In this episode of Needle Me This, Colin sits down with one of his closest friends and longtime tattoo client, Emma Smith, for a conversation about growing up, changing paths, and learning how to live intentionally without losing the parts of yourself that matter.

Emma shares her journey from college chaos to stability, earning her master’s degree in social work while working full time, and building a life rooted in patience, boundaries, and self-trust. Together, they talk openly about societal timelines, comparison, burnout, relationships, tattoos as life markers, and what it really means to feel “ready.”

This episode explores:

• Identity shifts after college and early adulthood
• Letting go of who you were without erasing them
• Tattoos as chapters, rewards, and reminders
• Why bigger tattoos require emotional readiness
• Trust between artist and client
• Patience, impulsivity, and mental health
• The pressure of societal timelines (career, money, housing)
• Building a stable life without rushing it
• “30 seconds of courage” and choosing yourself anyway

This conversation isn’t about having it all figured out — it’s about allowing yourself to grow without shame, comparison, or artificial deadlines.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

What they don’t see is how an artist thinks — or how their life shapes the work they put on someone forever.

In this episode of Needle Me This, Colin sits down with Nick Bones, a Las Vegas–based tattoo artist with over 21 years of experience, to talk honestly about tattooing beyond the highlight reel. This conversation isn’t about trends or social media performance — it’s about trust, longevity, creative stagnation, and what tattoos are actually doing for people.

Nick shares his perspective on:

Finding your people as a tattoo artist

Getting stuck in a style and how to evolve without losing clients

Tattoo trends that won’t age honestly

Why not every tattoo needs deep meaning

Stability vs struggle in creativity

Being married while tattooing and traveling

Guest spots as inspiration, not money grabs

What clients should know before getting tattooed by a traveling artist

Why trust matters more than control in the tattoo chair

This episode is built for clients listening, not just artists — the kind of conversation people usually only hear after years in the chair.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

???? Follow & Connect

Colin Bussing Tattoos

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colinbussingtattoos

Website: https://www.colinbussing.com

Booking: https://www.colinbussing.punchey.com/book

Nick Bones

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickbonestattoos

Colin shares insights from previous episodes, illustrating how tattoos are not merely aesthetic choices but anchors during times of upheaval. He notes that clients often seek tattoos during pivotal moments in their lives, and the meaning of these tattoos evolves over time. The conversation shifts towards the importance of creating a safe space for clients to explore their feelings and experiences, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of their identities. As the episode concludes, Colin sets the stage for the next episode featuring tattoo artist Nick Bones, emphasizing the balance between tradition and evolution in the tattooing craft.

Recorded during a tattoo session, this episode explores what it’s really like to balance a demanding nursing career with parenting, personal growth, and learning how to take care of yourself without guilt. Caitlin opens up about body positivity after having a child, returning to the gym, setting boundaries at work, and how meaningful tattoos have helped her reconnect with herself.

This conversation touches on:

• Motherhood and identity shifts
• Mental health in the nursing profession
• Burnout, boundaries, and self-care
• Body positivity after pregnancy
• Returning to fitness after motherhood
• Tattoos as emotional anchors and personal milestones
• Japanese art influences and storytelling through tattoos
• Resilience, growth, and carving your own path

This episode isn’t about perfection.

It’s about showing up, doing the work, and learning who you are in each new chapter of life.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

Welcome to Needle Me This.

Austen and I talk about what it’s like getting tattooed before and after becoming a father, how priorities shift, and why tattoos often mark who you were just as much as who you’re becoming. We get into the emotional side of committing to large-scale tattoo work, slowing down, and learning how to sit with yourself instead of constantly chasing the next thing.

This isn’t an interview about trends or techniques.

It’s a real conversation about growth, identity, and letting tattoos document your life instead of define it.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re in between versions of yourself — this one’s for you.

This is their second session together, finishing a candlestick tattoo that’s becoming a foundational piece in an evolving sleeve. What starts as a tattoo appointment unfolds into a grounded, deeply human conversation about mental health work, identity, creativity, and what it actually means to take care of yourself in a world that never slows down.

Throughout the session, we talk about:

• Working in community-based mental health with youth and families
• Why mental health isn’t about “fixing” people
• Emotional regulation tools that actually work (and why it’s not linear)
• Burnout, boundaries, and learning to say no
• Tattoos as evolving meaning, not fixed symbols
• Anime, Zelda, storytelling, and why art hits differently than words
• Letting meaning develop over time instead of forcing it
• What a meaningful tattoo sleeve really represents

This episode explores the overlap between therapy, tattooing, and storytelling — how both rely on trust, communication, collaboration, and patience. It’s not about having everything figured out. It’s about being open to the process and letting meaning unfold naturally.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

Welcome back to Needle Me This.

Brittany is a mom, a wife, and a returning client whose first tattoo was deeply tied to loss. This session is different. This time, the piece represents rebirth — a woman blooming from flowers, alive with color, strength, and intention.

