Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
2.7K
Mom-Of-7 Says Her 800 Tattoos Makes Her “Unemployable” Amidst Trying For Baby Number 8
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.
BP Daily - Your Source for Unbiased Reporting
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
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
F.N. Steinberg 2 years ago
Every few years this person pops up. No one cares about her tattoos. It's her attitude.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
She needs protection from her bad life choices. No job, already too many (7) kids and no money and she wants one more kid???? NO NO NO. And sorry, if you have money for those tats then you could have used that money for uni or some form of education. 5 of her children are estranged. I mean come on !
Happy_Pandalover 2 years ago
Seriously, i don‘t get the point of this post. So she has no job, 7 children (5 of them not in her care), but wants another 8th child? Her age or tattoos are not the problem. I‘m sure she would have found one, especially since she is a cleaner. I doubt anyone cares about her looks when she‘s cleaning office rooms after everyone has left anyways. Also if you want to work as a lawyer, you need to study law. How about she go to university first, study and then apply for a job as lawyer?
Jelena Putinja 2 years ago
I saw this woman on TV - I think she sad her tattoos are home made - her boyfriend does them, and I agree - tats are hmmm meter of taste but real problem is attitude
Historyharlot93 2 years ago
I was wondering about this. I don’t know anything about tattoos, but is it ethical for a tattoo artist to do this for her? Her face looks like someone covered it with a black sharpie
Load More Replies...
Tweed Jefferson 2 years ago
Obviously just a cop-out. I work in an all digital industry full of artists and 'weirdos'. If she had the skills, nobody would think twice about hiring her.
Id row 2 years ago
More kids than she can provide for, trying for another, made herself unemployable, wants to be a lawyer, yet she's 46 and doesn't have the education. This woman has some form of mental illness going on.
Lorenzo Carcaterra 2 years ago
It is her choice to have children, but how does she plan to provide for the children?
BlitheSpirit 2 years ago (edited)
Not to mention that the stats of the baby having a chromosome abnormality due to her age is something like 1 in 50. If she can’t provide for the children she has now, how would she provide for a child who would be dependent on her always? And that’s just one aspect of the laundry basket of issues, here.. 😕
Casey Payne 2 years ago
Her complete whiney, delusional Eeyore attitude stinks. Not a lick of common sense or self awareness. It's really hard to apply empathy when they show no responsibility for the choices they made. Or even recognition that they have made bad decisions at all. Don't want to be a troll, but I want to scream in their face until I reach some intelligence in that block of concrete she calls a head and tell her, a middle age mother of 7, to grow up and be an adult.
ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
This reminds me of a roommate I had in college. Dude could not pay rent or utilities on time if his life depended on it, but had no issues buying a new motorcycle, getting new guns, and getting a bunch of tattoos. We had to have multiple house meetings with him to specifically address it.
Upstaged75 2 years ago (edited)
She has so many tattoos they blend together and look like she just took a marker to her face. It says something that most of her kids are estranged. Sounds to me like she doesn't WANT to work and this is just an excuse. Why would you have another child when you can't even get a job? She seems like an idiot.
Vladimíra Matejová 2 years ago
Oh how i *love* these ppl. I have 7/10/12 children help me. They are in TV and asking charities for help...then why do you have so many??? Your bad. Poor children born to stupid parents
June Jackson 2 years ago
Says she wants a job, but also wants a baby? Especially at her age it’ll be high risk and difficult to manage both at the same time.
Kat 2 years ago
I think it's funny people are commenting about how she has the money to pay for these tattoos but has no job. Do you see the quality of them? I doubt she paid some huge sum of money for them, it looks like someone did it at their house.
EP 2 years ago
I was thinking this same thing. She’s not paying for these in money.
Load More Replies...
Judit Hajdu 2 years ago
if you can find a man to get you pregnant you should also be able to find work
María Hermida 2 years ago
My grandmother used to say "there's always a he-tick for every she-tick". It sounds much funnier in Spanish, but you get the idea.
Load More Replies...
StevieLove 2 years ago
Huge waste of life and tax dollars. Your decisions are selfish. Keep having kids until they’re old enough to realize what a garbage person their mother is. You clearly don’t have the intelligence, or means for law school. And, yes, your face is a huge turnoff. Your attitude is worse. I would be willing to send you condoms. Your kids have no chance to contribute to society with you as a mother.
CG 2 years ago
I've seen people with a lot of tattoos working at certain places, not just tattoo shops, who have tattoos on their faces. Not to the degree of this woman, but with face tattoos nonetheless. Could her tattoos possibly play a factor in her having issues finding a job (keep in mind I know nothing of this woman, aside from this article)? It could be a possibility. Could it be some other reasons, like her having 7 children, living off welfare, poor work ethic when she did work, and not having worked for 20 years, on top of the tattoos? That could also be a possibility.
