The
&sense
dollars
of business in Squamish
Cory Crosbie of Black Diamond Tattoo Company at work on a customer. Photo by David Buzzard
L PAT JOHNSON
aunching a new business — or expanding an existing one — is a leap of faith at the best of times. Doing so amid an unprecedented global pandemic takes a special kind of brave or crazy person. 26 | Discover Squamish Summer 2022
One of the easiest openings may have been Cory Crosbie’s Black Diamond Tattoo Company, which opened at the very beginning of the pandemic in 2022. Tattoo shops require hyper-hygienic conditions always, so prepping the space for pandemic safety was easy, he said. The Montreal native has 15 years of tattooing experience, but his technique is different from most, using “stippling,” which is more commonly called “dot work.” “Instead of dragging the needle through the skin, I physically go up and down,” he said. “It’s a technique that would have been used way back when, when no machines existed, so I’m just taking that process and speeding it up with the machine.” Crosbie was desperate to get out of the big city and, while he does ski and take advantage of some of the other offerings in the Sea to Sky, the thing that drew him here was simple: “Just the beauty, the tranquility.” While stats are limited, more people of all ages seem to be
