March 21, 2024 • 16 mins
For me, turning the big 4-0 comes with its share of introspection.
But today's episode is rather the other side of the moon (or the coin) of last week's episode, "Ep. 65: A Few, Namely Five, Reasons I Love Being A Tattoo Artist".
Today I tell you five reasons being a self employed tattoo artist can be challenging. I'd say these are the most annoying things about it for me.
In short...
1. Charging people money!
2. email and consults at that awkward time, before the client and I develop trust.
3. not being able to read the client's mind
4. no logistical safety net, no PTO etc
5. taxes
but first... Lulu becomes the unexpected essence of opulence, thanks to a serendipitous perfume spill.
Enjoy!
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 (00:00):
Careful.
Turn on the sound equation for34 minutes.
Then you should be technicaland subtle to know.
These மmmmials are fine, evenour f.
(00:21):
I ordered the.
Hey y'all, my darlings, hello.
It is March 21st, it's the daybefore my 40th birthday and I
feel kind of weird about that.
Not in like a bad way, mostly agood way.
(00:42):
One of my closest friends is onher way here right now to spend
the next week with me doingdifferent things, and it's
really fun.
It's really cool.
I'm really happy that peopleare making an effort to come be
with me for this.
I'm not usually like acelebrate myself type of person
(01:05):
or like a center of attentiontype of person, but I really
love my people and I love to seemy people and I'm bringing a
couple of folks together thisweekend and I'm excited about
that.
My other best friend, my BayArea best friend, is making me
an experimental cake.
I asked for something to dowith sour cherries and she found
(01:29):
a recipe, a couple of recipesthat she's combining to create
some sort of like a chocolatesour cherry situation.
That sounds delicious and Ilove an experiment.
I will also report that I havenow been on the pill for three
plus weeks and I feel better.
(01:50):
I talked about this before onthe podcast that I have PMDD,
which makes me emotionally awreck like half the month, like
two weeks out of the month, andlast month, after I bled, I got
pretty despondent about the endof this month and it's looking
(02:11):
like I'll be going into mybirthday weekend feeling like
complete shit.
So I talked to my gyno and mygyno prescribed me the pill and
suggested to try it.
I never really wanted to try itbecause I heard horror stories
and I didn't want to experiencethe side effects that people
talk about experiencing and Ialso was like I feel pretty bad
(02:35):
and it lasts a long time and atthis rate I'll be going into
turning 40 feeling bad.
So I'll try it and I startedtaking it and last week I had a
really rough week, like therewere some days where I was like
just not, yeah, was not good,and I was like shit, am I going
to just like feel like this?
(02:55):
So I talked to my gyno and shewas like give it some more time.
It takes time and I have toreport that I feel pretty good
this week.
So, yay, it feels like a smallwin over my hormones.
In other news.
Lulu the dog smells fabulousbecause last week I was in LA
(03:16):
visiting family and I went toNordstrom because I like to
wander around fancy stores whenI'm there, because I can and I
got some perfume samples fromTom Ford and one of them somehow
ended up in her bed and spelledthere a little bit.
So now she smells like oudmineral by Tom Ford Smells
(03:37):
really good on her, a lot betterthan it does on me, I have to
say.
Maybe her body chemistry ismore suited to oud.
Who knew that this littlestreet pit bull would someday be
laying on a $3,000 couchwearing $300 perfume?
(03:59):
So anyway, let's chat abouttoday's topic, which is reasons
being a tattoo artist is hard.
In opposition of last week'sepisode maybe not in opposition
and compliment, becauseeverything in life has positives
and good goodness and joybringing qualities, and also
(04:20):
things that are difficult.
I would not even call themnegatives.
It's just that there's always apush and pull in life and
everything has its sides.
So this is the other side ofthe moon.
Okay, drum roll.
Five reasons being a tattooartist employed, all my own
(04:42):
self-employed tattoo artist ishard.
Number one charging peoplemoney.
This is my least favoritemoment of every session that I
do and it's just a internalizedmoney, shit right.
