September 20, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode, Matthew welcomes Danny Argote, tattoo artist and founder of Ink and Art Collective at IMAGE Studios in Thornton, Colorado. Danny shares his artistic journey from tracing comic books to becoming a sought-after tattoo artist, including his work at San Diego Comic-Con. He sees parallels between tattooing and other creative fields, like hairdressing, and the duo agree on the importance of mastering the fundamentals before breaking the rules. Danny shared his gratitude for the supportive community at IMAGE Studios, which helped him transition smoothly to an independent tattoo artist while retaining 90% of his clientele.
Matthew and Danny talk about his business dynamics, particularly the partnership with his wife, who specializes in permanent makeup and tattoo removal. Together, they offer a broad range of services while ensuring clients have a positive, comfortable experience. He outlines his thorough consultation process, from discussing style and placement to preparing clients for their sessions. He believes in creating a welcoming environment where clients feel cared for and relaxed during the tattooing process.
Looking ahead, Danny shares his dream of opening a Community Arts Center to support independent artists and offer education. With a background in teaching and mentoring, he envisions a space where creativity thrives, and artists can collaborate. Throughout the episode, Danny’s passion for art, music, and giving back to the community shines through, inspiring listeners to pursue their own creative paths
The VIP Suite is the official podcast of IMAGE Studios, created for independent beauty, health, and wellness professionals who want to grow their businesses and thrive in salon suite life. Hosted by Director of Education, Matthew Landis, each episode shares real success stories, marketing tips, and business strategies from top beauty entrepreneurs and wellness leaders.
This episode is sponsored by GlossGenius, the all-in-one salon software designed to help independent professionals book appointments, accept payments, manage schedules, and build strong beauty brands. Learn more at glossgenius.com.
Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Connect with us on Instagram @imagestudios360 and visit imagestudios360.com for more information about IMAGE Studios luxury salon suites. New episodes drop every two week. Subscribe to hear how beauty and wellness professionals like you are building powerful, independent careers.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matthew Landis (00:00):
Music. Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite
(00:04):
at IMAGE Studios, the podcastexclusively designed for
independent beauty, health andwellness professionals, brought
to you by image studios, theluxury leader in the Salon Suite
industry. I'm your host,industry expert and certified
business coach, Matthew Landis.
In each episode, we will bringyou insightful interviews with
solo entrepreneurs who haveforged their own path to
success, from stories of triumphto practical tips and strategies
(00:27):
for growing your client base andbuilding your brand. This is the
place to thrive and take yourSalon Suite business to the next
level. All right, joining me onthe podcast today is Danny
Argote at Ink and Art Collectivetattoo and gallery at IMAGE
Studios in Thornton, Colorado.
(00:47):
Welcome to the podcast. Danny.
Danny Argote (00:48):
Thank you for having us. I appreciate it.
Matthew Landis (00:50):
And now, did I get all of that correct?
Danny Argote (00:53):
One thing missing, we also do permanent makeup and
removal. Now, awesome. Okay,certainly, just went with
collective, because that'sstarting to become a really long
list. Yeah, we're trying tooffer a few different types of
things, and we're now even goinginto printing soon, so that'll
be fun. Printing.
Matthew Landis (01:08):
Yeah, tell me about that.
Danny Argote (01:10):
When I started tattooing, I've been tattooed
now for it'll be 15 years nextmonth, when I began, I was about
the only art medium I wasworking with, and I I went to
school for art. I did a littlebit of teaching elementary for a
few but you're gonna have to andthen that kind of moved into
sort of commissioned art hereand there, and I kind of gave.
Went to the concept of doing afan art, basically just trying
(01:33):
to give a band at a show, aposter, an image, a painting,
something, a just to see whathappens. Maybe they hired me to
do something. Maybe I gettickets for the next show. Maybe
I just got a high five. It's away of like, well, I listened to
this album all day long. While Idid this painting, I had to do
this other drawing and all thisother stuff got me through it.
So here's a little somethingright back at so it's just about
(01:54):
kind of feeding the energy back.
So as I started tattooing now,I've kind of started doing fan
art, or more repeated based andhas had a lot of success, and
I've actually been officiallyhired first a poster recently
for San Diego Comic Con. Yeah.
