March 14, 2024 • 12 mins
I pushed through my hormonal sh*tstorm to come at you with some gratitude. Namely five reasons I love being a tattoo artist.
For the full discussion listen of course, and for the short summary peep below:
1. The connections/conversations with my clients.
2. Self determined schedule.
3. Honing my craft, every day into forever.
4. I get to create the environment for myself and my clients.
5. Being a part of a culture that touches most of humanity.
Come back next week and maybe I will talk about reasons this job is hard.
In this episode I mention a long admired by me tattoo artist, Esther Garcia:
https://www.butterfatstudios.com/
You can connect with me, Micah Riot, as well as see my tattoo art on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/micahriot/
Micah's website is www.micahriot.com
The podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout but truly lives in the heart of Micah's website at:
https://www.micahriot.com/ink-medicine-podcast/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Micah Riot (00:30):
hello, my darlings, hello.
To be honest, I almost didn'tmake an episode for this week
because I don't feel good.
I don't feel good at all.
My hormones are pretty out ofwhack, which makes for a lot of
sadness, a lot of tears and alittle in the way of motivation.
(00:51):
But I wanted to push through itand make this episode anyway
because I don't want to fallbehind and I don't want to give
myself an out.
I want to keep making thepodcast.
And what do we do when we feellike shit?
We turn to gratitude.
So today's episode is going tobe a quickie about the reasons I
love being a tattoo artist.
(01:12):
I'm going to make it short andsweet.
Let's do five reasons I lovebeing a tattoo artist, and
reason number one will be theconnections I make.
I have the most amazing clients.
I really have the most amazingclients, and this is one of the
reasons why I started thepodcast.
I wanted to highlight andshowcase and show the world how
(01:35):
amazing the people that I get totattoo are.
They come from all walks oflife, they have all kinds of
different jobs, they're all agesand all socioeconomic statuses
and, of course, all races andall sexualities and it's really.
It's incredible that I gettattooed so many different kinds
(01:57):
of people and I think the thingthey have in common is that
they are all seekers of meaning.
I think we're meant for that.
I think humanity is meant to beseekers of meaning, but I don't
think that everybody is awareof that purpose, and my clients
are.
We have the most amazingconversations.
(02:18):
I find out incredible thingsfrom them and, for example, do
you know why the birth controlpill starts on a Sunday?
I was informed about this lastnight by my client turned friend
.
It's because it takes two daysfor your body to bleed once you
(02:43):
stop the pill, so your last pillwould be on a Saturday and then
you bleed on Monday throughFriday, so you could have sex
with your 50s husband throughthe weekend.
That's why it starts on aSunday.
The pack starts on a Sunday.
Okay, that's a very funnyexample of the things I find out
(03:05):
from my clients.
But just trust me, I have themost amazing conversations with
people about all kinds of stuff,their lives, their work,
touching upon every topic.
So number two reason I lovebeing a tattoo artist is that I
get to make my own schedule, notsay over my schedule and when I
(03:27):
go to work and when I go on atrip and not having to ask
somebody else if I can take timeoff.
Of course I have to make surethat I'm not messing up someone
else's schedule because theyagreed to come in and get
tattooed.
I really try not to reschedulepeople if possible, but overall
it's up to me.
(03:47):
When I want to do things I canalways move my people around.
I know who is available whenand that's really nice to have
that intimacy with my scheduleand access to my clients and to
be able to like.
I'm going to LA this weekbecause next week is my 40th
(04:08):
birthday, so I needed to go showmy face to my family.
I haven't seen them in a fewmonths, so I'm driving later
today and it's midweek, it's aWednesday, and I'll be there
from today to Sunday, first inLA with my grandmother and then
in Palmdale in the desert withmy mom and I'm bringing the dog
(04:30):
and it's just dog and I and I goon a little road trip, listen
to a bunch of podcasts andaudiobooks and relax.
Yeah, I really love the factthat I get to make my own
schedule pretty cool.
A reason number three I lovebeing a tattoo artist is that I
get to hone my craft overdecades.
You know it's been a decade anda half now it's been 15 years,
(04:56):
and I'm starting to feel likeI'm coming into my own in
certain ways, like there arestyles that I am working in that
I feel like are mine and I feelreally excited by them and I
feel inspired by doing that kindof work, and so I'm still doing
mostly everything, but I amstarting to hone my specific
(05:19):
style, which is exciting, andreally just hone the craft.