And also because I love doingwhat I do.
It's like hard to charge peoplemoney after I do the thing I do
(05:04):
with them, because it feelslike this very intimate, intense
kind of experience that we haveand then the end ends up being
transactional, where I go okay,you owe me this much, and like
people are not unhappy to pay me, like they're fine, but it's
still really hard.
And it's still really hard.
(05:25):
Like 15 years in, it's stillhard to feel like I fully
deserve the money that I'masking them for.
And it's still really hard tofeel like I'm not.
Like, even though it's reallyclear like we've been tattooing
for this many hours and this ismy rate and this is what I'm
charging you, it's still hard tofeel like they know that I'm
not like deceiving them, youknow.
(05:46):
Like I know they know, but it'sstill painful for me, like it's
painful.
There was a video on socials acouple of days ago where this
girl is like talking about whatit feels like to charge people
money after you tattoo them andthe whole video is like it will
hurt, it will cause them pain.
(06:07):
I don't want to cause them pain.
Yeah, that's my least favoritepart.
I wish that I didn't have to dothat part, but also it's part
of my learning and part of mygrowth as a business owner and a
tattoo artist and a human to dothat piece, to do the piece
(06:30):
that I don't really want to do.
So that's reason number one.
Reason number two tattooing ishard is doing email and doing
consults with people I don'tknow.
It's like the time before thetime between the person making
their first contact with meuntil the time we get to know
(06:54):
each other and we're likebuddies and there's a lot of
trust bill and there's a lot ofjoy in seeing each other and
interacting with each other.
So the time in between, whichinvolves the email exchange and
the first consult, is just sofucking awkward for me, like I'm
there just being, like I am sofriendly and nice and I'll
answer all your questions andthey're like I don't know if
(07:17):
you're the right person for me.
I think you're that person forme and they want to be the good
early client and they also wantto meet their own needs and it's
just awkward Before really knoweach other.
I think any human interactionbefore we build trust, some
trust and some familiarity isjust awkward and I'm really not
(07:40):
into awkwardness, like somepeople really are.
They're really into awkwardnessand they find it like hilarious
and charming.
I don't.
I prefer when I'm like we'regood, like we're good, you're my
buddy, like I really preferthat.
So, yeah, that part's hard forme.
(08:00):
Reason number three is not beingable to read my client's minds.
So that goes along with reasonnumber two, but it's a little
different because it has to dowith like doing the work for
somebody on their body and like.
People are pretty transparentfor the most part.
They get up and they're like Ilove it and you know, or they
(08:21):
have some feedback or whateverthe thing is, but oftentimes I
don't really know, or I'm likewhat they say, they love it, but
do they love it?
Over time I've learned to trustthem and trust my intuition and
not trust my anxiety.
But it can get that way whensomeone is fairly quiet or not
(08:42):
very expressive which somepeople are and you're just like,
oh my god, do they hate it?
Again, there are videos, reelson socials made about this very
topic and, believe me, we allfeel quite anxious in those
moments.
So, yes, I would love to beable to read the client's mind
in those moments and hopefullywhat they're thinking is oh my
(09:04):
god, I can't believe this pieceof art is mine.
And look at my beautiful body.
I love my body, I love havingthis piece.
This is all making my wholelife better.
That's what I really wish Icould hear inside their brain.
Reason number four there are nobenefits when you're
self-employed.
(09:24):
You can give yourself benefits,but there's no paid time off
and there's no sick time offlike sick paid time.
There's no healthcare.
We have covered California now,which is cool, but yeah,
everything's out of pocket.
I pay for everything out ofpocket and it's living in this
(09:48):
capitalist society not having asafety net if I get sick.
There was a month last couple ofyears ago we had planned a trip
to Europe.
We're going to Berlin for likea week.
It wasn't even that long, butit was like a summer month and I
had gotten COVID about 10 daysbefore we left.
(10:10):
So I was sick at home for 10days with COVID and then we left
.
