January 29, 2023 • 38 mins
It's the end of January and we are introducing our first episode of our end of the month small business interviews. We kick off our first one with Speakeasy Tattoo Co. located in Fernley, NV. We discuss the trials and tribulations of owning a small business and dive into the world of tattoos.
Please give this a listen and if you like the episode make sure to like, comment, and subscribe and head on over to Speakeasy Tattoo Co to book your tattoo or piercing appointment today.
If your looking for a quality custom tattoo or piercings please head on over to their website today!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dustin Steffey (00:00):
This episode is brought to you by speakeasy
tattoo company located inFernley, Nevada. That's at 420
East Main Street Fernley Nevada.
There's nobody else I'd rathergo to when it comes to my tattoo
needs between the experience ofthe whole staff, the creativity,
the knowledge, and the overalldedication to making sure that
(00:20):
your piece looks good. There'sno better tattoo parlor than
speakeasy tattoo company soplease, if you haven't done so
already, check them out at wwwdot Speak Easy tat CO that's
Speak Easy ta TTC o.com and bookan appointment today.
Jaden Norvell (00:54):
Welcome to your top rated business
entrepreneurship, selfdevelopment and smart investment
podcast. This podcast is hostedby creator and founder Dr.
Dustin Steffey and also hostedby coach, music producer and
influencer yours truly Jadenrush Norville, we are blessed
for many accolades such as beingnominated for the People's
Choice Award for Best BusinessPodcast, as well as raising over
(01:14):
$5,000 last year for the CysticFibrosis Foundation as well as
for the Boys and Girls Club,spending a global reach our
podcasts in the top fourdownloads in four countries.
Without further ado, welcome tochopping wood fire ladies and
gentlemen, let's chop it up
Dustin Steffey (01:35):
guys, welcome to a live show. My first one and
the start of our small businesssegments. I wanted to sit down
with a speakeasy tattoo companyin Fernley, Nevada, first and
foremost, but before we diveinto that interview, hit that
damn like button, because it'snot hard to do. So you see the
(01:57):
finger in the center here, hitthe like button already. And
then you know, the other onesdidn't make it, we cut them off,
but definitely got that middleone. If you're on YouTube, the
little bell, go ahead and hitthat bell. So you get updates.
And then go ahead and take it astep further, and type out some
content content on the commentssaying you liked it. So with
(02:22):
that being said, the last thingI want to bring up is is our
home charities are cysticfibrosis, because Jason's mom
has cystic fibrosis. And forthose of you that don't know
what it is, try putting a strawon your lungs and breathe in
through that doesn't feel verygood. Can't really breathe
really well. So please help usout in raising some money for
(02:42):
cystic fibrosis. And thenanother good one that we have is
the Boys and Girls Club, thatthat entity right there has done
so much for our kids. And theyneed help. And it's important
that if we have any spare moneywe give back and kind of keep
these organizations going orelse we're not going to have
them for very long, especiallyin these times. So please, if
(03:05):
you guys haven't done soalready, head on over to C F F
dot o RG forward slash donate orhead on over to bgbc.org Sports
slash donate to donate to theBoys and Girls Club today. With
that being said, we're going tokick this off. So I'm here with
(03:27):
Abel to my left. Manny to myright. He was going to wear the
sunglasses, we're going to cracksome blind jokes but decided not
to. Especially since we'resitting in a tattoo parlor, you
guys would have been like, hey,whoa, how's the blind one tattoo
you? And I was like, Well, I'mthe idiot, remember? So you sat
tuned on me. But no, like, Ijust want you all to know, like,
(03:50):
first and foremost, it's it'sactually a pleasure to have them
both. It's awesome that we arestarting this small business
segment. And I'm glad to kick itoff with them. Because I mean,
they got a lot say a lot ofjokes to crack, Abel. You
wouldn't think it is prettyfunny. Manny you wouldn't think
it he's kind of funny. But notfunny. No funnybone whatsoever.
(04:14):
But no, I want to just diveright in. First and foremost,
the get from this is tounderstand his small business,
so many small business, but toto understand how
entrepreneurship works ingeneral, because it's not easy.
I think everybody thinks likewhen you go into small business,
like you have more time on yourhands and you can do fun things
(04:37):
which it's true to a certainpoint once you get it rolling,
but the fact of the matter is toget it rolling to that point
takes years and years and yearsand lots of blood sweat and
tears. So it's important that wekind of outline that as well. So
I'm going to kind of start thisoff with like, hey Dustin,
you're in a tattoo shop so whywhy there well One, they sponsor
(05:01):
me, it's awesome, we have a goodpartnership and relationship.
I've grown to like these guys alot, I have a good dozen pieces
on me right now from this placealone. And honestly, for me, I'm
pretty loyal to it because Idon't want to go anywhere else,
I think the creativity out ofthe shop alone, and the way that
(05:21):
it's run, and the people andlike kind of everything in
compasses, like a good place asafe space and a creative place
to get something done thatyou're enjoying like, because
again, for those of you thatdon't know, these aren't the
sticker tattoos that like comeoff, they're on you forever. So
(05:43):
you kind of want it to lookgood. And these, these two, plus
everyone else that works herecouldn't have them all on, but
they take pride in making surethat when you walk out that damn
door, you're you're walking outwith something that you like.
And furthermore, you're walkingout into the public where people
can be like, Where'd thathappen? Where do you get that?
Because guess what, you can'tget custom pieces like this
(06:05):
anywhere else. And certainly I'msorry, but it's factual to me.
So I'm gonna hand it off toManny, I kind of want him to
kind of go through his journeyreal quick on like, why did he
get started here? When did heacquire it? Because I think a
lot of people weren't sure ofthis place to begin with,
because of people that were herein the past or whatnot. And this
(06:25):
isn't a negative talk. This isjust like, hey, it's a new era.
And it's time to move forward.
So Manny, it's all yours, buddy.
Manny (06:33):
Well, thank you, Dustin, for having us on. I really
appreciate it. And I'd like totake the time to say thank you
to Abel also on camera, becausehe's been a big help to everyone
here in the shop, includingmyself and everyone in
accounting to really like them.
So again, hey, well, thank you.
So sorry, my face. Yeah, so I'vebeen tattooing for about 15
(06:56):
years, 15 years solid legal on16. It's been a journey. I
thought about quitting a fewtimes. Maybe I should have at
some point I'm gonna share. Buthere we are. Early Nevada. I
came into the shop about twoyears ago. It was someone else's
shop. And it was someone else'sshop before that. And it kind of
picked up some negativity, somejust kind of a little dark cloud
(07:19):
around it. And that's somethingwe've been combating for the
last couple of years here. Andit's just trying to look over it
look past it. It's been rough.
But with that being said, yougot to rely on your skills and
you got to push forward.
Dustin Steffey (07:31):
So April, April's not from here. But he
has some extensive experience aswell. So from from our
conversations, you Cali to EastCoast back to here, right?
You've been tattooing for 15years. Yeah. So again, you
combine both of their experienceright there. I mean, that's 30
(07:51):
plus years, right there betweentwo of them. And we're not even
counting other artists that arehere, which I mean, we have, we
have melody which she's she'sjust starting out right. But
she's amazing. Had a sickturnaround for Friday, the 13th
had some awesome, awesometattoos that came out. So I
(08:12):
mean, we're, we're putting outsome good stuff here in my
opinion, and then we can'tforget about Bri too. She does
piercings, but she also isdabbling in tattoos as well.
Yes, Bree
Manny (08:22):
has been in this industry her whole life. She's amazing,
phenomenal piercer. Man, I can'tsay enough great things about
her great with the kids. Andyes, she does know how to build
a needle around to one skin withsome ape. She's learning but has
some good skills.
Dustin Steffey (08:39):
Yeah. So let me ask you guys something because I
mean, so I'm not new to tattoos,obviously. But what I am new to
is the loyalty, the creativity,the environment part, right. And
so I kind of want to dive intothat a little bit. So as far as
environment, how would you guyssay the environment is here?
(09:00):
Like when you come in to get atattoo you? What do you what
should people expect?
Manny (09:05):
First of all, the air freshener is amazing. Air
Freshener is pretty chill, I'dsay we try to keep low tension.
Like if we're having thisfrustrating session or a piece,
you know, it just kind of outthe window. You know, we really
try to keep the focus in theartwork. I know we talked about
(09:27):
it all the time. It's a 24/7thing. It doesn't stop.
Abel (09:32):
Yeah, it's a it's a fun environment. But I don't really
screw around too much. We can bepretty professional. We have our
jokes, but I mean, we get thingsdone. It's not a party
environment. It's just a funenvironment.
Dustin Steffey (09:42):
So for those of you that haven't walked in, to
get a tattoo or don't have atattoo or been wanting to get a
tattoo or whatever the case maybe wherever you are in your
journey. Here's it from myperspective. When I walk into
here first and foremost, I feelcomfortable, because, I mean, I
could get what Ever I want on mebecause it's my piece, right?
