Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tracy Baer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Tracy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
When I think about success, I measure in units of joy vs stress.
It takes stress to build and grow, of course. But there’s a tendency to eliminate joy in order to appear successful. Like an imaginary hair shirt that we’re supposed to wear and brag about, glamorizing the bootstrap mentality. Success to me is finding that sweet spot where the work life balance allows you to leave work at work, and actually find joy during the off time.
Years ago, I actually bragged about not having a vacation in more than a decade. I was proud of 12 hour days, 6 or 7 day work week while still trying to shoulder the work burden at home. Life finds a way to teach lessons, and I’ve never been one to do anything by half. Enter a cancer diagnosis at 39 and the perspective tends to shift pretty freakin quickly!
Fast forward 8 years:
I’m healthy, I make work life balance a priority, and vacations are not only important- they are a necessity. That is success to me! I’ve made it to a point that I have the privilege to work for myself, doing work that makes me feel like I’m helping my clients feel confident and comfortable in the bodies they inhabit, and I find joy in the freedom of making my own schedule. That’s what it takes for me to feel successful.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’m Tracy Baer, also known as mamabaer, and I help to uplift and empower folks by providing cosmetic tattooing services.
I started as a traditional body tattooer in 1996, and decided to pivot into cosmetic tattooing in 2020.
I’ve had a few other passions that evolved into jobs over the years in addition to tattooing, such as teaching yoga and meditation where I earned my E-RYT500 and owned a yoga studio on the west side of Cincinnati.
Now as owner of Tone & Medium Cosmetic Tattooing, I take pride in helping my clients gain the confidence one gets by enhancing things they may want to evolve. Maybe they want bold, makeup look brows, maybe they can’t grow hair and want the ease of brows they don’t have to draw on every day. Maybe they want gender affirming brows. Some clients want to even out the tone of their lips, or bring color back to lips that are aging. Some clients want nipple tattoos after surgery for various reasons. Some clients would like to have scars camouflaged.
I still do traditional body tattooing on a limited basis, and maybe they want a coverup or a tattoo to mark a milestone in their life. My goal is to uplift!
When I empower, I try to leave my clients’ skin better than I found it – so that means I don’t just take their money and slap some tattoos on their face. Because that’s what these are: face tattoos!
Microblading? Face tattoo.
Powder Brows? Face tattoo.
Ombré Brows? Face tattoo.
Lip Blush? Face tattoo.
Lip Neutralization? Face tattoo.
Eyelash Enhancement? Face tattoo.
Permanent Eyeliner? Face tattoo.
The trend of calling all these things “semi-permanent” is something that I will always fight against. The trend of convincing clients that these things are somehow different than a tattoo is something that I will always fight against.
While the ink is formulated a little differently, and the application method varies, it’s still ink inserted into the skin and by definition a tattoo.
I want to educate my clients on why it’s important to never ever go into PMU lightly. That means not price shopping, digging a little deeper into who you pick to provide your services, know the care and maintenance of your PMU, and know what it will take to get that ink out of your skin should you decide to not have it any longer.
That’s what my business is all about.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
This question makes me laugh, because I tend to joke around about how I wouldn’t trust me if someone comments that they do. I always feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants at any given moment. Somehow though, I’ve been lucky enough to have been able to plug in the knowledge that I’m constantly seeking at the right time. Knock on wood, fingers crossed, and all those reviews and feedback have been positive. And they keep sending their friends!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Literally had to pivot with a quickness when after a weekend of pain, a phone call to my doctor landed me in surgery within 3 days in 2014. I had a soccer ball sized tumor on my right ovary that ended up being malignant. Yep, you read that correctly: I bypassed the fruits and veggies descriptions of tumors and went on to the sports equipment category! I do absolutely nothing by half.
Luckily I ended up in the care of one of the best Gynecology’ Oncology providers in the country, and my treatment was only surgical in nature. I’m now considered NED (no evidence of disease) and only have to have routine bloodwork to monitor tumor markers, in addition to several appointments with providers to make sure I stay that way.
I was so lucky, and when I tell you that it caused me to pivot my whole outlook on life that is the understatement of the universe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://toneandmedium.com
- Instagram: @toneandmediumllc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrowSpellMicroblading?mibextid=LQQJ4d