Like every tattoo I do, there'sa potential to do the best
tattoo I've ever done, the bestflower I've ever done the best,
pack the color the most tightly,the most well, draw the lines,
build the lines up the mostsmoothly.
(05:40):
There's always, every day is anew opportunity to be a better
artist and a better tattooartist and a better client
facing human than I wasyesterday, and that's pretty
fucking cool because it's atrade and a skill that gets
developed over time.
I feel really lucky to havethat trade and that skill.
(06:05):
Reason number four is I get tocreate a space that people love
coming into.
I get to create a space, fillit with art, make choices about
colors and flavors of tea andother things in the space in the
shop that like plants thatpeople love, and people will
(06:29):
come in and say I love yourspace.
It feels so good here, theenergy here is lovely and I am
proud of that.
I love creating that space.
I love being the person to makethose decisions and at this
point, of course, decisions areboth ours mine and Sailor's.
They have their own area of theshop where they have complete
(06:49):
say, and I, for the most part,have a say in my section of the
shop of what it looks like.
But together we create andco-create the energy in the shop
and the overall feel and lookof the space, and it's smooth
and not an issue.
So I love to create andco-create the environment.
(07:09):
And I will finish this off witha fifth reason this is not an
extensive list of reasons, thisis just five that I could think
of off the top of my head inthis moment as I'm getting ready
to skip town and I would sayit's that tattoo culture is
universal at this point.
Really, there's very few placesin the world one could go and
(07:32):
not see tattoos on people's skin, and Instagram has made me
aware of so many tattoo artistsfrom across the globe, every
continent, every country, andit's super cool.
It's super cool to see thoseconnections and even though when
I'm looking at art on Instagramsometimes I'm really envious
(07:56):
that people have really amazingskill and amazing visions and
such a unique, creative way ofcreating their art and putting
it on skin Like really tattooart has become art like.
It truly has become art.
I think it always has been, butit's now much more universally
internationally recognized as aform of art by a lot of people,
(08:21):
and people work in so manydifferent kinds of styles and
reuse the body in so manydifferent kinds of ways.
It's super cool.
So I love that I could goreally anywhere in the world and
encounter tattoos and encountertattoo collectors and tattoo
artists, and I would say that Iam now brave enough to ask to
guest spot in most places.
(08:43):
There's definitely someintimidating shops and artists
out there in the world that Iwould have I would feel shy
about approaching, but Iactually, a couple of days ago,
sent an email off to EstherGarcia, who has Butterfat
Studios in Chicago, and Estherhas been somebody I've followed
(09:03):
and admired since the beginning,since I was a baby tattoo
artist.
I really always.
I love the way that she did herflowers and her like food and
flowers and and like animals,kind of insects.
I once drew some bacon inspiredby a tattoo of hers.
I've been admiring her work fora long time.
(09:25):
She's always tattooed in thekind of a painterly style that I
saw 15 years ago when I wasstarting out.
Clearly her career is a lotlonger than mine and she just
always been one of those peoplethat I'd be like I would love to
meet her someday.
I would love to be, to comeinto her shop one day.
I would love to tattoo next toher one day.
I would love to learn from her,and so I emailed her as I am
(09:48):
thinking about venturing outeast to visit and tattoo and
spend some time on the eastcoast and Chicago kind of fits
the east coast vibe.
So I thought about her and Iemailed her and I said, hey, I
have been tattooing in the Bayfor 15 years.
I've been admiring you for thatlong.
(10:09):
If you ever have space for meat your shop, I would love to
come and guest and also I'd loveto put you on the podcast.
And she responded only like twodays later.
I thought I'd probably notprobably not hear from her back
or maybe hear back from her likeweeks later.
So I was surprised that she gotback to me so fast and she's
very sweet, very warm, verywelcoming.
(10:31):
And she said yes, we take guestartists.
When would you like to come?
I'm not sure about the podcast,I'm kind of shy with recording
devices, but we'll see, we candiscuss, and it made me really
happy actually getting thatemail back.
So, yes, there's always thingsto smile about, even when I feel
kind of like shit.
So, yes, the connections I canstill build across the globe by
(10:56):
going places and tattooing inother shops and also talking to
people with tattoos andconnecting with tattoo artists.
It's pretty cool.
It's an opportunity unlike anyother.
It's a job unlike any other.
I'm so grateful I get to do artfor a living.
I'm so grateful that I havethis life and, like, there's
(11:17):
difficult things too.
Perhaps next week we'll talkabout the difficulties and the
hard parts of being a tattooartist, but don't let it deter
you if you're a young person andyou want to tattoo.