I think the trip was also abouteight days, because it's hard
to go to Europe for just a week.
Maybe it was nine days, like aday of travel on each end.
So I didn't work for 20 daysthat month and I had to borrow
(10:36):
money to pay rent, which sucked.
I mean, I have a tiny little bitof savings that's not really
easy to use.
It's not liquid money.
I'm just trying to set myselfup a little bit for the future.
So, yeah, there's no 401K,there's very little safety net
and I don't have the type offamily that would support me if
(10:58):
I needed it or really be able tohelp me If there's an emergency
.
Yes, I could get help to justpay rent and food.
But yeah, I think it is truethat we're all not very far away
from being very poor, living inpoverty, a lot closer than we
(11:22):
are to being millionaires.
But when you have a job,there's more of a security net,
when you have a salary andbenefits If you get let go,
there's usually a severancepackage and to be able to talk
about paid time off or taking amonth off between jobs to fuck
around and just do whatever, andI've never been able to do that
(11:45):
.
But the other side of it isthat I love what I do.
I find it meaningful, I find itexciting, I'm stimulated in all
the ways doing it.
So it's a fair exchange, andI'm sure there's not only five
things that are difficult, butthese are the five main ones.
The last one is taxes andhonestly, it's gotten easier
(12:11):
because I'm now employingCollective, which is a financial
startup that helps smallbusiness owners do their taxes.
This is not an ad forCollective, I'm just Like
letting you know it's easierwhen you have help and I, like,
have had accountants before andlike paid for taxes and stuff,
(12:32):
and it's always been like morecomplicated and more difficult
To the accounting part, not thetaxes itself part, but I did
used to do my own taxes and Iused to do it all on like paper.
I'd collect all my receipts andat the end of the year I would
dole my math and I would do themath by hand, on paper and a pen
and then and then I would putit all in TurboTax.
(12:54):
Yeah, it was really fun, notfun.
Don't do that.
If you're a business owner,don't do that.
Have an accountant or the veryleast, have your System
organized so you have yourbusiness bank account.
This is like a whole anotherepisode of the podcast.
But you want to have your ownseparate business bank account
(13:17):
and you want to have a personalbusiness Sorry, a personal bank
account.
You want to separate how youMake purchases, from which
account you use the money ormake your accounting for tax
time way easier.
And so a couple years ago Ifinally had that system set up
like really well, really solidly, by collective, and Taxes
(13:41):
haven't been quite as painful,although they always cost a lot,
and I have not yet Created agood enough system to save the
money specifically for taxes tolike really set aside that 30%.
So at the end of the year I'mnot scrambling.
I'm still scrambling most years, and when it's time to pay, I
(14:03):
will usually pay like a bunch ofit and then be on a payment
plan for the rest for a fewmonths Through the year, which
is, you know, like I'm an adult,I should get my shit together
and figure out how to save fortaxes through the whole year.
But I'm in this like Cycle, youknow where I'm Saving up the
money to pay for this year'staxes and so I'm not able to
(14:25):
pre-pay next year's taxes at thesame time and it happens every
year.
But I'm getting better I'msaving more money for taxes
specifically.
So, yes, that's my leastfavorite part.
It's the most stressful time ofthe year and, just like you
know, keeping your accountinggood, that's, you know.
It's just not my thing, really,it's not the kind of way brain
(14:46):
I have, but I have to say that,like, businesses become more
interesting to me over over this, this last decade, and if I
Chose to go to school, I mightget business skills, business
like business school skills notthat I want to go and get my MBA
or anything I don't but thereare, like, as I get older,
(15:07):
there's just like more and moreinteresting things to study in
the world that I would love todevote myself to studying more
deeply, and business is one.
Marketing is interesting, and Iwould also like to divest from
capitalism.
So, I don't know, all thingsare true at the same time.
But yeah, there you go.
(15:30):
These are the five reasons.
Being a tattoo artist that'sself-employed, it's hard, but I
still wouldn't give it up foranything and I'm hoping you're
having a lovely week and a goodweekend.