And there isn't really anyjudgment. But obviously don't.
(10:05):
Don't go over the top. Don't beasinine about something. But for
the most part, there's no, nojudgement. One, two, I love the
environment. Because when youwalk in, like, I mean, we'll
throw jokes out, we'll, we'llhave some fun. I mean, I think
the last time I was in thechair, I was able over here,
this clown was making me laugh.
And, and Manny sitting theretaking one line at a time on my
(10:29):
tattoo that I'm not going toshow you guys yet until we're
done with it. It is so staytuned. But we were doing the
beard of it. And so he was doingone line at a time. And this
asshole over here was making melaugh. So I was shaking. And
he's like, Well, we just messedit up. But in all actuality,
it's it looks really good rightnow. It's a fun environment. I
(10:52):
love it here. I think, honestly,when you walk into a tattoo
shop, you should feelcomfortable, you should feel
welcome. You should feel okay toask questions. Like there isn't
anything dumb when it comes toputting something permanent on
your body. And these guys, andof course, girls, because we got
(11:13):
two girls to they, theyunderstand that and they respect
that. So like, first andforemost, it's not scary at all.
Secondly, like if you wantsomething super custom, super
nice. I mean, these guys can dopretty much anything I'm sitting
by to two guys here that haveorchards. Um, yeah, okay. Okay.
Okay, they will get it. We'llget into like specifics in a
(11:38):
sec. But like, for the mostpart, most of the stuff here
isn't cookie cutter. So it isn'tlike it was back in the 90s or
early 2000s. Where you walk in,you look at a portfolio and
you're like, oh, I want a or Iwant number 150 or whatever.
McDonald's. Yeah, yeah. Now theydo have some cool stuff that
(12:01):
they just recently integrated.
So they have a cool little likeegg machine, where you go and
you like put a coin in. Andwhatever you draw, is what you
get on you, which I think isreally cool. And it's like, put
some mystery behind things. Butif you're looking for that, like
really cool, like super specificpiece to you, between the
(12:21):
experience that's here. I know.
It'll get done perfectly talk tous. Yeah, absolutely. They.
They're awesome. I thinkeverything is you know, perfect
for here. I wanted to get intothough because there are
specifics right. So like for meas a person. I really like
shading, right I like the shadedpieces are the pieces where you
like put lighting on it where ifit hits a certain way like it
(12:43):
really shows the details. I'mgonna get into specifics with
these two. So like Manny, foryou, like you've been tattooing
a while. I know there's certainstyle that you like, I know,
there's certain things that youlike to do. Let's kind of talk
about that a little bit. I knowwe have a bio for him, right. So
if you want the cookie cutterbio, just head on over to
speakeasy tapco.com But we'rediving into the nitty gritty
(13:07):
right now.
Manny (13:09):
So I first started I had a real big love for the old
school American traditional. Andthe Japanese stuff like a lot of
us do. Because I had grown upseeing black and gray and all my
uncle's from prison and crap.
You know, all that stuff. Yeah.
So when I first startedtattooing, I gave the attempt at
the Japanese and the Americanstuff. And I didn't think I
(13:30):
understood it as well. Butnowadays, I like to go back to
it. I still love black and gray,though. It's like a toss up
American tradition on Japanese.
Michael Gray. I don't, I don'tknow. Kind of integrative I
guess.
Dustin Steffey (13:43):
And when we unveil my tattoo, which we will,
we'll probably unveil it. I havemy last session for that piece
up here. This this coming week.
So he says to but I'm a badass,so I'm thinking one. Yeah, this
guy. He has jokes right now.
Anyway. So we'll show you kindof that super cool, like black,
(14:08):
white and gray. And it'll lookreally cool. April. What about
you, dude? Like, I mean, I'vedove into a few things with you.
But you're, you bring some coolthings like to the table that
are different.
Abel (14:18):
Yeah. So gosh, I can I put this I can do any tattoo you
want. I just choose not to docolor portraits, and tribal.
Anything else you want, man, Ican do it all but I'm just not
100% comfortable with colorportraits. I can do color
realism, just the portraits. Idon't want them to come out
(14:38):
looking orange. Tribal, it justtends to be a little too boring
for me. Once you draw it out onsomeone and you outline it, it's
just filling in. It's just alittle too boring. Other than
that, I mean, I can do whateverelse you guys want. But at the
end of the day that always endsup being my style. Do you want
traditional it's April'straditional style. Do you want
Japanese? It's April style ofJapanese stuff. But yeah, I
(15:03):
don't Yeah, I mean, we can alldo. Every artist here can do
whatever style you want. But Ithink we all choose not to do
ones that are just too boringfor us, or they don't push us or
make us grow as a tribal, notgoing to push me or made me
grow. You know, I'm doingPolynesian stuff that's a little
more creative and the tribalstuff. And then color portraits.
(15:26):
I just don't want someone to getan orange looking person. That's
it. Yeah, so we
Manny (15:30):
just call it an orange Smurf.
I'm gonna I'm gonna interrupt.
All right, all right. I'm gonnaassume Abel, his tattoos? Are
those motherfucking Instagramtattoos that everyone likes to
look at? Everyone goes, Oh myGod, look at those delicate
little lines. That's April righthere. Okay, he's cutting it
short. He's phenomenal. Youguys.
Dustin Steffey (15:48):
begin speaking on Instagram guys, please head
on over to speakeasy TAPCO andhit that follow button because
there's a lot of cool thingsthat are on there. So that Speak
Easy tat to T A T T C O. Goahead and hit them up. Hit a
like on there follow whatever,whatever you kids do these days,
(16:09):
but make sure Yeah, I mean, ourDMS. Yeah. Hell yeah. Like
seriously,
Abel (16:14):
I don't have a I don't think we have a tick tock,
right.
Dustin Steffey (16:17):
We do. We do. We do. We have. Hey, they haven't
run it yet. But they will soonenough. I promise for those of
you. For those of you that aremaking fun of my tic TOCs. Right
now more to come because thatstyle is headed over years. So
that's why Yeah. Emails, yeah.
They actually able able, heresponds really well, if you
(16:38):
send him a pigeon. And then thisguy, this guy, he'll respond two
days late, maybe like in 24 to68 hours. So yeah, yeah. Yeah,
yeah. But no, all joking aside,please like head on over and see
some of their work, because it'sdefinitely some of that work is
posted on the Instagram, theyhave Facebook as well. They do
have emails for each of theseparate artists. So for all of
(17:03):
my locals, please, please headon over
Abel (17:08):
I think that'll be on the on the website. Everyone's like,
Instagram and all that stuff.
Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (17:14):
I think it'll be on the Yep. Yep, it will. It's
in the works right now. April.
So April, on the opposite end ofthe spectrum. He's always busy.
So we're just waiting on hisright to say, I'm not. I wrote.
I wrote his forehand, so he gotlucky. No, but, but um, let's,
let's shift gears a little bit.
(17:39):
You're running your own tattooshop. Yes. So that's
entrepreneurship in itself rightthere. But this isn't the first
time you've been anentrepreneur. Is it because you
were you were doing mechanicsand stuff as well too.
Manny (17:51):
And that's, that's wearing your slave chains. Okay,
so
Dustin Steffey (17:54):
that's the slave job versus cutting those ties.
Alright, so this is yourpersonal
Manny (17:59):
nine to five. Okay, first cracking. Okay, so ownership.
Dustin Steffey (18:03):
So talk about it a little bit. So,
Manny (18:05):
I know some people are gonna disagree, but like, the
way I was working, I was workingunderground out of the house for
a while towards the end there.
It was really similar to theshop just the way it was
operating, you know. And I movedout here to Nevada man and
opportunity arose and the oldowner left and I took over and
it's been pretty good sincethen. It's just staying on top
of orders. Now. The busy season,you know, I think will be the
(18:29):
fun part.
Dustin Steffey (18:31):
What do you think the hardest part like in
your perspective, becauseeverybody has a different
perspective. And I'll chime inmind soon, but like for you, in
your entrepreneurial journey,what's the hardest part of it
for you right now is stepping
Manny (18:43):
off the ledge. Okay.
Okay, first step to like beingon your own. Okay. It's scary
because you don't know what's onthe other side. You know, your
union job. You're gonna get apaycheck. Yep. Yeah, that's
gonna happen. You know, you'regonna kids, you're gonna have
Yep, it's, but you step intoyour own realm. And it's scary.
Yeah. But it's also freeing, andit's a wonderful feeling, man,
(19:05):
because it's your own world.
Dustin Steffey (19:07):
It's a different stress in my opinion. So when I
look at it, I'm like, happierbecause I'm doing something I'm
passionate about. On one hand,yes. But on the other hand, I
feel like I'm more stressedbecause I'm backed against the
corner to be successful.
