TWT x Brie Rawlings

Late last year, we had the most fun time, hanging with our mates & capturing the "TWT" experience.

A few of our regulars were kind enough to support the cause, & in the spotlight this week is mega babe & all round awesome person, Brie Rawlings
As well as being a long-standing supporter of the store, best friend to our best barber Ben, she is a super talented tattooist (@briedots) with brains to boot studying biomedicine at Victoria Uni.   Is there anything this superhuman can't do? 

We chatted with Brie about Wellington and current sources of inspiration - 

HOW did you end up where you are today?

I have been a tattooist for nearly 12 years and am currently working my way through a degree in bio-medicine at Vic here in Welly.  I have always been a yes-girl.  My motto is "I'll try anything twice".  I don't want to get to my life and regret the opportunities I didn't take. So I have and will continue to take life as it comes.  I live for novelty and change and I basically just want to be a kookie old bat that's had a truly lived life at the end of it all. 

WHY Wellington?

Wellington to me is the best city out of a bunch of kind-of-shit cities.  Not only is it beautiful, it's also kind of more of a bustling small town than a city.  I was bought up in the mighty (small) town of Rakaia, so the pace here works for me.  It's also the place where all the weirdos of New Zealand seem to congregate, myself being one of them.  Theres a quote on a plaque on the waterfront and it says "Wellington is the city of the verb, you cannot be without doing" (or something to that effect).  That resonated with me.  I'm a do-er, a verb of a human. 

WHERE is your #1 overseas destination?

Ooooohh that's tricky.  Next on the list is definitely Vietnam.  I love countries rich in culture and Vietnamese foods slaps.  But of all the places I have visited Budapest was pretty high on my list of faves.  The streets were live and the fashion was obscure.  It was just a cool vibe man.

WHAT are you listening to/watching atm?

I'm always watching New Girl on repeat - for all the chaos that is my life I am a creature of comfort when it comes to media.  Also I love a wee psychological thriller or spy/action number. 

I love indie music and almost always have a neuroscience podcast or an audiobook on the go.

WHO are your current sources of inspiration?

My family is and always has been my biggest inspiration.  Just a pack of legends!  Them and all the women in the STEM field.  Especially Beata Halassy, a university of Zagreb researcher who recently beat breat cance by injecting her tumour with a lab grown virus.  Always awesome to see women taking risks and excelling the male-run industries.  I would consider myself a feminist in the traditional sense of the word.  I love men, but us women can do it all too.  Equality baby. 

Shop Brie's fit: here

Back to blog