When you're sitting in the sunthis weekend, think of me, send
me some Good juju for turninganother decade on this earth in
(15:54):
this lifetime, in this body.
It's not so bad, I have to say.
Yet I feel okay about it.
Yeah, I feel okay about it.
Okay, my loves have a have anexcellent week and I'll talk to
you very soon.
Careful.
Turn on the sound equation for34 minutes.
Then you should be technicaland subtle to know.
These மmmmials are fine, evenour f.
(00:21):
I ordered the.
Hey y'all, my darlings, hello.
It is March 21st, it's the daybefore my 40th birthday and I
feel kind of weird about that.
Not in like a bad way, mostly agood way.
(00:42):
One of my closest friends is onher way here right now to spend
the next week with me doingdifferent things, and it's
really fun.
It's really cool.
I'm really happy that peopleare making an effort to come be
with me for this.
I'm not usually like acelebrate myself type of person
(01:05):
or like a center of attentiontype of person, but I really
love my people and I love to seemy people and I'm bringing a
couple of folks together thisweekend and I'm excited about
that.
My other best friend, my BayArea best friend, is making me
an experimental cake.
I asked for something to dowith sour cherries and she found
(01:29):
a recipe, a couple of recipesthat she's combining to create
some sort of like a chocolatesour cherry situation.
That sounds delicious and Ilove an experiment.
I will also report that I havenow been on the pill for three
plus weeks and I feel better.
(01:50):
I talked about this before onthe podcast that I have PMDD,
which makes me emotionally awreck like half the month, like
two weeks out of the month, andlast month, after I bled, I got
pretty despondent about the endof this month and it's looking
(02:11):
like I'll be going into mybirthday weekend feeling like
complete shit.
So I talked to my gyno and mygyno prescribed me the pill and
suggested to try it.
I never really wanted to try itbecause I heard horror stories
and I didn't want to experiencethe side effects that people
talk about experiencing and Ialso was like I feel pretty bad
(02:35):
and it lasts a long time and atthis rate I'll be going into
turning 40 feeling bad.
So I'll try it and I startedtaking it and last week I had a
really rough week, like therewere some days where I was like
just not, yeah, was not good,and I was like shit, am I going
to just like feel like this?
(02:55):
So I talked to my gyno and shewas like give it some more time.
It takes time and I have toreport that I feel pretty good
this week.
So, yay, it feels like a smallwin over my hormones.
In other news.
Lulu the dog smells fabulousbecause last week I was in LA
(03:16):
visiting family and I went toNordstrom because I like to
wander around fancy stores whenI'm there, because I can and I
got some perfume samples fromTom Ford and one of them somehow
ended up in her bed and spelledthere a little bit.
So now she smells like oudmineral by Tom Ford Smells
(03:37):
really good on her, a lot betterthan it does on me, I have to
say.
Maybe her body chemistry ismore suited to oud.
Who knew that this littlestreet pit bull would someday be
laying on a $3,000 couchwearing $300 perfume?
(03:59):
So anyway, let's chat abouttoday's topic, which is reasons
being a tattoo artist is hard.
In opposition of last week'sepisode maybe not in opposition
and compliment, becauseeverything in life has positives
and good goodness and joybringing qualities, and also
(04:20):
things that are difficult.
I would not even call themnegatives.
It's just that there's always apush and pull in life and
everything has its sides.
So this is the other side ofthe moon.
Okay, drum roll.
Five reasons being a tattooartist employed, all my own
(04:42):
self-employed tattoo artist ishard.
Number one charging peoplemoney.
This is my least favoritemoment of every session that I
do and it's just a internalizedmoney, shit right.
And also because I love doingwhat I do.
It's like hard to charge peoplemoney after I do the thing I do
(05:04):
with them, because it feelslike this very intimate, intense
kind of experience that we haveand then the end ends up being
transactional, where I go okay,you owe me this much, and like
people are not unhappy to pay me, like they're fine, but it's
still really hard.