So I started doing my own printsfor the fan art, because,
frankly, it was getting tooexpensive to hire somebody else
to do it, as I do, especiallylocal shows. I promote the fact
(02:18):
that I'm also a tattooer, ifeven I get two or three
customers out of that pays forthe print job. And, of course,
the fun of just giving art outto people. And yeah, I just do
it for free. I just put it outthere just to see what happens.
I call like a sort of a treatfor the fans and resume to the
bands.
Matthew Landis (02:33):
That is so cool.
So you're just an all aroundartist?
Danny Argote (02:37):
Well, yeah, definitely. I mean, my main
thing is tattooing. It'sobviously my main income, but,
yeah, a pretty well roundedinterest, like the knowledge of
like that. No artwork ingeneral, composition, color
theory, stuff like that. But themain, say, the main three things
that I focus mostly on is, like,I started out tracing comic
books, which was pretty like, Iguess serendipitous, because the
(02:59):
first official hire I had wasfor San Diego Comic Con, for a
band, uh, Cody and Cambria, thatare, that actually are a
soundtrack to a comic series atthe lead singer, right? So,
like, Okay, that was prettyinteresting for that to be the
first official hire, prettywell. And then, you know, we got
into tattooing and illustration.
And I always love band art,seeing the big especially with
vinyls coming back now, it'spretty cool. People appreciating
it anew, again, an album cover,because it used to be when I was
(03:22):
growing up, it was on a CD, soit was so tiny, just like it had
to be very bold. It didn't,couldn't have much detail.
Halftime. Was just a photo andname. And then the vinyl started
coming back, and you startedreally appreciating the artwork
again, because you're seeing allthese big covers again, you're
like, wow, how's it giantpainting? Somebody really sat
down and figured this out andthen put it all through the
(03:43):
booklet and put it through allthe papers as a kid, that and
comic books were always mybiggest thing. So kind of rock
band fan art just became sort ofa natural evolution that,
Matthew Landis (03:54):
Wow, so many different avenues. You know, I
think when it comes to vinyl andjust art in general, people like
having something to hold on toand something to look at. And I
have a friend who's a painter,and he told me something once
about paintings. He's like, youknow, you write a book. I'm a
writer. He's like, you write abook. People might read it once
and put it away and never lookat it again. But when you when
(04:15):
you're an artist and you withvisual art, it's something that
people can appreciate foreverand ever and ever, and it's this
wonderful gift that you put outinto the world. And in your
case, whether it's on somebody'sbody or it's print art or
something like that, it's thiswonderful thing that people will
have for the rest of theirlives. And to talk about, which
I think is so cool.
Danny Argote (04:37):
Yeah, I love it my Honestly, my favorite part is
the kiddos. At the time, there'sparents there. They got young
kids. You got a couple of kids.
They're not going to even try toget in that merch line, because
between the $50 shirt and the$100 poster, and I understand
Ben's gotta make the money. I'mnot even no judgment, so it's
cool. I always print a littlestack of extra, like mini
(04:57):
prints, just so like, if thekid. It rips it up. So what? You
know, I mean, but they get alittle some souvenir their first
show, or stuff like that, whichmaybe the parents couldn't
afford that night, and that madea big difference for them. Like
that was super cool. You lightup over it. It's awesome.
Parents light up almost twice asmuch. It's actually great. But
yeah, that's the best for me,like that. I mean, obviously, if
I get to see the band and stufflike that, and they get to sign
(05:19):
it or get a photo something.
Yeah, that's always really fun.
I've gotten pretty lucky in thatdepartment, but honestly, just
seeing like fans get reallyexcited, or seeing them come
back around, come get a tattoo,I mean, go over the show and
we'll show we're going to next.
And just like kind of music andart has always gone hand in
hand, and I seem to find areally amazing clientele slash
(05:42):
fan base there. So that's alittle sweet spot for me, and
I'm really enjoying the ride sofar.
Matthew Landis (05:46):
I love it.
You're you are like a creativemachine, like your output must
be insane.
Unknown (05:51):
Blame it on the ADD probably.
Matthew Landis (05:56):
I love it. I think it's so great.
