Katherine “Kat Tat” Collins is a boundary pusher. Collins is the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills, California. She recently married NFL linebacker Jamie Collins and has two sons. She is also a fan favorite on VH1’s “Black Ink Crew: Chicago” and “Black Ink Crew: Compton.”
Collins spoke to rolling out about the origins of her love for art and family.
At what point did you get interested in art?
Art is just something my mother passed down to me. I remember being a little girl and she would just draw pictures of me and my brother. She’s always been super talented, but she’s always worked a corporate job, so it was never anything she did for her profession.
Ever since I was a young age, I remember teachers telling me how detailed my drawings were at parent-teacher conferences. They would put emphasis on my art and say things like, “Look! She’s got high heels on her figures and eyelashes.” … I remember in high school, I would always take art classes as my elective because I knew I was going to get an A. I was never the best student, so art kind of leveled out my GPA.
Toward the end of high school, when kids started getting older and getting tattoos, I was the person everyone came to. Everybody was like, “Draw my tattoo,” so that’s where it started.
As a survivor of domestic violence, what did that journey look like to heal and be open to love again?
It wasn’t an overnight thing. After it happened, I kind of just shut it out as if it never happened. I didn’t even realize it was affecting me for a while going on dates or being around men, I just wanted to drink. Like, my first thought just went to alcohol. I would ask, “OK. Where are we going to have drinks?” … The first time I spoke or shed tears about it was on TV. The producers pushed me to open up and speak about it, and just keep repeating the details about what happened to me. I let out tears and I felt like I started healing [while]talking about it because I held it in for months. I was like, “It happened. Whatever, move on,” instead of dealing with it. … Years later, I can say I’m a good, healthy and positive relationship. I can’t say my relation[ship]right now would be what it is if I didn’t go through that.
What was it like to have Jamie come into the picture and love you the right way?
Yes, that’s my man. I love Jamie. I call myself an alpha woman. I’ve never needed a man. The only man I ever looked up to, respected and admired was my dad. And I’ve always respected Jamie’s demeanor … he’s such a great man. I respect him so much. He really loves his family.