There's so many beautifulthings about it.
If you really want it, I thinkyou'll find the best parts and
you'll be able to deal with theworst parts.
Thank you so much for listening.
(11:38):
I really appreciate you beinghere and supporting me, even
though sometimes it's hard forme to push through my own crap.
I appreciate you.
I hope you're having a goodweek and I'll talk to you very
soon.
You.
hello, my darlings, hello.
To be honest, I almost didn'tmake an episode for this week
because I don't feel good.
I don't feel good at all.
My hormones are pretty out ofwhack, which makes for a lot of
sadness, a lot of tears and alittle in the way of motivation.
(00:51):
But I wanted to push through itand make this episode anyway
because I don't want to fallbehind and I don't want to give
myself an out.
I want to keep making thepodcast.
And what do we do when we feellike shit?
We turn to gratitude.
So today's episode is going tobe a quickie about the reasons I
love being a tattoo artist.
(01:12):
I'm going to make it short andsweet.
Let's do five reasons I lovebeing a tattoo artist, and
reason number one will be theconnections I make.
I have the most amazing clients.
I really have the most amazingclients, and this is one of the
reasons why I started thepodcast.
I wanted to highlight andshowcase and show the world how
(01:35):
amazing the people that I get totattoo are.
They come from all walks oflife, they have all kinds of
different jobs, they're all agesand all socioeconomic statuses
and, of course, all races andall sexualities and it's really.
It's incredible that I gettattooed so many different kinds
(01:57):
of people and I think the thingthey have in common is that
they are all seekers of meaning.
I think we're meant for that.
I think humanity is meant to beseekers of meaning, but I don't
think that everybody is awareof that purpose, and my clients
are.
We have the most amazingconversations.
(02:18):
I find out incredible thingsfrom them and, for example, do
you know why the birth controlpill starts on a Sunday?
I was informed about this lastnight by my client turned friend
.
It's because it takes two daysfor your body to bleed once you
(02:43):
stop the pill, so your last pillwould be on a Saturday and then
you bleed on Monday throughFriday, so you could have sex
with your 50s husband throughthe weekend.
That's why it starts on aSunday.
The pack starts on a Sunday.
Okay, that's a very funnyexample of the things I find out
(03:05):
from my clients.
But just trust me, I have themost amazing conversations with
people about all kinds of stuff,their lives, their work,
touching upon every topic.
So number two reason I lovebeing a tattoo artist is that I
get to make my own schedule, notsay over my schedule and when I
(03:27):
go to work and when I go on atrip and not having to ask
somebody else if I can take timeoff.
Of course I have to make surethat I'm not messing up someone
else's schedule because theyagreed to come in and get
tattooed.
I really try not to reschedulepeople if possible, but overall
it's up to me.
(03:47):
When I want to do things I canalways move my people around.
I know who is available whenand that's really nice to have
that intimacy with my scheduleand access to my clients and to
be able to like.
I'm going to LA this weekbecause next week is my 40th
(04:08):
birthday, so I needed to go showmy face to my family.
I haven't seen them in a fewmonths, so I'm driving later
today and it's midweek, it's aWednesday, and I'll be there
from today to Sunday, first inLA with my grandmother and then
in Palmdale in the desert withmy mom and I'm bringing the dog
(04:30):
and it's just dog and I and I goon a little road trip, listen
to a bunch of podcasts andaudiobooks and relax.
Yeah, I really love the factthat I get to make my own
schedule pretty cool.
A reason number three I lovebeing a tattoo artist is that I
get to hone my craft overdecades.
You know it's been a decade anda half now it's been 15 years,
(04:56):
and I'm starting to feel likeI'm coming into my own in
certain ways, like there arestyles that I am working in that
I feel like are mine and I feelreally excited by them and I
feel inspired by doing that kindof work, and so I'm still doing
mostly everything, but I amstarting to hone my specific
(05:19):
style, which is exciting, andreally just hone the craft.
Like every tattoo I do, there'sa potential to do the best
tattoo I've ever done, the bestflower I've ever done the best,
pack the color the most tightly,the most well, draw the lines,
build the lines up the mostsmoothly.
(05:40):
There's always, every day is anew opportunity to be a better
artist and a better tattooartist and a better client
facing human than I wasyesterday, and that's pretty
fucking cool because it's atrade and a skill that gets
developed over time.
I feel really lucky to havethat trade and that skill.
