ROARING SPRING, Pa (WTAJ) — Kelli Steele works hard, long hours to make her business successful.
“I started this business with maybe like $50 to my name,” says Kelli. “Like I really just took a leap and tried. I’m lucky it worked out”
She owns Bombshell Tattoo in Roaring Spring.
“One day I was like, I should open a tattoo shop and the next day I was making plans to do it,” explains Kelli.
Six years later, that spontaneous idea is all she knows.
“I don’t know how to do anything else,” she laughed.
And with how dedicated she is, you’d think she always knew she wanted to own a tattoo shop, right?
“No!” says Kelli, “I never even saw myself as a mom but things happen so,” she laughs.
Oh yeah. She’s also a single mom, of three kids.
There’s 11-year-old Zane. “He’s my quiet one and my artistic one,” says Kelli.
Kori is also artistic, but outgoing. “She’s 9, so she’s in 4th grade,” she says.
And 5-year-old Oliver. “He was in the NICU for a long time when he was born, so we had to balance that with the business,” explains Kelli.
It was a true test for her and the business.
“I would drive to Hershey to see him while he’s in the NICU and come back to do a tattoo and then go back to the NICU to see him again because I couldn’t stay there because I had a business to run,” says Kelli.
They still have to make trips to the hospital in Hershey, they even spent Christmas there one year.
She’s not shy to admit, it’s a struggle. “Yeah, I mean, you do what you have to do,” she says.
Kelli also faced criticism on social media for allowing Kori to pursue her passion as a tattoo artist.
“She’s practicing it safe and it’s something that she wants to do in the future so why not get a head start on it and become the best she can,” she says.
When asked if she wants to be like her mom, Kori says, “Yes, because she does so many tattoos.”
“And then she’s set after school and then I can retire and she can pay my bills,” laughs Kelli.
Kelli’s kids are aware, she works a lot.
“She works so much, all day,” says Kori.
“She works too much,” says Oliver.
But Kelli works, for her kids.
“I think that they see how hard I work and they appreciate it so they are definitely a huge support system for me,” says Kelli.
She couldn’t do it without them.
But wants other momtrepreneurs to know, you can do it too.
“Don’t give up there was a lot of times that I wanted to give up and I just kept pushing through,” says Kelli.
To learn more about Bombshell Tattoo, check out their Facebook page.
You can see Kelli’s work on Instagram.
To hear Amanda Kenney’s full conversation with Kelli and other Momtrepreneurs, check out the PODCAST!