Howdy! I'm Kellan — I've been obsessed with tattoos since I was a kid. Always knew I wanted to be covered. I never planned on being a tattoo artist — I just kept finding myself closer and closer to the industry until one day it was just where I was supposed to be.

Before tattooing, I started a company called Lonely Cowboy. The idea was to collaborate with tattoo artists who cared about mental health and build something meaningful around that. It failed miserably. I was way in over my head, took too many big risks, and learned more from that experience than anything else in my life. Blue Collar Hippies is the new and improved version — older, wiser, more focused. Less a clothing brand, more an art collective built around the work.

The name comes from where I was born and raised. Buffalo, NY is a blue collar city through and through — hard work is just the culture there. But my friends and I were always hippies at heart. Psychedelic rock, dates with Mary Jane, good vibes, love all around. Blue collar and hippie don't sound like they go together — but they do, more than people think. That tension is kind of the whole thing.

Every tattoo I do matters to me. The process, the design, the conversation — all of it. I want you to love what you're leaving with, and I want to love making it.