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I didn’t have any extra bulk money to depend on, and I never even worked a regular job here. Everyone who has talent that’s at home and thinks they can’t do it, really, if I can do it then anybody can do it. “I was determined to make it work just so I could go back and tell people that they could do that too,” she said.

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With her face and art now appearing on TV screens across the country every Wednesday night at 10 p.m., Blaze said she hopes her struggles and success serve as hope for others with big aspirations. Out of the blue one day, her friend Lemeir Mitchell, a Philadelphia native and cast member on Black Ink Crew Compton, called Blaze, inviting her to be a part of the series. Though Blaze was diligently fighting to make a name for herself, one phone call immediately accomplished that.

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“It taught me how to be more resilient, that I have what it takes to make money to survive on my own without having to work for someone.” “I never worked a real job since I got out here, so it was a constant struggle for the first two years,” Blaze said. Blaze began doing inexpensive tattoos for people while landing promo modeling gigs on the side. I’m really independent, so that just bothered me altogether.”Īfter some time (and finally tracking down her equipment), things started to look up. And then my tattoo equipment got lost in the mail, and so for two weeks, I basically had to let my ex take care of me. I was trying to do anything to make money. Everything was so expensive and I didn’t know anyone. about three months after that,” Blaze said. She knew Blaze was meant for bigger things than serving food. DeMenczuk secretly hoped Blaze decided to stay on the West Coast and chase her dreams. And when I came back, Mary, the owner, she was taking me off the schedule,” Blaze reflected.Īt first, Blaze was taken aback…until the owner explained herself. “I asked to take a week off work so that I could go visit L.A. All the while, Blaze – and her employer – had a gut instinct that she was destined for more. Blaze dropped out of school and began waitressing at King George II Inn to earn some money while honing her talents. But one year into her studies, she realized tattooing, an art form she had recently picked up, made her happier.

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Mark Catholic School and Bucks County Technical High School, Blaze had plans to pursue a career as a lawyer after receiving a full scholarship to Penn State University. This “what you see is what you get” personality is due largely to Blaze’s far-from-easy journey to success, a bumpy road that shaped her into the strong, resilient woman seen today.Ī graduate of St. “I’m not going to change who I am or try to appeal to any certain person.” If you don’t like it, you’re not for me, I’m not for you and that’s OK,” she said. “I feel like I’m pretty comfortable and confident with who I am, my flaws. Basically, what viewers see on TV is what they’d get in real life. Still, the cameras didn’t deter the artist from being her true self. “It’s definitely a new dynamic.”Īdmittedly, being mic’d up and having a film crew follow her every move for 12 hours a day was an adjustment for Blaze. Everybody is multi-talented on our cast,” Blaze said. Some of the other franchises, they just do tattoos. “In our show, it’s a little different because we all do music, art and tattoos. The purpose behind the latest edition is to not only show off Compton’s rich cultural history, but prove the city is more than its reputation.

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The Black Ink Crew franchise, according to Blaze, has existed for nearly a decade, with other series including Black Ink Crew New York and Black Ink Crew Chicago. They just cover our lives, in and out, even the bad stuff.” “People with different goals going for different things, working in the same space. “It’s basically the ups and downs, the highs and lows of the tattoo world, working at a tattoo shop, and working with different personalities and egos,” Blaze explained.

14, the 28-year-old became a household name to millions when she appeared on the VH1 series premiere of Black Ink Crew Compton.īlaze is a main cast member on the reality show, which chronicles Danny “KP” Kilpatrick as he heads up IAM Compton, the city’s first-ever tattoo shop. It was a massive risk, but one that’s paying off better than Blaze ever imagined.