Manny (19:23):
Well, you're feeling that 24/7 Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (19:25):
yeah, yeah, sleep. Nope. Nope. Isn't sleep.
I go to bed with nightmare.
Sometimes. That shit.
Manny (19:32):
I need some air freshener. Yeah.
Dustin Steffey (19:35):
Mind you when you walk in the air fresheners.
Great here.
Abel (19:39):
Yeah, honestly, I think when you do some that you really
enjoy. I think you shoot toomuch for perfection. Yeah, I
agree. And that's where you getstressed out. Perfect, man. This
is Manny shots. The 10 teams areManny's tattoo. You can't point
fingers and be like, Oh, it wasthat guy that didn't you know,
help or that guy? Whatever.
Nope. It's 100% you so you shoottoo much for perfection,
(20:01):
perfection. And I think that'swhat's stressing me out.
Sometimes.
Dustin Steffey (20:05):
I believe 100 I believe 100% that we are our own
harshest critic, I believe inthat statement,
Manny (20:12):
dude. I was putting out for a minute. I wasn't happy
with everything I was puttingout to him for a minute. And I
was like, Okay, let me help.
Like, we had some apprentices.
Yeah, that needed some help atthe time. So I tried to focus on
that a little bit. Yeah. And ithelped, you know, like
refreshing Jeter like, oh, yeah,remember this? Okay, I can do
this. Now. Let me let me getback to it's a different
approach. Right. But that thatstaying fresh aspect in the
(20:35):
business is important. Stayingin touch with the youth,
especially? Because that's ourdriving force. We can tattoo at
16 Yep. So yep, that's a market.
You know, it's importantCalifornia, you're gonna get 20
to 25. Smart ass.
Dustin Steffey (20:52):
Yeah, this is gonna restrict in California,
you probably can't get a tattooanymore. You'll go to jail,
Abel (20:57):
whatever, in California 18. If you're under 18, you
can't even walk into it. Yet.
It's ridiculous. Even if you'recoming in with a friend or your
parents to make an appointment,you can't even walk in to the
shots. I was telling
Manny (21:08):
Abel this the other day, I said to him a few times. I've
been tattooing for 15 yearsgoing on 16. But I've always
been a business owner tosomething new for me, and I'm
enjoying it. Yeah, it's thestress is the strategy, you have
to take the you know, everythingthe good, the bad. You know, the
freedom, the stress of the busyseason, I like it.
Dustin Steffey (21:30):
And little Do you guys know, I'm going to
shift the gear over to April.
April's around his own businesstoo. So he knows about
entrepreneurship and stuff, too.
So I'm gonna I'm going to shiftthe question to you like in your
mind for you. What do you thinkyour hardest point was being an
entrepreneur and really runningyour own business?
Abel (21:51):
Not failing? Yeah, that's the big Yeah, just failing that,
you know, you think you're doingsomething good. And then yeah,
you open your shop and nobodyshows up. Or it starts slowing
down. You know, you startdoubting yourself. Especially
like Manny said, it's not aguarantee check. So if I have a
slow week, it's it's a lowpaycheck. If it's a busy one,
then you know, it's high. Italways fluctuates. But I think
(22:12):
the hardest was just not notfailing, or making sure that you
don't fail. I mean, you know,there's ways you can talk to
customers, and there's certainways you can sell certain ideas
to them. But at the end of theday, I think the biggest fear is
not failing your business,because then you feel like
you've failed yourself andeverybody else around. But
that's the hardest part for mewas, customers are easy. The
(22:33):
tattoos are easy. Let's justmake it all run smoothly. Get
comfy
Manny (22:37):
chair, man. Yep.
Dustin Steffey (22:40):
So I know I don't interject very much about
my journey at all, because I'malways interviewing, right. But
for me, you all probably think Iknow everything about it with
all the experts we've had onwhat we talk about with
networking and everything. Andyes, book smart, like, I know
what it takes to run a business.
But for me, I'm alwaysoverwhelmed with I gotta do
this, or I need to get moremarketing, or how do I make
(23:04):
enough money to be able to keepthe business rollin just to
survive? Or, or did I miss that,or whatever the case may be,
it's constantly like Manny said,and even able, it's 24/7 gig,
right? And so I go to sleep,sometimes, like shit, did I
forget to do that, or I shouldhave done this better. So for
(23:26):
me, my biggest stress is notbeing perfect, per se, but
making sure that I was thoroughenough to drive my content, one
to all of you guys, but to thedriving force of why did I start
doing this? And the whole pointof this for me, is to educate
other young young or olderentrepreneurs, on some
(23:49):
techniques, skills, marketing,whatever to do it right. Or for
my investment people thatinvestments like diversifying,
right, you are not going to bedon't be that idiot that invest
in one thing, and then all of asudden it flops and now you have
nothing you need to diversify.
And in business, it's kind ofthe same thing. We have to
(24:11):
diversify our time, our energyand everything to make that
business run and work I mean,for Manny, he's so intelligent
when it comes to like creativeideas, but executing them in a
different way. So like themarketing like you guys are
seeing with speakeasy right nowthe marketing just started
driving a lot more recentlybecause he needed the time to be
(24:35):
able to like sit back and sayhow do I want to appropriately
market and how do I want to doit right? Because there is no
one size fits all solution
Manny (24:43):
when you get to this plateau. Right? You you like you
feel good? Like man, I got abusiness. Yeah, I'm self
sustainable. I'm holding myfamily and food on the table,
and then it just kind of haltsand you're like, Damn, what
next? Yep. So then you have achoice. You can stay there where
you're at and be happy or youcan continue your growth. Yep,
still be happy.
Dustin Steffey (25:03):
Yep, you can push to that next level. And
it's no secret guys, marketingis probably in my opinion, the
well, it's the most important,but it's the second most
expensive in my opinion, maybeeven the first most expensive as
Manny (25:18):
paper towels.
Dustin Steffey (25:21):
So if you're running a normal business, I
think your marketing budget isprobably the most expensive
budget because that's what getsyour name out there. For them.
It's a little different becausetheir name gets out there not
only by marketing, but by like,word of mouth and the people
that go out with their work andstuff like that. And people ask
(25:42):
him, dude, that's cool. Where'dyou get that and then you start
talking there and then itsnowballs
Manny (25:46):
Dustin's a rarity, because we actually get to see
the work come back. So it's notlike they're out of state or
they're traveling or you justdon't like, Oh, I got my one
that I'm done with. And theythey're done, you know, but we
try to give them a good one forrepeats. We try to keep giving
you good ones.
Dustin Steffey (26:00):
Right. And for those of you that have been on
my TED talk, so a lot of like,we have a couple of tiktoks with
me in the chair with some ofthese pieces. And it's it's
really fun. It's it's fun tomarket that out. Because it's
different. I don't see very manytattoo shops marketing in that
way. And it's, it's like newschool. It's New Age. It's
bringing different people in andit's fun. Yeah. I mean, I had a
(26:22):
few comments come back like,Dude, did it hurt or like funny?
Shit coming back, right? And I'mlike, Dude, this is this
awesome. Like, I think thatbrings the next point, right? In
business for us all. Like,change is inevitable. Oh,
there's a lot of businesses thatflop I think, because they're
just not willing to change, inmy opinion. And you guys can
(26:45):
correct me if I'm wrong, but Ithink in this environment now.
And in this instantgratification culture, like
changes even quicker.
Abel (26:53):
I'll give you a perfect example of somebody who failed
because they didn't changeKmart. They didn't change
anything. It was always thesame, the same register the same
aisles. Nothing ever grew. Thepictures they had on the wall
were from like the 80s. Theynever ever changed. And they're
out of business.
Dustin Steffey (27:11):
April's dating himself with Kmart. So I'll just
bring up Mervyn's as well too.
And
Abel (27:18):
change from St. Louis, I mean, I can do the same type of
my tattoos should be changing alittle bit every year improving,
or the style should be changed.
In some sense. That's a badthing. That's if people go
somewhere else they want what'snew.
Dustin Steffey (27:33):
The other respect I have for these tools
as well is like, for those ofyou that have gotten a tattoo,
I'm sure most of you have seenthe machines that are used,
right. And most of them arethose coil machines. I mean,
I've not seen a wireless oneuntil walking into this shop.
And so like even the technology,like that's important, and Manny
(27:57):
and Abel are like really good atexplaining why that's so
important. Whereas I'm not butit makes the tattoo like it
doesn't make it any lesspainful, but it makes it heal
better in my opinion. Like Iheal faster with their stuff
than I did with any other tattooartists because of the way that
they tattoo in the technology.
Manny (28:16):
Seven Day heal now is pretty common. I remember two
weeks, they used to tell weeks,two weeks a week. So like we're
seeing like flake, the skinflake and the dry patches go
away after three days now withthe newer stuff we're using. And
it's just technologies, it'slearning that learning it how to
be delicate, you know, you gottagotta crack a few eggs to make
(28:37):
an omelet. Right?