Danny Argote (05:58):
I think I've always like gotten visuals to me
when I listen to a song, it'slike, listen to the lyrics, and
then I'm somehow trying to comeup with some way that that would
be like if this wasn't written.
Now, how would it be visualized?
How would someone come to thatsame understanding it's in a
sentence through an image? Andthat's always been a practice
for me, because I've always likewhat they would call writer's
(06:19):
block, or creative block. Andthey're like, What do I draw? So
listen to a song, and I'd belike, Wow, that's a weird lyric.
How'd I Hmm, what would thatlook like? And then, boom, I got
something to drop. It's alwaysbeen my Thank you. Back to news.
I'm like, Cool. That alwaysbroke it right out. I'm like,
just, let me just listen to asong, come up with the weirdest
lyric and see if I can easteregg that in there, and then
obviously in tattoo. And there'sso many people that want to
combine ideas and stuff likethat, all that just really
(06:42):
married each other nicely.
Matthew Landis (06:43):
You mentioned you ADD. How did you find this,
like as a kid? You said youstarted tracing comic books.
Danny Argote (06:51):
Yeah, yeah. So the first memory I had drawing was
tracing Batman comic books,probably around 767, years old,
and my dad took some of mysketches. They were horrible,
but he actually mailed them toDC Comics, unbeknownst to me. Is
like, I had no idea. Coupleweeks later, I had a letter in
(07:12):
the mail from DC Comics, which Iwas like, What is this about?
And I opened it up into theletterhead from the executive
editor of Batman, Batman seriesI was collecting at the time,
and so basically, I mean, it wasvery cut and dry. It was, I'm
not taking any praise away fromhim. That was awesome. It was
amazing. It's very cut, right?
Hey, man, don't send originals.
(07:32):
Go take some art classes. Drawfrom life. You can trace all
day. But if you don't understandthe the skeleton of stuff, like
how you know what the rules are,then you can't break them. Make
something really unique. And Ialways thought that with me,
which was fantastic advice forany young artist. That's
incredible advice, like, gottalearn the rules before you learn
how to break them. That's whythings look weird. But right?
Matthew Landis (07:53):
That's so great.
I learned that in hairdressing,totally different art form, but
I really had to learn the rulesof hairdressing, and I spent a
lot of time going to trainingthat I didn't that I wasn't
being made to go to, but Iwanted the training so that I
could learn the structure ofhair, so that I could then break
it apart and understand whythings work the way that they
(08:13):
do.
Danny Argote (08:15):
And frankly, honestly, hairdressers and
tattooers have a lot more incommon than you think. You have
clientele that have certainexpectations. They have
references from other peoplethat, frankly, don't look
anything like them, or anotherstructure and this and that and
the other. And we have to walkthem through things, they have
concepts that are wildly beyondmaybe their budget, or
understanding of how manysessions it would take, or how
(08:36):
much work it would take, or, youknow, what you're forfeiting and
not for you know, like it's,it's a lot, but the only
difference is permanence betweenus, that that could still be a
couple of years. For you guys,we're dealing with very similar
questions on daily basis. Yeah,honestly, like, what I love
about we love that in thestudios in general, it's just
like the vibe in here is likeeveryone here is working their
(08:57):
own hustle, at their own pace.
They're making their own money.
They're doing, they're handlingit. No one here is out to get
anybody. Everyone's here. I haveso many people walk late. Look,
I walk ladies over to theirstudio. So who are you looking
for? What time is yourappointment? I got you. Let's go
walk over. They walk them overto me all the time. That's
hundreds of dollars of business.
Yeah. I mean, that's, that'sgenuine friendship there. I
mean, like everybody here isjust trying to it's one, yeah,
(09:19):
rising tide saves all boats.
Yeah, lifts all boats.
Matthew Landis (09:24):
I'm guessing that every time that you escort
one of these other clientsthrough the space as well,
they're like, Oh, I've alwayswanted a tattoo or what would
you do? It's sort of like I wastalking to one of my other
guests, Julee George, on thepodcast, and she was saying, you
know, when you tell people thatyou do hair, their face lights
up. And I would imagine thatwhen you tell people that you're
(09:45):
a tattoo artist, that is such anentryway for some really
interesting conversations,because I have a few tattoos,
and people that I know thatdon't have any, they all
secretly want one.