Nice Beast Ludo 2 years ago
5 kids are estranged because they see the tattoos and think "hmm that one could have been Christmas presents, the arm is back to school shopping, your face could have been groceries for all the days food was scarce" Time to grow up and stop using childhood trauma as an excuse to not care for your own family and still keep having more and more. 5 out of 7 kids do not speak to you. You should never have children again and let's hope you will not at your age
zovjraar 2 years ago
why are 5 of her children estranged from her??? maybe they didn't grow up in a great environment? she wants to bring another kid into this world to face that? and if she can't get a job, she shouldn't be having kids imo. i understand someone wanting to have A KID, even if they can't really afford it, but so many?? why? it sounds like having kids helps her feel validated, and that is a horrible reason to have one!
SheamusFanFrom1987 2 years ago
Sorry, the only face tattoos I appreciate are Ta Moko/Mataora. At least they mean something and are most definitely earned. I get that it's a coping mechanism and have nothing against that but 800 seems like over-over-overkill. Plus, if she knew it would be difficult to find work, maybe try to stay away from the face area...
Chez2202 2 years ago
I wouldn’t give her a job and it has nothing to do with her tattoos. I’ve seen dozens of pictures of her over the last couple of years and in every one of them she is stood either with her arms folded in anger or a disgruntled petulant look on her face which is much more noticeable than the tattoos. Resting b***h face is never going to get you a job. I’d like her to actually just once tell a journalist how many jobs she’s applied for and been rejected for though as I honestly don’t believe it’s many at all. There are loads of jobs where you aren’t customer facing. I work with a guy of 31 who has a LOT of tattoos. He is in a role where he is customer facing all the time. If he’s not out there advising companies we provide services for he is in Teams meetings with them online. I only really notice his tattoos when he has more work done on one of them. What I notice more is how happy, kind and sensitive he is and how considerate he is to me and our other colleagues.
Elio 2 years ago
She's having a kid because some of her kids want another sibling? Lady, you're the adult in this family so if you (understandably) find getting pregnant in your mid-40s scary, then maybe don't do it. Also, maybe don't make more kids until you have a job, unless your husband or boyfriend makes a lot of money. Why are 5 of her kids estranged from her? Did they become adults and stop talking to her?
silowew628@picvw.com 2 years ago
Garbage human being pumping out more kids she can't care for who will end up abandoned, neglected, and traumatized. Stop making stupid people famous.
Ross “Sarcastic Dad” 2 years ago
"She has 7 kids and 5 are estranged." The kids didn't leave because of the tattoos. She has a lot more going on. My bet is, she's not the best of people, and the tattoos have nothing to do with it.
Binky Melnik 2 years ago (edited)
I would LOVE to read about someone convenient to her offering her a job; I’d love it if he’d report to us what her response is. I suspect the tattoos are the way she hides from the world. While the “abuse excuse” will win her a lotta support these days, I also think a lotta people feel that after a point, you let go of the trauma and get ON with your life. After all, we are not what happened to us as children; we can be anything we want to be! But it DOES mean we hafta get off our asses and DO something. Sitting around whining never accomplished a damned thing.
Gabriela Jercan 3 months ago
In my opinion it's not the face full of tattoos that is the problem, is more the choice of tattoos that for me, personally, indicates mental health problems, no sane person would almost black out their face with crosses... There are people with face tattoos that can get a job, but an insane person wouldn't. And the fact that she's making another kid at 46 is another thing indicating mental health problems.
pancake dreams 2 years ago
Somehow, I really doubt it's the tattoos that are impeding her ability to work.... She sounds like a problem personality. She thinks she'd make a good lawyer because she's been in trouble with the police before? Shes a self-titled matriarch of a family in which most of her children are estranged from her? Constantly trying to become some sort of social media influencer.
Tracy Rieon Hall 2 years ago
Maybe you should continue to focus on finding a job that doesn't deal with the public instead of trying to have another child. They're out there jobs that you won't really be around people.
AspieGirl88 2 years ago (edited)
Has she considered working at a tattoo parlour? They can’t exactly turn her down for wearing tattoos there. Also, I’m sure there are plenty other jobs out there where no one cares what you look like, as long as you can work the job. Perhaps somewhere that doesn’t involve interacting with people (except colleagues), won’t judge based on appearance or perhaps even involves covering up to work? I recall seeing one person who had facial tattoos & decided to help at an animal shelter. They didn’t care what he looked like, because he was great with animals. Goes to show; you just have to think about it in depth & find something that works out best. 🤷♀️
F.N. Steinberg 2 years ago
Every few years this person pops up. No one cares about her tattoos. It's her attitude.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
She needs protection from her bad life choices. No job, already too many (7) kids and no money and she wants one more kid???? NO NO NO. And sorry, if you have money for those tats then you could have used that money for uni or some form of education. 5 of her children are estranged. I mean come on !