Dustin Steffey (28:39):
So and that's the other important thing to
drive to maybe some of you newpeople that have never gotten a
tattoo or anything as well, toois would you rather go to a
place that's not transparent,and doesn't really like tell you
about how the process goes andthen you get a piece on you and
eventually it's like not good?
Or would you rather go to aplace that is up to date on
technology has 30 plus years ofcreative experience has the know
(29:02):
how of how to work the machinesappropriately to make sure that
that tattoo looks the best likethat. These are the things that
you guys all have to start doingyour research on, especially new
people that want to get therelike first step to and whatnot.
Where do you want to go? Like itisn't about loyalty. So much as
it's about doing your researchon? Does this artist not only is
(29:25):
this artist creative, but dothey use the right technology
now to make my tattoo last alifetime right? I have pieces on
me that are gonna last alifetime.
Abel (29:37):
I think just maybe I think 10 years ago there was still
metal and some of the inks Oh,yeah. Even the inks are still
growing. Yeah, and
Manny (29:45):
now everything we have in here like I didn't even know it
until recently vegan saying likeI just I'm just like by
accident, but like everything
Dustin Steffey (29:52):
Oh for all my earth friendly people. We have
vegan Safestop so please drop in
Abel (29:57):
all the things we have or are vegan. Yeah. Been around for
Senator vegan. Everything we useYeah,
Dustin Steffey (30:05):
I wish I could unreal it right now but like the
tattoo up here like it's darklike the blacks are like black
black, and the shading looksamazing like, soon enough guys,
you're gonna have to just thinkabout it for a little bit until
we get it done
Manny (30:20):
might not be one of April's fancy Instagrams because
that dude, I'm telling you thosefine lines, man. Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (30:26):
this is where we get the specifics. Yeah, yeah.
Manny (30:30):
So fat are on the line work, but his delicate lines,
man. Yeah, like
Abel (30:34):
I said, we can all do the tattoo. It just depends what
style you're into. Well, youknow, melody has a style Mani
me.
Dustin Steffey (30:42):
Melody is not in the video right now. But I just
want you all to know if we goabout 10 clicks to my lap this
way. She hears us and she'stattooing someone right now.
She's in it. Yeah, she is. Sheis She is. She wants she wants
to be on camera so bad, butcan't
Manny (31:00):
put her makeup on? She said, Yeah.
Dustin Steffey (31:03):
What's the lighting in here? She said she
wants real bright lights whereit's on her. And that's it.
Abel (31:08):
Green light right here.
Dustin Steffey (31:09):
A ring light on the beach. Actually, her comment
to us pre roll was if she werein the camera with us, she would
take all the attention away fromus. So that's why she's not
here. It's true. It's probablypretty true. So moustache,
right? We're trying to focus iton this this strapping old fart
Manny (31:28):
not having to wear a hat because the shine, you know,
Dustin Steffey (31:32):
me, I have no excuses. You guys get my ugly
mug weekly. So. But um, as faras business, I think the point
that we're trying to reinforcehere is this is not the same
place it was a few years ago.
One, two, there's so muchcreativity that's coming out of
here. So don't be scared tolike, pop in and see what they
can do for you. Number two. AndI think the third and most
(31:56):
important thing, and this is forjust the podcast as a whole is
the fact that I'm in a tattooshop, right? And it's still a
place of business. And there'sstill entrepreneurship to be
had. And even like, even thoughit's not like April's brick and
mortar, he's still running hisown business within a business.
So there's so muchentrepreneurship coming out of
(32:16):
here, so much marketing, so manylike trials and tribulations.
And so it's just nice toreinforce a local small business
and kind of talk about, like,what's going on right now. So, I
mean, please LIKE if you haven'tdone so already, I'm going to
harp on this, like I harp onmine, head on over to their
social media, they have aFacebook and Instagram tiktoks
(32:37):
on hold for a second until wejust a little smidge we're
gonna, I think we're gonna makea we'll do the TIC TOCs. Because
at least he's funny. So yeah,yeah. And then we do have a
website, which I want to pointout the website, if you go to
www dot speakeasy TAPCO that'sSpeak Easy T A T T c o.com. Over
(32:58):
there, that's going to house notonly this video once it hosts,
but it's going to house tattoobios, it's going to host links
to their Instagram so you cankind of see the work and the
creativity, we're going to havepictures and stills of the shop
as well too. So that way, youcan kind of see some of the
(33:18):
technology, what the shops aboutand all that stuff. And most
importantly has a booking keythere that has access to
everybody's email separately ifthere's a certain style you
gravitate towards, and the shopphone number and address because
for all of you people that stilluse GPS or don't know where
anything is you should pop thataddress out of the GPS into
Manny (33:41):
like I'm being 100% serious with this. I have in the
shop we have in the shopprobably one of the baddest
badass piercings in the area. Nojoke. Yeah, three. This girl is
amazing. Like don't go to Renodon't go out to Fallon, come
right here. To Fernley, Nevadasigns up. She's amazing. She's
(34:02):
amazing. You guys great with thekids. She's She's phenomenal.
Come see us
Dustin Steffey (34:06):
guys. The time that I'm in the chair. More
often than not, I see morepeople coming in for piercings
from her than anywhere else. Sheis probably in my opinion, not
only the best infernally, butprobably one of the best in the
state to be honest with you andthat, that that's just awesome.
Right? So if you want a goodquality piercing, I mean,
(34:27):
seriously consider her and andlook at her picture, too. She
has piercings all over. So yeah,all cells done and they look
great. So I mean, seriously,like, take a look at everybody's
portfolio. I challenge you guysto do that. The site is about
90% Done. It'll be done probablyby the time this video posts
(34:48):
listing the kinks out. Yep, weare definitely we're working on
getting a few things that aremissing. And those elements will
be on there soon.
Manny (34:56):
It's my fault, not his.
Abel (34:57):
No. One thing I want to say about Bri is You know, she's
also growing. So she's startingto look into like doing, like, a
little bit more extreme stuff.
Dustin Steffey (35:07):
Like the tongue splitting and stuff, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Manny (35:11):
Yeah. So she's working on that we've got some stuff in the
works, guys. So
Abel (35:14):
same with our beautiful you know, she's grown too. Yeah,
Manny (35:17):
you can never stay the same man can't stay the same and
in the business period,
Dustin Steffey (35:22):
always got to grow. So I already told you
about their social medias andstuff in the website. But now
I'm going to harp on mine. Forthose of you that I see ghosting
yourself in the background andstuff because I see that stuff.
Make sure you hit that likebutton that subscribe button,
send me some comments. Maybe Iget lonely over here without any
comments to respond to. That'sat chopping with fire that ch o
(35:45):
p p i n w i t h f i r e, andthen my website, same thing WWW
dot chopping with feiyr.com.
Again, they're a sponsor of mineas well too. So everything links
in intertwines within itself. Soif you get one of our websites
down, at least you're gonna getboth, like an orgy of links, it
is an orgy of links and thisorgies the fun orgy. So is there
(36:06):
any? So actually, no, I likebeing creative. So I'm going to
let you guys do this, because Ilet everybody do this. If
there's one solid piece ofinformation that you can leave,
to my subscribers and listenersabout entrepreneurship and about
going down the road and journey,or whatever the case may be,
(36:27):
what is it that you want to leadto them and impress upon them?
Each
Manny (36:32):
player teach a player that's how players learn?
Okay, Abel,
Abel (36:36):
I was gonna say, just make sure whatever business you go
into, go into it, because youlove it. And I promise you, the
money will come you don't chasethe money that that will come.
You will, because you love itand the money will show up.
Dustin Steffey (36:49):
Yeah, just for me be consistent, right? Show up
every day, be consistent. Don't,don't quit because it's getting
hard, like, be consistent andkeep going. Because eventually
that consistency is going to payoff in dividends. Those
dividends are going to increasein new investments, those
investments are gonna pay you inthe long run. So yeah, I agree,
(37:10):
guys, it was a pleasure. I likedthis video. I think it was fun.
I think it's fun doing smallbusiness and local stuff. So
thank you both. Thank you.
Appreciate it. And for all ofyou out there, I hope you
enjoyed it. This is the first ofmany for the small business
segments that are run at the endof the month. So thank you all
we might get lucky into asecond. Maybe even a third. I
don't know. I mean, again, wehave an orgy of links
Abel (37:34):
question the q&a one Yeah, well, good.
Dustin Steffey (37:37):
Yeah. Yeah, maybe maybe eventually as you
guys as we evolve like we'll doa q&a coming back and maybe we
can get some listener supporttoo and kind of have some people
that are like around withus. Yeah, live videos live Yeah.
So more to come. We mightactually do some videos where
they're actually like havesomeone in the chair as long as
they can the person in the chairconsents and we can kind of
Manny (37:59):
show you a will stand up and that will be tight.