Danny Argote (09:59):
Yeah, we had tried to avoid mentioning to anyone
that I'm a tattooer when we'reat a bar where people might be
slightly intoxicated. Yeah, it'sturned up tenfold.
Matthew Landis (10:11):
You're going to be held hostage for the rest.
Danny Argote (10:14):
I'm also like, Here you go. Gotta go bye. I'll
wait around for it get old me.
Here's my card. Here's a freeart they're already happy with
that. Bye and I get out and go.
Otherwise it's going to be a 30minute conversation about a
sleeve. They're never going toget a concert with you. I'm not
(10:34):
going to remember much tomorroweither.
Matthew Landis (10:36):
And 30 minutes of your time is also worth a lot
of money.
Danny Argote (10:41):
Yeah, especially, look, especially when I'm off
the block, when I'm off theclock, I'll give everybody two
minutes, yeah, two minutes of mytime. What's up? Here's my info.
Nice to meet you. Here's what Ido. I am not working right now,
but here's my information. I'dlove to chat with you. Book an
appointment.
Matthew Landis (10:56):
All right, how did you take this passion and
interest in art and turn it intoa business. Well,
Danny Argote (11:04):
I started tattooing out of a shop 15 years
ago. I started myapprenticeship, and yeah, the
tattoo concept and shops haveevolved quite drastically over
the last 15 years, but normallyand pretty standardly, it was
much like hair aggressors. Theywork, they do their
apprenticeship. They're asked todo a certain amount of years
kind of work off theapprenticeship, maybe at a
commission or booth ran usuallyaround a 10 year mark is when
(11:28):
you start looking about goingindependent, because you built
up enough for clientele. And therule of thumb is, are you
willing to lose two thirds ofyour clientele? Would you be
able to pay the bills?
Matthew Landis (11:37):
And how was that transition for you?
Danny Argote (11:38):
It was good. A lot of what image provides made it a
lot better than it should havebeen. So that way that that
really was a game changer.
What you guys do and provide,for example, the ability to get
keys, Quick, get open, get setup. You're ready to rock.
Particularly for a tattooer, youknow, the hardest part of going
(12:01):
independent is you have to finda location that's zoned for
tattooing, which sometimes,sometimes can be really tough
with because they still treat uslike pawn shops and liquor
stores and strip clubs and stufflike that. We're still in that
zoning style. And then there'syou have to get plumbing. You
have to have a hand sink. Andthen recently, you'd also have
to have a sterile room. Butrecently, almost everything in
(12:23):
tattooing has gone disposable,so it doesn't require
sterilization. Gotten rid ofpretty much every all need for a
sterilization room and autoclaveall that jazz. Everything now is
just disposable one time use,and we just have to worry about
sharps containers and gettingthose properly destroyed. So
that changed game up, and thenjust just knowing we came in,
(12:43):
set it up. We got the keyswithin a few days at the health
department. Three days later, wewere open a week. It took a
week. I was open in a week. Iretained 90% of my customers.
Matthew Landis (12:52):
So how are things going there? Right?
Great. We stayed. We actuallygot a second unit. We started
with a single just for myselfand my wife, and a couple months
later, my former apprentice,who's now in his almost fourth
year of tattooing, he wasleaving the same job I was, so
he set up a double unit up inthe front so they can get a
(13:14):
little more foot traffic andvisibility. I have one of more
the single rooms in the back fora little more privacy for some
clients who'd rather just haveclothes and stuff, you know,
yeah, well,Stacey Valez, our owner there in
Thornton, she speaks very highlyof you.
Danny Argote (13:26):
She's been fantastic and incredibly
supportive, man. I'm verygrateful for you know,
Matthew Landis (13:30):
She's one of our owners, and all all of our
owners are really great, but shereally loves the people that are
part of that location and so, soyou work with your wife,
correct? And how is that?
Great! It really is. I'm always,like, amazed that there's
(13:51):
stereotypes against it. Like, Imean, we're not in the same
room. That might be a littlemuch in the same room all day,
and then go home to get I getthat that's a little, you know,
when you need your me time, Iget that bouncing out. That's
okay, but she's got her own roomup there. She's got her own
world and schedule. She'shelping me out on my schedule.
