We all have that one grandparent or boomer acquaintance who loves to make a negative point about tattoos, and how you will automatically become unemployable as a result of getting your body permanently inked.
Usually, these claims are completely baseless and false, but unfortunately for the tattoo community, one woman has embodied that misconception so many people share.
Melissa Sloan, who has made a name for herself as one of Britain’s most tattooed women, claimed that she had some serious trouble finding a job because employers were consistently put off by the fact that her face was completely covered in tattoos.
Back in August, in an interview with the Daily Star, the mom-of-seven revealed that she has been jobless for around 20 years.
Melissa did have experience working as a cleaner a couple of decades ago but found out people weren’t too fond of her extreme looks, which include an impressive 800 tattoos.
The former cleaner from Wales told the publication: "I have applied for jobs and they look at me and say 'what is this', like I’m not a human being.
A Welsh mom-of-seven said she couldn't find a job because of her 800 tattoos
Image credits: Melissa Sloan
"I would love a job and prove them all wrong because all the time they keep saying to me 'we don’t want to give you a job, no one will give you a job'."
Nevertheless, the 46-year-old from Powys, Wales admitted that her current professional situation wouldn’t stop her from growing her family.
She said: “I'm trying for another baby.
“I told the nurse this the other day and she was shocked, her eyes popped out!'
Melissa reportedly confessed that before making the decision to try for another baby, she had stopped having sex for a whopping three years.
It is her children persistently asking for another sibling that changed the Welsh woman’s mind.
Despite the risks that come with a pregnancy at 46, such as incidents of gestational trophoblastic disease and chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, according to the US National Institutes of Health, Melissa was convinced she would be just fine.
Melissa Sloan said she was currently trying to have an eighth child
Image credits: Melissa Sloan
She said: "But at my age, 46, it’s a bit scary and if I do it now, get it out the way and have it when I’m 47.
“It’s baby number eight now but you can have complications with everything, can’t you? You’ve just got to think positive.”
The mum of seven children – five of whom are estranged – currently lives with her partner Luke and her two youngest children, daughters Autumn, 11, and Summer, nine.
In addition to her dreams of becoming the matriarch of an even bigger family, the inked woman revealed she wanted to prove people wrong and become a legal practitioner.
The publication took to the streets to see if anyone would employ Melissa, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
"I would, because I worked in Camden," a man who works in high-end venues said.
"But at my age, 46, it’s a bit scary," Melissa said of becoming pregnant again
Image credits: Melissa Sloan
He continued: "So that's where like Amy Winehouse, Madonna, and other people who used to go there quite a lot.
"So seeing her like this is normal for me living in Camden."
According to law firm Warner Goodman, the UK’s Equality Act 2010 “does not specifically protect people who have tattoos or piercings”.
Therefore, “employers can refuse to employ an individual based on their body art or piercings and can require employees to cover up tattoos or remove piercings while working.”
Melissa, who is also considered to be “Britain's most tattooed mom,” told the Daily Star that although she has even unsuccessfully offered to scrub toilets, she would love to be “a solicitor or a lawyer in crime” because she “used to be in trouble with the police” herself.
Nevertheless, people in the street said they would be okay with hiring Melissa who dreams of becoming a lawyer one day
Image credits: Melissa Sloan
She confessed that she wanted people “to stop judging a book by its cover”.
She said: “People don’t like me with my tattoos on my face because they just look at you like you’re worthless, like you’re nothing.
“They don’t want people like us with tattoos on their faces.
“They don’t understand us, do they?
“We’re just exactly the same as anyone else.
“We breathe the same, we live the same – but they just don’t want to know."
Melissa confessed her tattoos helped her cope with the abuse she suffered as a child
Image credits: Melissa Sloan
The unusual-looking job-seeker had previously revealed the heartbreaking inspiration behind her fully inked body.
Melissa claimed her tattoos were her way of coping with the horrific sexual abuse she had suffered at the hands of her pedophile brother.
The survivor said: “My tattoos help me cover the emotional scars that Gavin left behind.
“They're my mask and I hide from the world behind them.
“But now that he is finally in jail, I can begin to feel free.”
Many people online weren't very impressed with Melissa's tattoo choices