Dustin Steffey (38:02):
For me maybe maybe I'll start with me because
you all you are used to me beingin the chair, I consent so we
can do something fun but more tocome on this again, guys. Thank
you
This episode is brought to you by speakeasy
tattoo company located inFernley, Nevada. That's at 420
East Main Street Fernley Nevada.
There's nobody else I'd rathergo to when it comes to my tattoo
needs between the experience ofthe whole staff, the creativity,
the knowledge, and the overalldedication to making sure that
(00:20):
your piece looks good. There'sno better tattoo parlor than
speakeasy tattoo company soplease, if you haven't done so
already, check them out at wwwdot Speak Easy tat CO that's
Speak Easy ta TTC o.com and bookan appointment today.
Jaden Norvell (00:54):
Welcome to your top rated business
entrepreneurship, selfdevelopment and smart investment
podcast. This podcast is hostedby creator and founder Dr.
Dustin Steffey and also hostedby coach, music producer and
influencer yours truly Jadenrush Norville, we are blessed
for many accolades such as beingnominated for the People's
Choice Award for Best BusinessPodcast, as well as raising over
(01:14):
$5,000 last year for the CysticFibrosis Foundation as well as
for the Boys and Girls Club,spending a global reach our
podcasts in the top fourdownloads in four countries.
Without further ado, welcome tochopping wood fire ladies and
gentlemen, let's chop it up
Dustin Steffey (01:35):
guys, welcome to a live show. My first one and
the start of our small businesssegments. I wanted to sit down
with a speakeasy tattoo companyin Fernley, Nevada, first and
foremost, but before we diveinto that interview, hit that
damn like button, because it'snot hard to do. So you see the
(01:57):
finger in the center here, hitthe like button already. And
then you know, the other onesdidn't make it, we cut them off,
but definitely got that middleone. If you're on YouTube, the
little bell, go ahead and hitthat bell. So you get updates.
And then go ahead and take it astep further, and type out some
content content on the commentssaying you liked it. So with
(02:22):
that being said, the last thingI want to bring up is is our
home charities are cysticfibrosis, because Jason's mom
has cystic fibrosis. And forthose of you that don't know
what it is, try putting a strawon your lungs and breathe in
through that doesn't feel verygood. Can't really breathe
really well. So please help usout in raising some money for
(02:42):
cystic fibrosis. And thenanother good one that we have is
the Boys and Girls Club, thatthat entity right there has done
so much for our kids. And theyneed help. And it's important
that if we have any spare moneywe give back and kind of keep
these organizations going orelse we're not going to have
them for very long, especiallyin these times. So please, if
(03:05):
you guys haven't done soalready, head on over to C F F
dot o RG forward slash donate orhead on over to bgbc.org Sports
slash donate to donate to theBoys and Girls Club today. With
that being said, we're going tokick this off. So I'm here with
(03:27):
Abel to my left. Manny to myright. He was going to wear the
sunglasses, we're going to cracksome blind jokes but decided not
to. Especially since we'resitting in a tattoo parlor, you
guys would have been like, hey,whoa, how's the blind one tattoo
you? And I was like, Well, I'mthe idiot, remember? So you sat
tuned on me. But no, like, Ijust want you all to know, like,
(03:50):
first and foremost, it's it'sactually a pleasure to have them
both. It's awesome that we arestarting this small business
segment. And I'm glad to kick itoff with them. Because I mean,
they got a lot say a lot ofjokes to crack, Abel. You
wouldn't think it is prettyfunny. Manny you wouldn't think
it he's kind of funny. But notfunny. No funnybone whatsoever.
(04:14):
But no, I want to just diveright in. First and foremost,
the get from this is tounderstand his small business,
so many small business, but toto understand how
entrepreneurship works ingeneral, because it's not easy.
I think everybody thinks likewhen you go into small business,
like you have more time on yourhands and you can do fun things
(04:37):
which it's true to a certainpoint once you get it rolling,
but the fact of the matter is toget it rolling to that point
takes years and years and yearsand lots of blood sweat and
tears. So it's important that wekind of outline that as well. So
I'm going to kind of start thisoff with like, hey Dustin,
you're in a tattoo shop so whywhy there well One, they sponsor
(05:01):
me, it's awesome, we have a goodpartnership and relationship.
I've grown to like these guys alot, I have a good dozen pieces
on me right now from this placealone. And honestly, for me, I'm
pretty loyal to it because Idon't want to go anywhere else,
I think the creativity out ofthe shop alone, and the way that
(05:21):
it's run, and the people andlike kind of everything in
compasses, like a good place asafe space and a creative place
to get something done thatyou're enjoying like, because
again, for those of you thatdon't know, these aren't the
sticker tattoos that like comeoff, they're on you forever. So
(05:43):
you kind of want it to lookgood. And these, these two, plus
everyone else that works herecouldn't have them all on, but
they take pride in making surethat when you walk out that damn
door, you're you're walking outwith something that you like.
And furthermore, you're walkingout into the public where people
can be like, Where'd thathappen? Where do you get that?
Because guess what, you can'tget custom pieces like this
(06:05):
anywhere else. And certainly I'msorry, but it's factual to me.
So I'm gonna hand it off toManny, I kind of want him to
kind of go through his journeyreal quick on like, why did he
get started here? When did heacquire it? Because I think a
lot of people weren't sure ofthis place to begin with,
because of people that were herein the past or whatnot. And this
(06:25):
isn't a negative talk. This isjust like, hey, it's a new era.
And it's time to move forward.
So Manny, it's all yours, buddy.
Manny (06:33):
Well, thank you, Dustin, for having us on. I really
appreciate it. And I'd like totake the time to say thank you
to Abel also on camera, becausehe's been a big help to everyone
here in the shop, includingmyself and everyone in
accounting to really like them.
So again, hey, well, thank you.
So sorry, my face. Yeah, so I'vebeen tattooing for about 15
(06:56):
years, 15 years solid legal on16. It's been a journey. I
thought about quitting a fewtimes. Maybe I should have at
some point I'm gonna share. Buthere we are. Early Nevada. I
came into the shop about twoyears ago. It was someone else's
shop. And it was someone else'sshop before that. And it kind of
picked up some negativity, somejust kind of a little dark cloud
(07:19):
around it. And that's somethingwe've been combating for the
last couple of years here. Andit's just trying to look over it
look past it. It's been rough.
But with that being said, yougot to rely on your skills and
you got to push forward.
Dustin Steffey (07:31):
So April, April's not from here. But he
has some extensive experience aswell. So from from our
conversations, you Cali to EastCoast back to here, right?
You've been tattooing for 15years. Yeah. So again, you
combine both of their experienceright there. I mean, that's 30
(07:51):
plus years, right there betweentwo of them. And we're not even
counting other artists that arehere, which I mean, we have, we
have melody which she's she'sjust starting out right. But
she's amazing. Had a sickturnaround for Friday, the 13th
had some awesome, awesometattoos that came out. So I
(08:12):
mean, we're, we're putting outsome good stuff here in my
opinion, and then we can'tforget about Bri too. She does
piercings, but she also isdabbling in tattoos as well.
Yes, Bree
Manny (08:22):
has been in this industry her whole life. She's amazing,
phenomenal piercer. Man, I can'tsay enough great things about
her great with the kids. Andyes, she does know how to build
a needle around to one skin withsome ape. She's learning but has
some good skills.
Dustin Steffey (08:39):
Yeah. So let me ask you guys something because I
mean, so I'm not new to tattoos,obviously. But what I am new to
is the loyalty, the creativity,the environment part, right. And
so I kind of want to dive intothat a little bit. So as far as
environment, how would you guyssay the environment is here?
(09:00):
Like when you come in to get atattoo you? What do you what
should people expect?
Manny (09:05):
First of all, the air freshener is amazing. Air
Freshener is pretty chill, I'dsay we try to keep low tension.
Like if we're having thisfrustrating session or a piece,
you know, it just kind of outthe window. You know, we really
try to keep the focus in theartwork. I know we talked about
(09:27):
it all the time. It's a 24/7thing. It doesn't stop.
Abel (09:32):
Yeah, it's a it's a fun environment. But I don't really
screw around too much. We can bepretty professional. We have our
jokes, but I mean, we get thingsdone. It's not a party
environment. It's just a funenvironment.
Dustin Steffey (09:42):
So for those of you that haven't walked in, to
get a tattoo or don't have atattoo or been wanting to get a
tattoo or whatever the case maybe wherever you are in your
journey. Here's it from myperspective. When I walk into
here first and foremost, I feelcomfortable, because, I mean, I
could get what Ever I want on mebecause it's my piece, right?
And there isn't really anyjudgment. But obviously don't.