Happy_Pandalover 2 years ago
Seriously, i don‘t get the point of this post. So she has no job, 7 children (5 of them not in her care), but wants another 8th child? Her age or tattoos are not the problem. I‘m sure she would have found one, especially since she is a cleaner. I doubt anyone cares about her looks when she‘s cleaning office rooms after everyone has left anyways. Also if you want to work as a lawyer, you need to study law. How about she go to university first, study and then apply for a job as lawyer?
Jelena Putinja 2 years ago
I saw this woman on TV - I think she sad her tattoos are home made - her boyfriend does them, and I agree - tats are hmmm meter of taste but real problem is attitude
Historyharlot93 2 years ago
I was wondering about this. I don’t know anything about tattoos, but is it ethical for a tattoo artist to do this for her? Her face looks like someone covered it with a black sharpie
Load More Replies... Tweed Jefferson 2 years ago
Obviously just a cop-out. I work in an all digital industry full of artists and 'weirdos'. If she had the skills, nobody would think twice about hiring her.
Id row 2 years ago
More kids than she can provide for, trying for another, made herself unemployable, wants to be a lawyer, yet she's 46 and doesn't have the education. This woman has some form of mental illness going on.
Lorenzo Carcaterra 2 years ago
It is her choice to have children, but how does she plan to provide for the children?
BlitheSpirit 2 years ago (edited)
Not to mention that the stats of the baby having a chromosome abnormality due to her age is something like 1 in 50. If she can’t provide for the children she has now, how would she provide for a child who would be dependent on her always? And that’s just one aspect of the laundry basket of issues, here.. 😕
Casey Payne 2 years ago
Her complete whiney, delusional Eeyore attitude stinks. Not a lick of common sense or self awareness. It's really hard to apply empathy when they show no responsibility for the choices they made. Or even recognition that they have made bad decisions at all. Don't want to be a troll, but I want to scream in their face until I reach some intelligence in that block of concrete she calls a head and tell her, a middle age mother of 7, to grow up and be an adult.
ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
This reminds me of a roommate I had in college. Dude could not pay rent or utilities on time if his life depended on it, but had no issues buying a new motorcycle, getting new guns, and getting a bunch of tattoos. We had to have multiple house meetings with him to specifically address it.
Upstaged75 2 years ago (edited)
She has so many tattoos they blend together and look like she just took a marker to her face. It says something that most of her kids are estranged. Sounds to me like she doesn't WANT to work and this is just an excuse. Why would you have another child when you can't even get a job? She seems like an idiot.
Vladimíra Matejová 2 years ago
Oh how i *love* these ppl. I have 7/10/12 children help me. They are in TV and asking charities for help...then why do you have so many??? Your bad. Poor children born to stupid parents
June Jackson 2 years ago
Says she wants a job, but also wants a baby? Especially at her age it’ll be high risk and difficult to manage both at the same time.
Kat 2 years ago
I think it's funny people are commenting about how she has the money to pay for these tattoos but has no job. Do you see the quality of them? I doubt she paid some huge sum of money for them, it looks like someone did it at their house.
EP 2 years ago
I was thinking this same thing. She’s not paying for these in money.
Load More Replies... Judit Hajdu 2 years ago
if you can find a man to get you pregnant you should also be able to find work
María Hermida 2 years ago
My grandmother used to say "there's always a he-tick for every she-tick". It sounds much funnier in Spanish, but you get the idea.
Load More Replies... StevieLove 2 years ago
Huge waste of life and tax dollars. Your decisions are selfish. Keep having kids until they’re old enough to realize what a garbage person their mother is. You clearly don’t have the intelligence, or means for law school. And, yes, your face is a huge turnoff. Your attitude is worse. I would be willing to send you condoms. Your kids have no chance to contribute to society with you as a mother.
CG 2 years ago
I've seen people with a lot of tattoos working at certain places, not just tattoo shops, who have tattoos on their faces. Not to the degree of this woman, but with face tattoos nonetheless. Could her tattoos possibly play a factor in her having issues finding a job (keep in mind I know nothing of this woman, aside from this article)? It could be a possibility. Could it be some other reasons, like her having 7 children, living off welfare, poor work ethic when she did work, and not having worked for 20 years, on top of the tattoos? That could also be a possibility.
