Right place, wrong day

As my story above goes, I stumbled upon SMP purely by chance - I went to my microblading training on the WRONG day. They just happened to be doing SMP training that day instead ... If that isn't FATE I don't know what is!

I started my business Inkd by AJ in 2019 and hit the ground running. My growth and accomplishments have been truly surreal... SMP came into my life when i needed it the most.

I'm a true believer in the Law of Attraction and the universe leading you where you need to be. You'll see me posting a lot about rainbows and 'signs' because manifesting and having an open heart to possibilities is a big part of my personal growth and healing journey ...

I guess I call my story "Healing and Hair Tattoos".

Me during my initial SMP training in 2019

Life doesn't always go as planned..

After graduating college in 2013, I left Canada to travel Europe spontaneously with a friend. After our Yacht week adventure in Croatia we decided to get working holiday visas and head to Australia.

I came to Australia with literally just a backpack full of clothes, no family and only one friend!

We were only meant to stay 6 months, but as fate would have it, within 4 days of arriving in Aus, I met and fell HARD for a beautiful Aussie man named Eli .... and never left!

Fast forward 4.5 years and we were the happiest we'd ever been. We were engaged, had our dream tropical lifestyle, and a wedding around the corner...

and then the unthinkable happened.

On October 17 2017, my beautiful fiance Eli was killed in a very tragic and sudden accident at sea.

My now guardian angel Eli and I one Christmas before his passing

Eli was a professional diver on a commercial fishing vessel, and one night, just hours after leaving port in Bundaburg, the boat he worked on capsized and sank in extremely rough weather.

The safety systems failed as the boat slowly sank over a 12 hour period with the crew trapped inside. There were 7 men on board and only one survivor, Ruben, who tread water for 12 hours before being miraculously found and rescued... If not for him we would never have known the devastating details of the tragedy and events of The FV Dianne's sinking.

Two of our loved ones were found deceased, their remains with the boat at the bottom of the ocean near 1770 Agnes Water. Eli's body, along with 3 of the other men, was never found.

It was heartbreaking, traumatic and confusing ....

My life was flipped upside down in an instant.

And after I lost Eli, I lost myself as a person.

For over a year I bounced around travelling trying to occupy my mind and run away from my emotions and heartbreak. I ended up spending 5 months in a highly toxic and abusive relationship because I was so lost .. and also spent our entire life savings in the process.

I had very little family support during this time and my friends truly held me together... I was at what felt like a life or death moment with where I was heading when I decided to pack it in, settle back down and move cities to Melbourne for a fresh start.

When I moved to Melbourne in 2018 I was broke and in desperate need of a change and some stability to build my life over. I crashed at my now best friend's house, sharing her bed for 3 months while I got back on my feet.

And this is when I started my journey into cosmetic tattooing, eyebrows and ultimately SMP.

When I stumbled across SMP by chance (after attending my brow training on the wrong day) I was still healing from the the lowest point of my life.

Throughout everything I was dealing with, my mindset was always the same : to look at the positives in life and know that one day I would find a fulfilling passion and purpose. I knew one day I was going to help and inspire others in some way.

The 1 year anniversary of the accident. Our families released 6 doves to represent each loved one lost. Sole survivor Ruben on the far right in maroon.

Angel energy Rainbows

Eli was very spiritual at heart and we both believed that energies do not die. Life and nature is interconnected in every way. When he passed I believed that his spirit was always with me, protecting and guiding me through life.

From the very beginning I started experiencing signs or angel "winks" as they're called that he was with me. The most significant sign being rainbows.

For me these signs are undeniable. At hard times, exciting times, times when I'm unsure of my path, special days ... a rainbow always seems to appear. Letting me know my angels are with me and guiding me through life's journey.

-Rainbow at the airport doors after returning from the Inkd SMP New Zealand Academy launch

By all means necessary

When I saw SMP that fateful day something in me just clicked. I KNEW I was meant to do this. Without a second thought I maxed out my credit card to take the course and spent every spare moment building my business 'Inkd by AJ' from the ground up.

I had zero experience owning a business, just a dream of working for myself and unwavering determination to make it work.

At that time my motivation was having the freedom and flexibility to work for myself. I was motivated by the thought of being in control of my future and helping others in the process. Money was never my motivator. I truly loved the idea of what SMP could do for people.

My mindset at the time was that there was NO other option other than to succeed. I had no backup plan .... and I never created one, because failure was not an option. I had already been through the unthinkable so another challenge was nothing compared to that heartbreak.

I started my business Inkd by AJ in 2019, working out of my DINING ROOM. Lining up a few models who were friends of friends.

From there I found a treatment room that I subleased for 3 days a week while i build up my skills and content.

Eventually I needed my own space and got my first full time treatment room. It wasn't much, but it was all I needed at the time and I was SOO proud of it.

...And then a month after signing the lease Melbourne went into one of the world's longest and most difficult lockdowns.