(10:05):
Don't go over the top. Don't beasinine about something. But for
the most part, there's no, nojudgement. One, two, I love the
environment. Because when youwalk in, like, I mean, we'll
throw jokes out, we'll, we'llhave some fun. I mean, I think
the last time I was in thechair, I was able over here,
this clown was making me laugh.
And, and Manny sitting theretaking one line at a time on my
(10:29):
tattoo that I'm not going toshow you guys yet until we're
done with it. It is so staytuned. But we were doing the
beard of it. And so he was doingone line at a time. And this
asshole over here was making melaugh. So I was shaking. And
he's like, Well, we just messedit up. But in all actuality,
it's it looks really good rightnow. It's a fun environment. I
(10:52):
love it here. I think, honestly,when you walk into a tattoo
shop, you should feelcomfortable, you should feel
welcome. You should feel okay toask questions. Like there isn't
anything dumb when it comes toputting something permanent on
your body. And these guys, andof course, girls, because we got
(11:13):
two girls to they, theyunderstand that and they respect
that. So like, first andforemost, it's not scary at all.
Secondly, like if you wantsomething super custom, super
nice. I mean, these guys can dopretty much anything I'm sitting
by to two guys here that haveorchards. Um, yeah, okay. Okay.
Okay, they will get it. We'llget into like specifics in a
(11:38):
sec. But like, for the mostpart, most of the stuff here
isn't cookie cutter. So it isn'tlike it was back in the 90s or
early 2000s. Where you walk in,you look at a portfolio and
you're like, oh, I want a or Iwant number 150 or whatever.
McDonald's. Yeah, yeah. Now theydo have some cool stuff that
(12:01):
they just recently integrated.
So they have a cool little likeegg machine, where you go and
you like put a coin in. Andwhatever you draw, is what you
get on you, which I think isreally cool. And it's like, put
some mystery behind things. Butif you're looking for that, like
really cool, like super specificpiece to you, between the
(12:21):
experience that's here. I know.
It'll get done perfectly talk tous. Yeah, absolutely. They.
They're awesome. I thinkeverything is you know, perfect
for here. I wanted to get intothough because there are
specifics right. So like for meas a person. I really like
shading, right I like the shadedpieces are the pieces where you
like put lighting on it where ifit hits a certain way like it
(12:43):
really shows the details. I'mgonna get into specifics with
these two. So like Manny, foryou, like you've been tattooing
a while. I know there's certainstyle that you like, I know,
there's certain things that youlike to do. Let's kind of talk
about that a little bit. I knowwe have a bio for him, right. So
if you want the cookie cutterbio, just head on over to
speakeasy tapco.com But we'rediving into the nitty gritty
(13:07):
right now.
Manny (13:09):
So I first started I had a real big love for the old
school American traditional. Andthe Japanese stuff like a lot of
us do. Because I had grown upseeing black and gray and all my
uncle's from prison and crap.
You know, all that stuff. Yeah.
So when I first startedtattooing, I gave the attempt at
the Japanese and the Americanstuff. And I didn't think I
(13:30):
understood it as well. Butnowadays, I like to go back to
it. I still love black and gray,though. It's like a toss up
American tradition on Japanese.
Michael Gray. I don't, I don'tknow. Kind of integrative I
guess.
Dustin Steffey (13:43):
And when we unveil my tattoo, which we will,
we'll probably unveil it. I havemy last session for that piece
up here. This this coming week.
So he says to but I'm a badass,so I'm thinking one. Yeah, this
guy. He has jokes right now.
Anyway. So we'll show you kindof that super cool, like black,
(14:08):
white and gray. And it'll lookreally cool. April. What about
you, dude? Like, I mean, I'vedove into a few things with you.
But you're, you bring some coolthings like to the table that
are different.
Abel (14:18):
Yeah. So gosh, I can I put this I can do any tattoo you
want. I just choose not to docolor portraits, and tribal.
Anything else you want, man, Ican do it all but I'm just not
100% comfortable with colorportraits. I can do color
realism, just the portraits. Idon't want them to come out
(14:38):
looking orange. Tribal, it justtends to be a little too boring
for me. Once you draw it out onsomeone and you outline it, it's
just filling in. It's just alittle too boring. Other than
that, I mean, I can do whateverelse you guys want. But at the
end of the day that always endsup being my style. Do you want
traditional it's April'straditional style. Do you want
Japanese? It's April style ofJapanese stuff. But yeah, I
(15:03):
don't Yeah, I mean, we can alldo. Every artist here can do
whatever style you want. But Ithink we all choose not to do
ones that are just too boringfor us, or they don't push us or
make us grow as a tribal, notgoing to push me or made me
grow. You know, I'm doingPolynesian stuff that's a little
more creative and the tribalstuff. And then color portraits.
(15:26):
I just don't want someone to getan orange looking person. That's
it. Yeah, so we
Manny (15:30):
just call it an orange Smurf.
I'm gonna I'm gonna interrupt.
All right, all right. I'm gonnaassume Abel, his tattoos? Are
those motherfucking Instagramtattoos that everyone likes to
look at? Everyone goes, Oh myGod, look at those delicate
little lines. That's April righthere. Okay, he's cutting it
short. He's phenomenal. Youguys.
Dustin Steffey (15:48):
begin speaking on Instagram guys, please head
on over to speakeasy TAPCO andhit that follow button because
there's a lot of cool thingsthat are on there. So that Speak
Easy tat to T A T T C O. Goahead and hit them up. Hit a
like on there follow whatever,whatever you kids do these days,
(16:09):
but make sure Yeah, I mean, ourDMS. Yeah. Hell yeah. Like
seriously,
Abel (16:14):
I don't have a I don't think we have a tick tock,
right.
Dustin Steffey (16:17):
We do. We do. We do. We have. Hey, they haven't
run it yet. But they will soonenough. I promise for those of
you. For those of you that aremaking fun of my tic TOCs. Right
now more to come because thatstyle is headed over years. So
that's why Yeah. Emails, yeah.
They actually able able, heresponds really well, if you
(16:38):
send him a pigeon. And then thisguy, this guy, he'll respond two
days late, maybe like in 24 to68 hours. So yeah, yeah. Yeah,
yeah. But no, all joking aside,please like head on over and see
some of their work, because it'sdefinitely some of that work is
posted on the Instagram, theyhave Facebook as well. They do
have emails for each of theseparate artists. So for all of
(17:03):
my locals, please, please headon over
Abel (17:08):
I think that'll be on the on the website. Everyone's like,
Instagram and all that stuff.
Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (17:14):
I think it'll be on the Yep. Yep, it will. It's
in the works right now. April.
So April, on the opposite end ofthe spectrum. He's always busy.
So we're just waiting on hisright to say, I'm not. I wrote.
I wrote his forehand, so he gotlucky. No, but, but um, let's,
let's shift gears a little bit.
(17:39):
You're running your own tattooshop. Yes. So that's
entrepreneurship in itself rightthere. But this isn't the first
time you've been anentrepreneur. Is it because you
were you were doing mechanicsand stuff as well too.
Manny (17:51):
And that's, that's wearing your slave chains. Okay,
so
Dustin Steffey (17:54):
that's the slave job versus cutting those ties.
Alright, so this is yourpersonal
Manny (17:59):
nine to five. Okay, first cracking. Okay, so ownership.
Dustin Steffey (18:03):
So talk about it a little bit. So,
Manny (18:05):
I know some people are gonna disagree, but like, the
way I was working, I was workingunderground out of the house for
a while towards the end there.
It was really similar to theshop just the way it was
operating, you know. And I movedout here to Nevada man and
opportunity arose and the oldowner left and I took over and
it's been pretty good sincethen. It's just staying on top
of orders. Now. The busy season,you know, I think will be the
(18:29):
fun part.
Dustin Steffey (18:31):
What do you think the hardest part like in
your perspective, becauseeverybody has a different
perspective. And I'll chime inmind soon, but like for you, in
your entrepreneurial journey,what's the hardest part of it
for you right now is stepping
Manny (18:43):
off the ledge. Okay.
Okay, first step to like beingon your own. Okay. It's scary
because you don't know what's onthe other side. You know, your
union job. You're gonna get apaycheck. Yep. Yeah, that's
gonna happen. You know, you'regonna kids, you're gonna have
Yep, it's, but you step intoyour own realm. And it's scary.
Yeah. But it's also freeing, andit's a wonderful feeling, man,
(19:05):
because it's your own world.
Dustin Steffey (19:07):
It's a different stress in my opinion. So when I
look at it, I'm like, happierbecause I'm doing something I'm
passionate about. On one hand,yes. But on the other hand, I
feel like I'm more stressedbecause I'm backed against the
corner to be successful.
Manny (19:23):
Well, you're feeling that 24/7 Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (19:25):
yeah, yeah, sleep. Nope. Nope. Isn't sleep.
I go to bed with nightmare.
Sometimes. That shit.
Manny (19:32):
I need some air freshener. Yeah.