Recorded across the tattoo session and post-tattoo reflection, this conversation moves through body image, weight loss, motherhood, mental health, confidence, and what it means to finally take up space in your own life.

We talk about:

• Why tattoos can restore confidence after physical and emotional change
• Weight loss, body dysmorphia, and learning to see yourself differently
• Motherhood, grief, and still showing up on hard days
• How confidence becomes an act of love when you’re a parent
• Mental health, therapy, and grounding practices that actually help
• Learning to accept compliments when you’ve never believed them
• Why meaningful tattoos help carry stories words can’t
• Letting go of the version of yourself built around survival
• Choosing growth, softness, and strength at the same time

This episode isn’t about pain tolerance or aesthetics. It’s about rebirth in real time — and what happens when someone chooses to wear their story instead of carrying it.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

Ryan is a rapper, a father, a husband, and one of my first real friends after moving to Syracuse. This episode moves between humor and honesty, touching on music, masculinity, discipline, fatherhood, and what it actually means to grow up without losing yourself.

We talk about:

• What tattoos feel like after the session ends
• Why music and tattooing both demand discipline, not motivation
• Writing bars that still hit years later
• Being compared to artists just because you’re white — and why that’s lazy
• The difference between mixtapes and albums (and why ownership matters)
• Gym culture, body image, and trauma that doesn’t announce itself
• Becoming a dad and watching your kid become their own person
• Why creative people need rituals — even if they look unhealthy from the outside
• Choosing a healing arc instead of a villain arc (most days)
• What Ryan wants his tattoos and music to say about him 20 years from now

This episode is less about tattoo pain and more about who you become while sitting through it.

If you’re building something — music, art, a family, or a version of yourself that actually feels honest — this one will hit.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

What she didn’t expect?

That a single Facebook post about “stop waiting and do the damn thing” would finally push her to book the tattoo she’d wanted for ten years.

Across this three-part recording (pre-tattoo, mid-tattoo, and post-tattoo), Stephanie and I talk about:

• How she went from being ghosted by other artists to trusting me with her first ever leg sleeve
• Why big tattoos become a personality upgrade and not just decoration
• The emotional side of finally choosing yourself after years of being told not to
• What happens when you’re a single mom who’s ready to reclaim her identity
• How it feels to sit through knee ditch, inner thigh, and back-to-back sessions (three times!)
• Why some sessions put you to sleep and others make you fight the urge to punch me
• Her favorite anime (and why I haven’t heard of half of them)
• The brutal pain places nobody warns you about
• Why weather, mindset, protein snacks, and one specific “chainsaw machine” all affect how well you sit
• The hilarious shit that happens in awkward tattoo positions
• Why naming tattoos “Carl” apparently is a thing now
• The unhinged tattoo ideas she secretly wants (yes, it includes a gothic cathedral with undead escaping)

And then in Part Three, when the tattoo is finally done:

• How she feels seeing the empty spaces disappear
• What surprised her the most about today’s session
• What past-her would say about her finally growing the courage to commit
• What future-her should remember every time she looks at this piece
• Why tattoos become addictive emotional cardio
• And of course… why she’s already planning a big flower on the booty next.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever waited too long to do something for themselves — and finally got tired of waiting.

Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.

Welcome to Episode 2.

Over a 3-part session, we went from planning a Norse Jormungandr sleeve, to surviving a back-to-back convention weekend, to this episode: two days after, wrapped, swollen, and already wanting more.

In this conversation we talk about:

• What it actually feels like two days after a huge color sleeve
• The mental game of paying for pain you absolutely did not have to sign up for
• How this new Norse/Jormungandr sleeve ties into his old “dead tree and crows” back piece
• Why the color choices and flow scratch that Japanese itch without being a traditional Japanese tattoo
• What’s going through my head as an artist when the judges are waiting, the stencil wipes off, and your elbow is on fire
• How trust, creative freedom, and “don’t micromanage me from the table” change everything
• The myth that you need the perfect idea before you get tattooed – and why cover-ups, laser, and better artists exist for a reason

Across the full session with Dante, we moved through:

• Part 1: Pre-tattoo – talking symbolism, Norse mythology, Jormungandr, and how this sleeve would play off his existing back piece
• Part 2: On the table – live from the convention, managing pain, timing, and the “are we actually gonna finish this?” panic
• Part 3 (this episode): Post-tattoo – two days after, processing the ritual, the addiction, and what past-you and future-you think when you look in the mirror

If you’re the kind of person who swears “never again” mid-session and then starts planning the next piece on the drive home… this one’s for you.

Work with me / stalk my art:

• Book a tattoo: colinbussing.punchey.com/book
• Instagram: @colinbussingtattoos
• Website: colinbussing.com
• Prints & merch: Pulse & Petal + more via my shop colinbussing.myshopify.com

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Fresh ink. Fresh clarity. Mild trauma.