally if any of the cows died.
The Headdress
My mom was in pageants as a teen. She was a gymnast, a baton twirler. And she loved reliving those days any chance she got. She loved playing dress up and acting goofy. She never did care what others thought of her silliness. The headdress represents her youth and her beauty. And a cow wearing a headdress- perfectly my mom!
I talk about my mom anytime someone compliments my ink. Like most people, the tattoo is a representation of a devastating time in my life. We have all grown so much from this pain and I wouldn’t have been the person I am today without my incredible mom
