Telisa Swan Coahran believes tattoos can help people heal, especially from trauma.
This idea became the overarching philosophy of her business, Swan Family Ink — a Moscow tattoo shop located on Third Street.
Swan Coahran and her husband, Allen Coahran, created an establishment that not only brings them happiness but allows the couple to work together.
Before Swan Family, they didn’t often see one another besides early mornings when their children were little, the pair said.
“We intentionally created a life where we could spend more time together,” Swan Coahran said.
Swan Coahran studied at Washington State University, earning a degree in graphic design. She said she never expected to go into tattooing and originally planned to work in advertising. She then worked as the advertising manager at the Colfax Gazette for a few years after college.
The couple started dating right around Swan Coahran’s graduation. She decided to start tattooing, considering it just another medium of art. Once she began, demand for her work started to increase, Coahran said.
Being the first person in her family to go to college — let alone start their own business — Swan Coahran was skeptical of becoming a tattoo artist. She said without Coahran’s support and occasional prodding, she would never have done it.
“I was just so terrified of the whole thing (tattooing) — no erasers on those things,” Swan Coahran said.
However, the couple wasn’t always a staple of “healing arts” in the Moscow community.
From 2006 to 2010, they decided to leave behind their shop, taking time to travel and see the world. They moved from Florida to the Cayman Islands, Swan Coahran said.
However, after some years of traveling, they decided to come back to Moscow. Swan Coahran said they missed living in a place with four seasons, as well as the Moscow community.
“The people from (Moscow) are uniquely kind and gentle — and that’s important,” Swan Coahran said.
Before their time away, the shop had once been called Little City Tattoo. When they reopened, the business took on the name Swan Family Ink.
The new title better reflected the family, since they reopened it with their son, daughter and Swan Coahran’s mother — all tattooing alongside her.
While they were away, Coahran got his license in massage therapy from the Florida School of Massage. The pair also learned Pa-Kua Martial Arts, allowing them to bring those skills back to Moscow and completing their idea of the “healing arts.”
Swan Coahran said even though Pa-Kua makes the least amount of money, they have no plans to get rid of that component. It not only allows them to find peace, but helps others live a healthy life.
“Although some can’t imagine what the three different businesses have in common and how they could possibly be harmonious, (but) they really are,” Swan Coahran said. “They’re all three healing arts (forms), which is why we are the Moscow Healing Arts Center.”
The Swan family encourages customers to come in — especially if they have body pain — and get a massage or do some type of Pa-Kua movement.
While some people might not be interested in tattoos, their array of services go beyond just getting inked, Swan Coahran said.
The balance of the three services translate from their professional lives to their personal ones, as Swan Family Ink is not only their business, but their home.
Since their shop and home operate out of the same building, Coahran said he believes it not only allows them to connect more with their customers.
“We have everything we need here, and we have each other — and we really do have it pretty freakin’ good,” Swan Coahran said.
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @alex_brizee