BUSINESS

Mother-daughter duo expands Chandler tattoo removal shop

BY JOSH ORTEGA

Staff Writer

It all started at a Cubs Spring Training in 2005 or was it 2006.

Marci Zimmerman-White noticed fans taking off their shirt revealing a variety of old tattoos fading and barely recognizable.

She said that moment started her on the journey to starting Delete Tattoo Removal & Medical Salon. Even during the pandemic, the business continued to grow from its flagship location in Phoenix in 2010.

Now they have a second location in downtown Chandler she opened in 2021.

“Mistakes were made, people change,” White said. “What does someone do

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Left: Lena Zimmerman is the managing director, and Marci White is the owner of Delete Tattoo Removal and Medical Salonbin Chandler. Right: Lena Zimmerman is the managing director, and Marci White is the owner of Delete Tattoo Removal and Medical Salonbin

Chandler. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Clinic provides free dental, mental health care

BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer

It’s no secret the pandemic caused a lot of stress for and children were not immune.

Hygienists with the East Valley Community Dental Clinics noticed the problem last year and so they partnered with Southwest Behavioral and Health Services to address it.

The children’s dental clinics in Chandler and Gilbert are screening patients from low-income families to see if they might benefit from some counseling with mental health professionals.

“Why this collaboration is starting was because we started seeing children with some health concerns, mental health concerns, that we were like, ‘we have to do something about this,’” said Diana Westphal, the community oral health dental clinic supervisor for Dignity Health, which runs the two East Valley clinics.

She said that one of the reasons this partnership makes sense is that the financial burden is one hurdle that keeps low-income families from reaching out for help.

Becky Grudowski, program director with Southwest Behavioral and Health Services, said they received a grant to pay for mental health services for up to 10 children.

So far, about 30 children have been referred to mental health counselors for additional screening since the program began in February. Grudowski said that many of those did not need professional counseling, and they still have funds available.

When a child from a low-income family shows up at one of the two clinics for dental care, they are screened. The parents of children younger than 12 are

The Chandler CARE Center provides provides free preventive dental care and mental health screenings to children in the Chandler Unified School District. The program includes, from left, Becky Grudowski, program director for Southwest Behavioral and Health Service and school-based program for the East Valley; Sharon Gillon AP, registered dental hygienist; and Diana Westphal, Dignity Health Children’s Dental Clinic

asked the questions to determine if additional screening is required. Children who are 12 and older fill out their own screening form.

“And then we take a look at that, based on what we see, we might ask a follow up question or two to clarify,” said Sharon Gilloon, one of the dental hygienists for Dignity Health. “And then we’ll pass that off, we’ll explain to them what would happen next, if they did indicate here that they wanted counseling or if they indicated some areas that they have trained us to look at as being critical areas.”

Each hygienist received about four hours of training to help them screen the children they treat. Grudowski said there have always been some children who had mental health issues.

“It’s something that’s always been prevalent, but yes, I would say the pandemic has 100% increased the problems of mental health issues among adolescents and youth, specifically things like anxiety, depression and self-harm behaviors,” Grudowski said. “We’ve seen an increase in those issues.”

Both sides say the partnership has worked out well so far.

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when they grow tired of something that’s supposed to be permanent?” White grew up in the Midwest and moved to Arizona in 1999, when her husband Michael accepted a job offer.

She said change is a part of life and despite tattoos representing something people initially wish to be permanent, it doesn’t always work out that way.

“We’re designed to change,” she said. “Our bodies change and our preferences change.”

Marketing Director Lena Zimmerman joined her mom’s business in 2019 and has learned what she does and doesn’t want with tattoos. She said her mom strives to fight the taboo that tattoo removal is too expensive, too painful and too unbelievable.

They overcome this by offering payment plans, numbing the area of the tattoo and using their unique “Delete Method” to treat the skin and the tattoo together.