(06:05):
Reason number four is I get tocreate a space that people love
coming into.
I get to create a space, fillit with art, make choices about
colors and flavors of tea andother things in the space in the
shop that like plants thatpeople love, and people will
(06:29):
come in and say I love yourspace.
It feels so good here, theenergy here is lovely and I am
proud of that.
I love creating that space.
I love being the person to makethose decisions and at this
point, of course, decisions areboth ours mine and Sailor's.
They have their own area of theshop where they have complete
(06:49):
say, and I, for the most part,have a say in my section of the
shop of what it looks like.
But together we create andco-create the energy in the shop
and the overall feel and lookof the space, and it's smooth
and not an issue.
So I love to create andco-create the environment.
(07:09):
And I will finish this off witha fifth reason this is not an
extensive list of reasons, thisis just five that I could think
of off the top of my head inthis moment as I'm getting ready
to skip town and I would sayit's that tattoo culture is
universal at this point.
Really, there's very few placesin the world one could go and
(07:32):
not see tattoos on people's skin, and Instagram has made me
aware of so many tattoo artistsfrom across the globe, every
continent, every country, andit's super cool.
It's super cool to see thoseconnections and even though when
I'm looking at art on Instagramsometimes I'm really envious
(07:56):
that people have really amazingskill and amazing visions and
such a unique, creative way ofcreating their art and putting
it on skin Like really tattooart has become art like.
It truly has become art.
I think it always has been, butit's now much more universally
internationally recognized as aform of art by a lot of people,
(08:21):
and people work in so manydifferent kinds of styles and
reuse the body in so manydifferent kinds of ways.
It's super cool.
So I love that I could goreally anywhere in the world and
encounter tattoos and encountertattoo collectors and tattoo
artists, and I would say that Iam now brave enough to ask to
guest spot in most places.
(08:43):
There's definitely someintimidating shops and artists
out there in the world that Iwould have I would feel shy
about approaching, but Iactually, a couple of days ago,
sent an email off to EstherGarcia, who has Butterfat
Studios in Chicago, and Estherhas been somebody I've followed
(09:03):
and admired since the beginning,since I was a baby tattoo
artist.
I really always.
I love the way that she did herflowers and her like food and
flowers and and like animals,kind of insects.
I once drew some bacon inspiredby a tattoo of hers.
I've been admiring her work fora long time.
(09:25):
She's always tattooed in thekind of a painterly style that I
saw 15 years ago when I wasstarting out.
Clearly her career is a lotlonger than mine and she just
always been one of those peoplethat I'd be like I would love to
meet her someday.
I would love to be, to comeinto her shop one day.
I would love to tattoo next toher one day.
I would love to learn from her,and so I emailed her as I am
(09:48):
thinking about venturing outeast to visit and tattoo and
spend some time on the eastcoast and Chicago kind of fits
the east coast vibe.
So I thought about her and Iemailed her and I said, hey, I
have been tattooing in the Bayfor 15 years.
I've been admiring you for thatlong.
(10:09):
If you ever have space for meat your shop, I would love to
come and guest and also I'd loveto put you on the podcast.
And she responded only like twodays later.
I thought I'd probably notprobably not hear from her back
or maybe hear back from her likeweeks later.
So I was surprised that she gotback to me so fast and she's
very sweet, very warm, verywelcoming.
(10:31):
And she said yes, we take guestartists.
When would you like to come?
I'm not sure about the podcast,I'm kind of shy with recording
devices, but we'll see, we candiscuss, and it made me really
happy actually getting thatemail back.
So, yes, there's always thingsto smile about, even when I feel
kind of like shit.
So, yes, the connections I canstill build across the globe by
(10:56):
going places and tattooing inother shops and also talking to
people with tattoos andconnecting with tattoo artists.
It's pretty cool.
It's an opportunity unlike anyother.
It's a job unlike any other.
I'm so grateful I get to do artfor a living.
I'm so grateful that I havethis life and, like, there's
(11:17):
difficult things too.
Perhaps next week we'll talkabout the difficulties and the
hard parts of being a tattooartist, but don't let it deter
you if you're a young person andyou want to tattoo.
There's so many beautifulthings about it.
If you really want it, I thinkyou'll find the best parts and
you'll be able to deal with theworst parts.
Thank you so much for listening.
(11:38):
I really appreciate you beinghere and supporting me, even
though sometimes it's hard forme to push through my own crap.
I appreciate you.
I hope you're having a goodweek and I'll talk to you very
soon.
You.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.