Yahoo Finance Brother’s grief spurs multi-million-dollar tattoo business
“I used the heartbreak of losing my brother as fuel to ignite the pursuit of my dreams.”
When Pascal Tolley lost his older brother Paris in 2017, his entire world was ripped apart.
“He took his own life," the now 33-year-old told Yahoo Finance. "He’d been absolutely struggling [with mental health] and it’s something I watched him suffer with for many, many years. It was just unimaginable. Something you never think is gonna happen to you and then all of a sudden you get this news and there's just nothing you can do.”
Facing unthinkable grief while trying to come to terms with life without his 28-year-old brother, the Adelaide man decided he wanted to commemorate and honour Paris’s life with his first tattoo.
But Pascal couldn’t decide on what to get inked onto his body.
“I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a way for me to test drive my tattoo design before getting the needle and committing for life,” Pascal said. "I tried writing tattoos on myself with a ball-point pen but this looked stupid and I’m definitely not an artist.
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"This is when I had my ‘a ha’ moment. I thought, 'Wouldn’t it be really great if you could upload your own design to a website and then get it in the mail a few days later as a non-permanent tattoo?'. And so, a very tragic event gave birth to an idea that has led to an extraordinarily successful business.”
Just months after Paris’s death, Pascal launched his own company, EasyTatt Ink Co, creating temporary tattoos for people considering getting some real ink but who aren’t yet ready to commit.
Once applied, the tattoo, made from 100 per cent organic ink, is invisible and takes 48 hours to develop. It then lasts two to three weeks, giving people plenty of time to test drive the tattoo’s design, size and placement on their body.
“We’re basically bridging the gap between the idea of a tattoo and getting the real thing, which is helping people make more informed decisions and avoid tattoo regret,” Pascal explained. “We really believe we are solving a problem that a lot of people have when it comes to getting a tattoo.”
And he’s not wrong. According to some of the most recent data on the subject from the Pew Research Centre, roughly a quarter of Americans surveyed regretted their tattoos.
Success and healing heartbreak
Six years on, Pascal says business is going “gangbusters out of control”.
“We're hitting just over $3.6 million per year and we’ve grown almost 150 per cent in the last 12 months,” he told Yahoo Finance, adding that the company was eyeing moves overseas.
“We’re just about to launch our Europe, Canada, UK and US dedicated online stores in February. So, that's really exciting because, although we already sell to those countries, the dedicated stores mean we can give a localised experience to all those regions and get our message to the world.”
But most importantly, it was his business — despite all the hardships — that pulled Pascal out of his grief.
“I used the heartbreak of losing my brother as fuel to ignite the pursuit of my dreams,” he explained. “Whenever I felt overwhelming sadness and anxiety, I threw myself into my passion, which was building my business.
“So, I think his loss not only helped the idea but motivated me and was a distraction from a very dark time in my life.”
Now, Pascal is looking to help others and, this year, he's working towards partnering with a mental health charity to give back.
“That’s something I’m really passionate about as well,” he told Yahoo Finance.
“We’re not just selling semi-permanent tattoos. There’s more behind it than that.”
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