And it's still really hard.
(05:25):
Like 15 years in, it's stillhard to feel like I fully
deserve the money that I'masking them for.
And it's still really hard tofeel like I'm not.
Like, even though it's reallyclear like we've been tattooing
for this many hours and this ismy rate and this is what I'm
charging you, it's still hard tofeel like they know that I'm
not like deceiving them, youknow.
(05:46):
Like I know they know, but it'sstill painful for me, like it's
painful.
There was a video on socials acouple of days ago where this
girl is like talking about whatit feels like to charge people
money after you tattoo them andthe whole video is like it will
hurt, it will cause them pain.
(06:07):
I don't want to cause them pain.
Yeah, that's my least favoritepart.
I wish that I didn't have to dothat part, but also it's part
of my learning and part of mygrowth as a business owner and a
tattoo artist and a human to dothat piece, to do the piece
(06:30):
that I don't really want to do.
So that's reason number one.
Reason number two tattooing ishard is doing email and doing
consults with people I don'tknow.
It's like the time before thetime between the person making
their first contact with meuntil the time we get to know
(06:54):
each other and we're likebuddies and there's a lot of
trust bill and there's a lot ofjoy in seeing each other and
interacting with each other.
So the time in between, whichinvolves the email exchange and
the first consult, is just sofucking awkward for me, like I'm
there just being, like I am sofriendly and nice and I'll
answer all your questions andthey're like I don't know if
(07:17):
you're the right person for me.
I think you're that person forme and they want to be the good
early client and they also wantto meet their own needs and it's
just awkward Before really knoweach other.
I think any human interactionbefore we build trust, some
trust and some familiarity isjust awkward and I'm really not
(07:40):
into awkwardness, like somepeople really are.
They're really into awkwardnessand they find it like hilarious
and charming.
I don't.
I prefer when I'm like we'regood, like we're good, you're my
buddy, like I really preferthat.
So, yeah, that part's hard forme.
(08:00):
Reason number three is not beingable to read my client's minds.
So that goes along with reasonnumber two, but it's a little
different because it has to dowith like doing the work for
somebody on their body and like.
People are pretty transparentfor the most part.
They get up and they're like Ilove it and you know, or they
(08:21):
have some feedback or whateverthe thing is, but oftentimes I
don't really know, or I'm likewhat they say, they love it, but
do they love it?
Over time I've learned to trustthem and trust my intuition and
not trust my anxiety.
But it can get that way whensomeone is fairly quiet or not
(08:42):
very expressive which somepeople are and you're just like,
oh my god, do they hate it?
Again, there are videos, reelson socials made about this very
topic and, believe me, we allfeel quite anxious in those
moments.
So, yes, I would love to beable to read the client's mind
in those moments and hopefullywhat they're thinking is oh my
(09:04):
god, I can't believe this pieceof art is mine.
And look at my beautiful body.
I love my body, I love havingthis piece.
This is all making my wholelife better.
That's what I really wish Icould hear inside their brain.
Reason number four there are nobenefits when you're
self-employed.
(09:24):
You can give yourself benefits,but there's no paid time off
and there's no sick time offlike sick paid time.
There's no healthcare.
We have covered California now,which is cool, but yeah,
everything's out of pocket.
I pay for everything out ofpocket and it's living in this
(09:48):
capitalist society not having asafety net if I get sick.
There was a month last couple ofyears ago we had planned a trip
to Europe.
We're going to Berlin for likea week.
It wasn't even that long, butit was like a summer month and I
had gotten COVID about 10 daysbefore we left.
(10:10):
So I was sick at home for 10days with COVID and then we left
.
I think the trip was also abouteight days, because it's hard
to go to Europe for just a week.
Maybe it was nine days, like aday of travel on each end.
So I didn't work for 20 daysthat month and I had to borrow
(10:36):
money to pay rent, which sucked.
I mean, I have a tiny little bitof savings that's not really
easy to use.
It's not liquid money.
I'm just trying to set myselfup a little bit for the future.