Dustin Steffey (19:35):
Mind you when you walk in the air fresheners.
Great here.
Abel (19:39):
Yeah, honestly, I think when you do some that you really
enjoy. I think you shoot toomuch for perfection. Yeah, I
agree. And that's where you getstressed out. Perfect, man. This
is Manny shots. The 10 teams areManny's tattoo. You can't point
fingers and be like, Oh, it wasthat guy that didn't you know,
help or that guy? Whatever.
Nope. It's 100% you so you shoottoo much for perfection,
(20:01):
perfection. And I think that'swhat's stressing me out.
Sometimes.
Dustin Steffey (20:05):
I believe 100 I believe 100% that we are our own
harshest critic, I believe inthat statement,
Manny (20:12):
dude. I was putting out for a minute. I wasn't happy
with everything I was puttingout to him for a minute. And I
was like, Okay, let me help.
Like, we had some apprentices.
Yeah, that needed some help atthe time. So I tried to focus on
that a little bit. Yeah. And ithelped, you know, like
refreshing Jeter like, oh, yeah,remember this? Okay, I can do
this. Now. Let me let me getback to it's a different
approach. Right. But that thatstaying fresh aspect in the
(20:35):
business is important. Stayingin touch with the youth,
especially? Because that's ourdriving force. We can tattoo at
16 Yep. So yep, that's a market.
You know, it's importantCalifornia, you're gonna get 20
to 25. Smart ass.
Dustin Steffey (20:52):
Yeah, this is gonna restrict in California,
you probably can't get a tattooanymore. You'll go to jail,
Abel (20:57):
whatever, in California 18. If you're under 18, you
can't even walk into it. Yet.
It's ridiculous. Even if you'recoming in with a friend or your
parents to make an appointment,you can't even walk in to the
shots. I was telling
Manny (21:08):
Abel this the other day, I said to him a few times. I've
been tattooing for 15 yearsgoing on 16. But I've always
been a business owner tosomething new for me, and I'm
enjoying it. Yeah, it's thestress is the strategy, you have
to take the you know, everythingthe good, the bad. You know, the
freedom, the stress of the busyseason, I like it.
Dustin Steffey (21:30):
And little Do you guys know, I'm going to
shift the gear over to April.
April's around his own businesstoo. So he knows about
entrepreneurship and stuff, too.
So I'm gonna I'm going to shiftthe question to you like in your
mind for you. What do you thinkyour hardest point was being an
entrepreneur and really runningyour own business?
Abel (21:51):
Not failing? Yeah, that's the big Yeah, just failing that,
you know, you think you're doingsomething good. And then yeah,
you open your shop and nobodyshows up. Or it starts slowing
down. You know, you startdoubting yourself. Especially
like Manny said, it's not aguarantee check. So if I have a
slow week, it's it's a lowpaycheck. If it's a busy one,
then you know, it's high. Italways fluctuates. But I think
(22:12):
the hardest was just not notfailing, or making sure that you
don't fail. I mean, you know,there's ways you can talk to
customers, and there's certainways you can sell certain ideas
to them. But at the end of theday, I think the biggest fear is
not failing your business,because then you feel like
you've failed yourself andeverybody else around. But
that's the hardest part for mewas, customers are easy. The
(22:33):
tattoos are easy. Let's justmake it all run smoothly. Get
comfy
Manny (22:37):
chair, man. Yep.
Dustin Steffey (22:40):
So I know I don't interject very much about
my journey at all, because I'malways interviewing, right. But
for me, you all probably think Iknow everything about it with
all the experts we've had onwhat we talk about with
networking and everything. Andyes, book smart, like, I know
what it takes to run a business.
But for me, I'm alwaysoverwhelmed with I gotta do
this, or I need to get moremarketing, or how do I make
(23:04):
enough money to be able to keepthe business rollin just to
survive? Or, or did I miss that,or whatever the case may be,
it's constantly like Manny said,and even able, it's 24/7 gig,
right? And so I go to sleep,sometimes, like shit, did I
forget to do that, or I shouldhave done this better. So for
(23:26):
me, my biggest stress is notbeing perfect, per se, but
making sure that I was thoroughenough to drive my content, one
to all of you guys, but to thedriving force of why did I start
doing this? And the whole pointof this for me, is to educate
other young young or olderentrepreneurs, on some
(23:49):
techniques, skills, marketing,whatever to do it right. Or for
my investment people thatinvestments like diversifying,
right, you are not going to bedon't be that idiot that invest
in one thing, and then all of asudden it flops and now you have
nothing you need to diversify.
And in business, it's kind ofthe same thing. We have to
(24:11):
diversify our time, our energyand everything to make that
business run and work I mean,for Manny, he's so intelligent
when it comes to like creativeideas, but executing them in a
different way. So like themarketing like you guys are
seeing with speakeasy right nowthe marketing just started
driving a lot more recentlybecause he needed the time to be
(24:35):
able to like sit back and sayhow do I want to appropriately
market and how do I want to doit right? Because there is no
one size fits all solution
Manny (24:43):
when you get to this plateau. Right? You you like you
feel good? Like man, I got abusiness. Yeah, I'm self
sustainable. I'm holding myfamily and food on the table,
and then it just kind of haltsand you're like, Damn, what
next? Yep. So then you have achoice. You can stay there where
you're at and be happy or youcan continue your growth. Yep,
still be happy.
Dustin Steffey (25:03):
Yep, you can push to that next level. And
it's no secret guys, marketingis probably in my opinion, the
well, it's the most important,but it's the second most
expensive in my opinion, maybeeven the first most expensive as
Manny (25:18):
paper towels.
Dustin Steffey (25:21):
So if you're running a normal business, I
think your marketing budget isprobably the most expensive
budget because that's what getsyour name out there. For them.
It's a little different becausetheir name gets out there not
only by marketing, but by like,word of mouth and the people
that go out with their work andstuff like that. And people ask
(25:42):
him, dude, that's cool. Where'dyou get that and then you start
talking there and then itsnowballs
Manny (25:46):
Dustin's a rarity, because we actually get to see
the work come back. So it's notlike they're out of state or
they're traveling or you justdon't like, Oh, I got my one
that I'm done with. And theythey're done, you know, but we
try to give them a good one forrepeats. We try to keep giving
you good ones.
Dustin Steffey (26:00):
Right. And for those of you that have been on
my TED talk, so a lot of like,we have a couple of tiktoks with
me in the chair with some ofthese pieces. And it's it's
really fun. It's it's fun tomarket that out. Because it's
different. I don't see very manytattoo shops marketing in that
way. And it's, it's like newschool. It's New Age. It's
bringing different people in andit's fun. Yeah. I mean, I had a
(26:22):
few comments come back like,Dude, did it hurt or like funny?
Shit coming back, right? And I'mlike, Dude, this is this
awesome. Like, I think thatbrings the next point, right? In
business for us all. Like,change is inevitable. Oh,
there's a lot of businesses thatflop I think, because they're
just not willing to change, inmy opinion. And you guys can
(26:45):
correct me if I'm wrong, but Ithink in this environment now.
And in this instantgratification culture, like
changes even quicker.
Abel (26:53):
I'll give you a perfect example of somebody who failed
because they didn't changeKmart. They didn't change
anything. It was always thesame, the same register the same
aisles. Nothing ever grew. Thepictures they had on the wall
were from like the 80s. Theynever ever changed. And they're
out of business.
Dustin Steffey (27:11):
April's dating himself with Kmart. So I'll just
bring up Mervyn's as well too.
And
Abel (27:18):
change from St. Louis, I mean, I can do the same type of
my tattoos should be changing alittle bit every year improving,
or the style should be changed.
In some sense. That's a badthing. That's if people go
somewhere else they want what'snew.
Dustin Steffey (27:33):
The other respect I have for these tools
as well is like, for those ofyou that have gotten a tattoo,
I'm sure most of you have seenthe machines that are used,
right. And most of them arethose coil machines. I mean,
I've not seen a wireless oneuntil walking into this shop.
And so like even the technology,like that's important, and Manny
(27:57):
and Abel are like really good atexplaining why that's so
important. Whereas I'm not butit makes the tattoo like it
doesn't make it any lesspainful, but it makes it heal
better in my opinion. Like Iheal faster with their stuff
than I did with any other tattooartists because of the way that
they tattoo in the technology.
Manny (28:16):
Seven Day heal now is pretty common. I remember two
weeks, they used to tell weeks,two weeks a week. So like we're
seeing like flake, the skinflake and the dry patches go
away after three days now withthe newer stuff we're using. And
it's just technologies, it'slearning that learning it how to
be delicate, you know, you gottagotta crack a few eggs to make
(28:37):
an omelet. Right?
Dustin Steffey (28:39):
So and that's the other important thing to
drive to maybe some of you newpeople that have never gotten a
tattoo or anything as well, toois would you rather go to a
place that's not transparent,and doesn't really like tell you
about how the process goes andthen you get a piece on you and
eventually it's like not good?