Below - my first private studio location as Inkd by AJ. A small room with a foldable massage bed.

-Rainbow outside of the Inkd SMP studio

-Rainbow while cleaning the motorcycle Eli gifted me

Practice makes perfect

Within a month of securing my first private location, Melbourne went into one of the longest and most unpredictable lockdowns in the world.

Throughout the uncertainty of Covid and lockdowns I kept my focus, continued to practice at home on fruits, and utilise the "forced free time" to work on my business every day.

I used the time to build a website, grow my socials and improve my skills. Soaking up any information about SMP that I could.

During this time I also completed 2 online SMP courses and a Meeting of the Minds seminar to gain more knowledge and observe different techniques.

2020 - My first private treatment room

A couple of my many lockdown creations and practices

Look ma, I made it

Thanks to my efforts during the downtime, my skills improved tenfold after lockdown.

In Australia we were able to access $10k from our retirement plans as a covid bailout as such. So i took out $8000 and invested that entirely into marketing, which paid off tenfold. With only a handful of client photos to show, I was still able to lock in 20 clients with paid deposits on a waitlist for when lockdown ended.

I was booked for months in advance - and it's never slowed down.

In 2020 I started to gain international recognition for my work, connecting with some of the world's leading artists, building friendships and eventually pro team sponsorships.

In January 2021 I moved into a bigger and brighter location above Nancy Mai hair salon on Greville St! I decorated this room with plenty of plants. I started training my first apprentice Ange in this room, and the birth of Inkd SMP Academy started!

2021 - My second location, a room on Greville St above a hair salon

Teamwork makes the dream work

After 2 years of hard work and building a name in the industry as Inkd by AJ, it was time to expand my team and rebrand in 2021. I trained up artist Ange Monitto from scratch and from there added Brooke and Corey to the team, along with our Client Consultant Hannah!

Fast forward to today and Inkd SMP is an internationally renowned studio and Training Academy. Our main location is in Melbourne and the academy teaches monthly classes across Sydney, Canada, New Zealand and USA. I've collaborated with some of the industry's best artists to help grow and shape the standards of the SMP industry.

Inkd SMP AU Team and home base studio in Melbourne Australia

The transition from artist to Accredited Trainer was a natural progression for me. I've always been passionate about producing the best results and have had genuine intentions with wanting people to feel their best from my work.

I started offering training out of a place of love for the art and client results - and I'm now being invited to collaborate and guest train with some of the most respected artists in the world!

Not only are we Australia's most recognised and respected SMP Academy, Inkd SMP was the FIRST SMP training provider and Academy in New Zealand. We trained 30+ new artists from country in 2023 alone, and single handedly put SMP on the map in NZ!

This very online course is also helping artists from all over the world expand their SMP knowledge and level up not only their skills, but their SMP businesses through my mentoring!

Just like my journey, this course has also been a labour of love me.

-Training Collaboration in July 2023 with SMP Ink in San Francisco

-SMP Masterclass with Taylor Perry in 2023

-AJ with Tu - one of 30 New Zealand graduates from 2023

-A few of Inkd SMP's first students from our NZ class 2022

Life always doesn't go as planned... but somehow you've found yourself here with me, venturing into your own exciting new journey!

Sharing what I've learned through experience and seeing my students take that information, grow and thrive on your own journeys means the absolute world to me... and I'm grateful that you chose to me to be a part of your SMP process!

Growing and scaling a business is not easy. There'll be times you feel like giving up. There'll be times where you doubt yourself and your work. There'll be challenging moments and speed bumps you feel you can't get past.

But always remember what your motivation for wanting to do this course was.

Keep your mindset positive and when challenges come, accept them.

Feel the emotions. And release the negative energy.

Remember that your 'why' is greater than anything holding you back.

I am living proof that what you believe, you WILL achieve. I believed in myself, and I believed in my mission no matter the struggle.

So whether you're starting a business for the first time or adding to an existing one, as you begin your journey into SMP, I want you to think about a few things..

How did you get here?

What is your motivation for taking this course?

What made you want to do this as a career?

Where is your mindset right now?

Can you see yourself where you want to be?

Be honest with yourself. Know your what and why. Envision it. Sit with it.

Calgary Canada : The first graduates in July 2023

Sydney Australia : Graduates of our Academy collab launch in 2024

Auckland New Zealand : Our sixth NZ group in 14 months!

As many have asked, in the link below is more on The FV Dianne trawler tragedy and the remarkable story of the sole survivor Ruben. Without him our families would have never known the truth about what happened the night our loved ones were lost at sea.

This tragedy set my life on a truly new path, but I find comfort knowing I'm watched and protected at all times by our angels <3

https://www.9news.com.au/national/60-minutes-dianne-trawler-ruben-mcdornan-miracle-survivor/b974977a-0158-4ee4-8d06-0f59794b344f