So, yeah, there's no 401K,there's very little safety net
and I don't have the type offamily that would support me if
(10:58):
I needed it or really be able tohelp me If there's an emergency
.
Yes, I could get help to justpay rent and food.
But yeah, I think it is truethat we're all not very far away
from being very poor, living inpoverty, a lot closer than we
(11:22):
are to being millionaires.
But when you have a job,there's more of a security net,
when you have a salary andbenefits If you get let go,
there's usually a severancepackage and to be able to talk
about paid time off or taking amonth off between jobs to fuck
around and just do whatever, andI've never been able to do that
(11:45):
.
But the other side of it isthat I love what I do.
I find it meaningful, I find itexciting, I'm stimulated in all
the ways doing it.
So it's a fair exchange, andI'm sure there's not only five
things that are difficult, butthese are the five main ones.
The last one is taxes andhonestly, it's gotten easier
(12:11):
because I'm now employingCollective, which is a financial
startup that helps smallbusiness owners do their taxes.
This is not an ad forCollective, I'm just Like
letting you know it's easierwhen you have help and I, like,
have had accountants before andlike paid for taxes and stuff,
(12:32):
and it's always been like morecomplicated and more difficult
To the accounting part, not thetaxes itself part, but I did
used to do my own taxes and Iused to do it all on like paper.
I'd collect all my receipts andat the end of the year I would
dole my math and I would do themath by hand, on paper and a pen
and then and then I would putit all in TurboTax.
(12:54):
Yeah, it was really fun, notfun.
Don't do that.
If you're a business owner,don't do that.
Have an accountant or the veryleast, have your System
organized so you have yourbusiness bank account.
This is like a whole anotherepisode of the podcast.
But you want to have your ownseparate business bank account
(13:17):
and you want to have a personalbusiness Sorry, a personal bank
account.
You want to separate how youMake purchases, from which
account you use the money ormake your accounting for tax
time way easier.
And so a couple years ago Ifinally had that system set up
like really well, really solidly, by collective, and Taxes
(13:41):
haven't been quite as painful,although they always cost a lot,
and I have not yet Created agood enough system to save the
money specifically for taxes tolike really set aside that 30%.
So at the end of the year I'mnot scrambling.
I'm still scrambling most years, and when it's time to pay, I
(14:03):
will usually pay like a bunch ofit and then be on a payment
plan for the rest for a fewmonths Through the year, which
is, you know, like I'm an adult,I should get my shit together
and figure out how to save fortaxes through the whole year.
But I'm in this like Cycle, youknow where I'm Saving up the
money to pay for this year'staxes and so I'm not able to
(14:25):
pre-pay next year's taxes at thesame time and it happens every
year.
But I'm getting better I'msaving more money for taxes
specifically.
So, yes, that's my leastfavorite part.
It's the most stressful time ofthe year and, just like you
know, keeping your accountinggood, that's, you know.
It's just not my thing, really,it's not the kind of way brain
(14:46):
I have, but I have to say that,like, businesses become more
interesting to me over over this, this last decade, and if I
Chose to go to school, I mightget business skills, business
like business school skills notthat I want to go and get my MBA
or anything I don't but thereare, like, as I get older,
(15:07):
there's just like more and moreinteresting things to study in
the world that I would love todevote myself to studying more
deeply, and business is one.
Marketing is interesting, and Iwould also like to divest from
capitalism.
So, I don't know, all thingsare true at the same time.
But yeah, there you go.
(15:30):
These are the five reasons.
Being a tattoo artist that'sself-employed, it's hard, but I
still wouldn't give it up foranything and I'm hoping you're
having a lovely week and a goodweekend.
When you're sitting in the sunthis weekend, think of me, send
me some Good juju for turninganother decade on this earth in
(15:54):
this lifetime, in this body.
It's not so bad, I have to say.
Yet I feel okay about it.
Yeah, I feel okay about it.
Okay, my loves have a have anexcellent week and I'll talk to
you very soon.
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.