Or would you rather go to aplace that is up to date on
technology has 30 plus years ofcreative experience has the know
(29:02):
how of how to work the machinesappropriately to make sure that
that tattoo looks the best likethat. These are the things that
you guys all have to start doingyour research on, especially new
people that want to get therelike first step to and whatnot.
Where do you want to go? Like itisn't about loyalty. So much as
it's about doing your researchon? Does this artist not only is
(29:25):
this artist creative, but dothey use the right technology
now to make my tattoo last alifetime right? I have pieces on
me that are gonna last alifetime.
Abel (29:37):
I think just maybe I think 10 years ago there was still
metal and some of the inks Oh,yeah. Even the inks are still
growing. Yeah, and
Manny (29:45):
now everything we have in here like I didn't even know it
until recently vegan saying likeI just I'm just like by
accident, but like everything
Dustin Steffey (29:52):
Oh for all my earth friendly people. We have
vegan Safestop so please drop in
Abel (29:57):
all the things we have or are vegan. Yeah. Been around for
Senator vegan. Everything we useYeah,
Dustin Steffey (30:05):
I wish I could unreal it right now but like the
tattoo up here like it's darklike the blacks are like black
black, and the shading looksamazing like, soon enough guys,
you're gonna have to just thinkabout it for a little bit until
we get it done
Manny (30:20):
might not be one of April's fancy Instagrams because
that dude, I'm telling you thosefine lines, man. Yeah,
Dustin Steffey (30:26):
this is where we get the specifics. Yeah, yeah.
Manny (30:30):
So fat are on the line work, but his delicate lines,
man. Yeah, like
Abel (30:34):
I said, we can all do the tattoo. It just depends what
style you're into. Well, youknow, melody has a style Mani
me.
Dustin Steffey (30:42):
Melody is not in the video right now. But I just
want you all to know if we goabout 10 clicks to my lap this
way. She hears us and she'stattooing someone right now.
She's in it. Yeah, she is. Sheis She is. She wants she wants
to be on camera so bad, butcan't
Manny (31:00):
put her makeup on? She said, Yeah.
Dustin Steffey (31:03):
What's the lighting in here? She said she
wants real bright lights whereit's on her. And that's it.
Abel (31:08):
Green light right here.
Dustin Steffey (31:09):
A ring light on the beach. Actually, her comment
to us pre roll was if she werein the camera with us, she would
take all the attention away fromus. So that's why she's not
here. It's true. It's probablypretty true. So moustache,
right? We're trying to focus iton this this strapping old fart
Manny (31:28):
not having to wear a hat because the shine, you know,
Dustin Steffey (31:32):
me, I have no excuses. You guys get my ugly
mug weekly. So. But um, as faras business, I think the point
that we're trying to reinforcehere is this is not the same
place it was a few years ago.
One, two, there's so muchcreativity that's coming out of
here. So don't be scared tolike, pop in and see what they
can do for you. Number two. AndI think the third and most
(31:56):
important thing, and this is forjust the podcast as a whole is
the fact that I'm in a tattooshop, right? And it's still a
place of business. And there'sstill entrepreneurship to be
had. And even like, even thoughit's not like April's brick and
mortar, he's still running hisown business within a business.
So there's so muchentrepreneurship coming out of
(32:16):
here, so much marketing, so manylike trials and tribulations.
And so it's just nice toreinforce a local small business
and kind of talk about, like,what's going on right now. So, I
mean, please LIKE if you haven'tdone so already, I'm going to
harp on this, like I harp onmine, head on over to their
social media, they have aFacebook and Instagram tiktoks
(32:37):
on hold for a second until wejust a little smidge we're
gonna, I think we're gonna makea we'll do the TIC TOCs. Because
at least he's funny. So yeah,yeah. And then we do have a
website, which I want to pointout the website, if you go to
www dot speakeasy TAPCO that'sSpeak Easy T A T T c o.com. Over
(32:58):
there, that's going to house notonly this video once it hosts,
but it's going to house tattoobios, it's going to host links
to their Instagram so you cankind of see the work and the
creativity, we're going to havepictures and stills of the shop
as well too. So that way, youcan kind of see some of the
(33:18):
technology, what the shops aboutand all that stuff. And most
importantly has a booking keythere that has access to
everybody's email separately ifthere's a certain style you
gravitate towards, and the shopphone number and address because
for all of you people that stilluse GPS or don't know where
anything is you should pop thataddress out of the GPS into
Manny (33:41):
like I'm being 100% serious with this. I have in the
shop we have in the shopprobably one of the baddest
badass piercings in the area. Nojoke. Yeah, three. This girl is
amazing. Like don't go to Renodon't go out to Fallon, come
right here. To Fernley, Nevadasigns up. She's amazing. She's
(34:02):
amazing. You guys great with thekids. She's She's phenomenal.
Come see us
Dustin Steffey (34:06):
guys. The time that I'm in the chair. More
often than not, I see morepeople coming in for piercings
from her than anywhere else. Sheis probably in my opinion, not
only the best infernally, butprobably one of the best in the
state to be honest with you andthat, that that's just awesome.
Right? So if you want a goodquality piercing, I mean,
(34:27):
seriously consider her and andlook at her picture, too. She
has piercings all over. So yeah,all cells done and they look
great. So I mean, seriously,like, take a look at everybody's
portfolio. I challenge you guysto do that. The site is about
90% Done. It'll be done probablyby the time this video posts
(34:48):
listing the kinks out. Yep, weare definitely we're working on
getting a few things that aremissing. And those elements will
be on there soon.
Manny (34:56):
It's my fault, not his.
Abel (34:57):
No. One thing I want to say about Bri is You know, she's
also growing. So she's startingto look into like doing, like, a
little bit more extreme stuff.
Dustin Steffey (35:07):
Like the tongue splitting and stuff, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Manny (35:11):
Yeah. So she's working on that we've got some stuff in the
works, guys. So
Abel (35:14):
same with our beautiful you know, she's grown too. Yeah,
Manny (35:17):
you can never stay the same man can't stay the same and
in the business period,
Dustin Steffey (35:22):
always got to grow. So I already told you
about their social medias andstuff in the website. But now
I'm going to harp on mine. Forthose of you that I see ghosting
yourself in the background andstuff because I see that stuff.
Make sure you hit that likebutton that subscribe button,
send me some comments. Maybe Iget lonely over here without any
comments to respond to. That'sat chopping with fire that ch o
(35:45):
p p i n w i t h f i r e, andthen my website, same thing WWW
dot chopping with feiyr.com.
Again, they're a sponsor of mineas well too. So everything links
in intertwines within itself. Soif you get one of our websites
down, at least you're gonna getboth, like an orgy of links, it
is an orgy of links and thisorgies the fun orgy. So is there
(36:06):
any? So actually, no, I likebeing creative. So I'm going to
let you guys do this, because Ilet everybody do this. If
there's one solid piece ofinformation that you can leave,
to my subscribers and listenersabout entrepreneurship and about
going down the road and journey,or whatever the case may be,
(36:27):
what is it that you want to leadto them and impress upon them?
Each
Manny (36:32):
player teach a player that's how players learn?
Okay, Abel,
Abel (36:36):
I was gonna say, just make sure whatever business you go
into, go into it, because youlove it. And I promise you, the
money will come you don't chasethe money that that will come.
You will, because you love itand the money will show up.
Dustin Steffey (36:49):
Yeah, just for me be consistent, right? Show up
every day, be consistent. Don't,don't quit because it's getting
hard, like, be consistent andkeep going. Because eventually
that consistency is going to payoff in dividends. Those
dividends are going to increasein new investments, those
investments are gonna pay you inthe long run. So yeah, I agree,
(37:10):
guys, it was a pleasure. I likedthis video. I think it was fun.
I think it's fun doing smallbusiness and local stuff. So
thank you both. Thank you.
Appreciate it. And for all ofyou out there, I hope you
enjoyed it. This is the first ofmany for the small business
segments that are run at the endof the month. So thank you all
we might get lucky into asecond. Maybe even a third. I
don't know. I mean, again, wehave an orgy of links
Abel (37:34):
question the q&a one Yeah, well, good.
Dustin Steffey (37:37):
Yeah. Yeah, maybe maybe eventually as you
guys as we evolve like we'll doa q&a coming back and maybe we
can get some listener supporttoo and kind of have some people
that are like around withus. Yeah, live videos live Yeah.
So more to come. We mightactually do some videos where
they're actually like havesomeone in the chair as long as
they can the person in the chairconsents and we can kind of
Manny (37:59):
show you a will stand up and that will be tight.
Dustin Steffey (38:02):
For me maybe maybe I'll start with me because
you all you are used to me beingin the chair, I consent so we
can do something fun but more tocome on this again, guys. Thank
you
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