Nice Beast Ludo 2 years ago
5 kids are estranged because they see the tattoos and think "hmm that one could have been Christmas presents, the arm is back to school shopping, your face could have been groceries for all the days food was scarce" Time to grow up and stop using childhood trauma as an excuse to not care for your own family and still keep having more and more. 5 out of 7 kids do not speak to you. You should never have children again and let's hope you will not at your age
zovjraar 2 years ago
why are 5 of her children estranged from her??? maybe they didn't grow up in a great environment? she wants to bring another kid into this world to face that? and if she can't get a job, she shouldn't be having kids imo. i understand someone wanting to have A KID, even if they can't really afford it, but so many?? why? it sounds like having kids helps her feel validated, and that is a horrible reason to have one!
SheamusFanFrom1987 2 years ago
Sorry, the only face tattoos I appreciate are Ta Moko/Mataora. At least they mean something and are most definitely earned. I get that it's a coping mechanism and have nothing against that but 800 seems like over-over-overkill. Plus, if she knew it would be difficult to find work, maybe try to stay away from the face area...
Chez2202 2 years ago
I wouldn’t give her a job and it has nothing to do with her tattoos. I’ve seen dozens of pictures of her over the last couple of years and in every one of them she is stood either with her arms folded in anger or a disgruntled petulant look on her face which is much more noticeable than the tattoos. Resting b***h face is never going to get you a job. I’d like her to actually just once tell a journalist how many jobs she’s applied for and been rejected for though as I honestly don’t believe it’s many at all. There are loads of jobs where you aren’t customer facing. I work with a guy of 31 who has a LOT of tattoos. He is in a role where he is customer facing all the time. If he’s not out there advising companies we provide services for he is in Teams meetings with them online. I only really notice his tattoos when he has more work done on one of them. What I notice more is how happy, kind and sensitive he is and how considerate he is to me and our other colleagues.
Elio 2 years ago
She's having a kid because some of her kids want another sibling? Lady, you're the adult in this family so if you (understandably) find getting pregnant in your mid-40s scary, then maybe don't do it. Also, maybe don't make more kids until you have a job, unless your husband or boyfriend makes a lot of money. Why are 5 of her kids estranged from her? Did they become adults and stop talking to her?
silowew628@picvw.com 2 years ago
Garbage human being pumping out more kids she can't care for who will end up abandoned, neglected, and traumatized. Stop making stupid people famous.
Ross “Sarcastic Dad” 2 years ago
"She has 7 kids and 5 are estranged." The kids didn't leave because of the tattoos. She has a lot more going on. My bet is, she's not the best of people, and the tattoos have nothing to do with it.
Binky Melnik 2 years ago (edited)
I would LOVE to read about someone convenient to her offering her a job; I’d love it if he’d report to us what her response is. I suspect the tattoos are the way she hides from the world. While the “abuse excuse” will win her a lotta support these days, I also think a lotta people feel that after a point, you let go of the trauma and get ON with your life. After all, we are not what happened to us as children; we can be anything we want to be! But it DOES mean we hafta get off our asses and DO something. Sitting around whining never accomplished a damned thing.
Gabriela Jercan 3 months ago
In my opinion it's not the face full of tattoos that is the problem, is more the choice of tattoos that for me, personally, indicates mental health problems, no sane person would almost black out their face with crosses... There are people with face tattoos that can get a job, but an insane person wouldn't. And the fact that she's making another kid at 46 is another thing indicating mental health problems.
pancake dreams 2 years ago
Somehow, I really doubt it's the tattoos that are impeding her ability to work.... She sounds like a problem personality. She thinks she'd make a good lawyer because she's been in trouble with the police before? Shes a self-titled matriarch of a family in which most of her children are estranged from her? Constantly trying to become some sort of social media influencer.
Tracy Rieon Hall 2 years ago
Maybe you should continue to focus on finding a job that doesn't deal with the public instead of trying to have another child. They're out there jobs that you won't really be around people.
AspieGirl88 2 years ago (edited)
Has she considered working at a tattoo parlour? They can’t exactly turn her down for wearing tattoos there. Also, I’m sure there are plenty other jobs out there where no one cares what you look like, as long as you can work the job. Perhaps somewhere that doesn’t involve interacting with people (except colleagues), won’t judge based on appearance or perhaps even involves covering up to work? I recall seeing one person who had facial tattoos & decided to help at an animal shelter. They didn’t care what he looked like, because he was great with animals. Goes to show; you just have to think about it in depth & find something that works out best. 🤷♀️
You May Like
Related on Bored Panda
5
50