The day after Kerri Parnell gave herself her first tattoo, her grandmother died.
Parnell, a lifelong artist based in Winnipeg, had recently learned that some of the earliest known tattoos were created using wood ash. In the days following her grandmother’s death, that connection gave her an idea.
“In my grief, I used her ashes to experiment, developing a safe formula to incorporate them into tattoo ink for a memorial tattoo,” Parnell said. “She became my very first cremation tattoo, which I did on myself.”
The experience gave Parnell what she described as a lasting physical connection to her grandmother. It also exposed a technical and operational gap in the tattoo industry. The options available for people seeking cremation tattoos did not offer the combination of control, safety, and dignity that Parnell believed the process demanded. So, she founded Cremation Tattoos to build that missing infrastructure.
“Cremation Tattoos was born out of a profound desire to create a deeply intimate, safe, and enduring ritual to help people navigate the pain of loss.”
“Cremation Tattoos was born right then, out of a profound desire to create a deeply intimate, safe, and enduring ritual to help people navigate the pain of loss and to help them stay connected to their departed loved one,” Parnell said.
Parnell’s company sits well outside the usual image of a tech startup, but its growth depends on clearing the same hurdles facing many early-stage companies, including how to develop a reliable offering, protect intellectual property, and scale.
Clients seeking cremation tattoos historically had limited options. They could mail a loved one’s ashes to a third-party company to develop the ink, which introduces the risk of loss in transit and leftover product. They could also ask a local tattoo artist to mix the ashes directly with the ink, a process that may take place without specialized equipment or a controlled environment.
Cremation Tattoos has developed a patent-pending, six-step procedure designed to refine and sterilize cremated remains before incorporating them into tattoo ink. The procedure is completed inside the studio while the client is present, using about one-eighth of a teaspoon of ash.
Parnell described her company’s six-step procedure as a repeatable technical and clinical workflow for an experience that is intensely personal.
“Each step of our formula is vital because it bridges safety with emotional reverence,” she added. “It ensures the ashes are structurally altered to be incorporated safely into the human body and honours the dignity of loved ones from start to finish.”
Parnell’s focus on dignity and care begins before the tattooing itself. Clients complete a thorough consent process and receive an explanation of the refinement method and tattoo chemistry. Sessions take place in a closed-door, single-client studio, with room for support people, music, and personalized ceremonies.
“Clients have the freedom to come as they are—to share their story or sit in silence,” Parnell added. “The session is entirely guided by them.”
These practices will also form part of Cremation Tattoos’ next phase: the Cremation Tattoos network, a licensing and training system intended to make the service available outside of Winnipeg.
“Our goal is to remove the barrier of travel for grieving families, especially considering that over 1,000 families in Canada experience loss every single day,” Parnell added.
Under the proposed model, certified artists would receive proprietary sterilization kits and training in the company’s technical protocols as well as how to support clients and maintain a private, controlled environment.
Cremation Tattoos plans to centralize all network booking through a single platform. Each client would also receive a numbered “anchoring kit,” which creates an inventory record tied to every completed session.
The network also connects clients to the company’s Legacy Log, an online archive where families can create personal memorial pages. This digital component gives Cremation Tattoos a way to build a central community between clients and a distributed network of artists.
“In my grief, I used her ashes to experiment, developing a safe formula to incorporate them into tattoo ink for a memorial tattoo.”
To prepare the model for expansion, Cremation Tattoos recently joined Ascent, the third stage of the Founder Program offered by Winnipeg-based startup incubator, accelerator, and fabrication lab North Forge. Through Ascent, North Forge works with founders on their minimum viable product and provides one-on-one guidance with mentors and entrepreneurs in residence as participants prepare to roll out their product.
“Our partnership with North Forge is a foundational pillar of our growth strategy,” Parnell said. “Having recently joined the North Forge Ascent program, their ecosystem has immediately become a massive asset for us as we work with our Entrepreneur in Residence to refine our operational framework and map out our scaling logistics.”
Cremation Tattoos considers its formulation, protocols, and training system central to its value proposition, which makes protection a prerequisite for sharing the process with other artists. As an ecosystem partner for ElevateIP, North Forge is helping the company position itself to access specialized IP guidance to protect the underlying process while developing licensing agreements strong enough to preserve quality across different locations.
As Parnell looks to scale her model across the country, she believes North Forge’s intellectual property ecosystem will prove especially important.
“The specialized IP mentorship and financial backing will allow us to secure our proprietary processes, effectively transitioning us from a validated local model to a secure, standardized, and deeply respected national memorialization service.”
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Feature image courtesy North Forge.