“We’re really treating the tattoo and the skin holistically, as opposed to just lasering away the ink,” she said.

The Delete Method looks to remove tattoos in the most efficient and effective way possible over multiple treatments.

Traditionally, tattoo removal requires a laser using very short pulse durations that only breaks away the tattoo ink.

Zimmerman said Delete focuses on treating the individual person’s skin to ensure that it doesn’t blister and scar.

“I’ve also received every treatment that we offer in our store,” she said. “It hurts if you don’t choose the numbing [agent] but the numbing makes it so much better.”

She compares the laser treatment to a rubber band snapping against the skin.

Wife’s pain, cancer force Chandler store closure

BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer

It’s easy to forget that life can change in a moment.

One moment is forcing Richard and Connie Finkbeiner to sell their Chandler business of more than 20 years. They plan to close Connie’s Jewelry Gallery and Clock Shop at 1900 W. Germann Road forever around the end of June.

Connie had just dropped her grandchild off and was returning home in February of 2017. She stopped at a stop sign. There was a utility box blocking her view. She leaned forward, and turned her neck to try and see around it.

It was that moment that her car was hit from behind by a maintenance truck. Richard says he’s been told the other driver was distracted.

“You know, a kid being irresponsible and we think he was on his phone,” Richard said. “I mean, it took everything. It took my wife’s life, she’s in a bed ... and it’s taking my business. I can’t run this business on my own and I can’t find anybody who has, Connie’s been doing it for like 35 years, I can’t give you a qualified to go ahead and do that. And second of all, the business work because Connie developed trustworthy relationships with her clients.”

There’s another reason they are closing their business, which has been at the corner of Dobson and Germann since 2013. If he tried to run the business even without his wife’s expertise and relationships, someone has to be a caregiver.

“Who’s going to take care of my wife?” Richard said. “Whenever she throws up, who’s going to tell her it’s OK and clean it up? When she loses her hair, who’s going tell her ‘I love you anyway?’”

The crash left Connie with a broken neck and herniated discs. Those could be, and were, dealt with in surgery. The bigger problem is what it did to her nervous system. She has complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Basically, the pain receptors in her body never turn off. Connie is in constant pain. That is not all. The nerves in her stomach are unable to tell when there is food present. Normally, once the nerves recognize food is there, they begin to process it. Richard says in Connie’s case, the food just sits inside her stomach and rots. That has led to her losing a lot of weight, now down to 95 pounds. She also developed allodynia, which is a sensitivity to touch, light and sounds.

There’s a medical center in Arkansas that specializes in CRPS, basically trying to rebuild the nervous system to lessen the constant pain. They were there for about three months and were starting to see some positive results.

But that ended when they diagnosed Connie with breast cancer. Before she can return to Arkansas, they must first address that. They measure pain on a scale up to 50. Connie’s usually falls between 42 and 45. “So CRPS ... is known as the suicide disease,” Richard said. “People just can’t take it over a period, and the doctors don’t … understand how to go ahead and deal with people’s ... pain like that.”

Richard said it’s not been easy for them. How have they got through this?

“It’s just through faith,” he said. “I’m on my knees 10 times a day. The Lord will guide us through this.”

So far the medical bills have cost them $500,000. The insurance company for the business that owned the maintenance truck that hit Connie has admitted to the crash, but not to any injuries sustained. Richard said they are suing them with a court date scheduled for this summer.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Richard’s sister to help them. Search for “Please Help Save Connie” if you would like to contribute.

Richard said it was a hard decision to close their business, but he had little choice. “Everything you have, and don’t have, go into your business,” Richard said. “I mean, this business is my 401k. This business is my IRA. I don’t have anything else. Everything has been put into the business to … make the business go. That’s just the way you have to do it.”

Information: 480-883-3320

Friends and customers at Connie’s Jewelry Gallery and Clock Shop left heartfelt messages for owners Richard and Connie Finkbeiner. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)