And yeah, it's great. Yeah. Imean, most days I'm here pretty
(14:11):
much myself, you know? I mean,she's kind of either the other
room or she kind of run arounddoing little stuff in between
and basically managing so Idon't lose myself. Basically
make sure that I'm always goingin the right direction. She's
like, are you doing this? Yeah,okay, yeah, you're right. Okay,
yep, hope, yep, correct, yep,you're absolutely right. I just
(14:32):
need her because, I mean, Ithink life is cheaper than the
level of assistant I would need.
So I think it's so important tohave a partner or work with
people that sort of balance outour skill sets, right? She
honestly, she is the firstHow do you divide up the work?
Do you do the tattooing and doperson I called partner.
(14:53):
you also do permanent makeup?
Danny Argote (14:55):
I just do tattooing. My wife does
permanent makeup as well as,say. Lean removal. It's not
laser, totally different. Itinvolves, and I probably still
get yelled at for possiblygetting this wrong, but I will
try to be very broad strokeabout it, basically tattooing a
saline solution and removing inkthrough the process of osmosis.
(15:16):
You ever seen like cucumber,they put salt on all the water
laser, something you're breakingapart cells enough so your lymph
nodes underneath can take themin, run them through your
bloodstream, kidneys and liver,process and dispose right? Well,
we don't have long term data ondoing a lot of it at once. Like
over a lifetime, hasn't reallyshown issues, if not, we've
(15:38):
noticed by now with heavilytattooed people, but remove,
like letting a lot of it breakapart at once, that could be
daunting. It's just a lot ofthings we're not 100% sure
about. This way, we're justliterally pulling out the horn
object. As your body recognizesthe depths with the saline
solution, it's pulling the inkout and and it's a lot easier on
(15:59):
the skin. It heals a lot faster.
It's not giant boils andblisters, it's just a tattoo,
and that way it allows you tolighten it, to cover it up, or
remove it entirely. So it givesyou the options there as well.
We use numbing agent priorbecause it's saving solution.
Obviously, salt on the wound,not the greatest feeling, but we
numb it up so you don't feel it,so in less pain, less sessions.
(16:21):
I honestly, I barely believed init at first, but I've had a
couple of examples that havecome back, and I've just been
amazed at how much it was ableto take away.
Matthew Landis (16:32):
That's socool.
I've never heard of that before.
That is, sounds really, reallycool.
Danny Argote (16:38):
Yeah, we're trying to make it more like, I don't
want to say experience, but morelike a genuine service. You
know, a lot of times it feelslike it's kind of a turn and
burn style. You know, I don'twant tattoos emulate Waffle
House. I want you to feel likeyou had, you know, like a
generally good time, and knewyou were cared for. You know, is
something that's permanent onyour body. The worst story you
(16:59):
could ever last reminder youwant on your body is a story
about a tattooer who's just meanor rude or indifferent or just
didn't care, just wasn't in on,you know, like, that's, that's
terrible, and it's on your it'sgoing to remind you every time
you look at that, that's, that'snot great. So you have to bear
that responsibility with eachclient, if you can. You gotta be
honest enough to be like,Alright, let's get you
rescheduled or something, or getyourself in a better mood.
Matthew Landis (17:21):
So tell me for our listeners, like, what is the
process of finding the righttattoo and going through making
the appointment and gettingeverything set up? How does that
work?
Danny Argote (17:31):
I mean, general advice. One, there's two things
that an artist wants to know offthe bat, subject and style. What
it is you want? I want an owl. Iwant a plane. I want a rose.
Okay? Style would be I want itreally old school, sailor,
Jerry, traditional looking. Iwant it more watercolor style. I
(17:51):
want a very fine line, you know,all these little adjectives
basically, just to basicallygive me an idea of what kind of
style you want, and then yourplacement and size, because
that's going to dictate how muchdetail can go into those areas
and heal well over, over longterm. Yeah. So it's a matter of
figuring those factors out, andthat really helps out. Way our
shop runs through it is, if it'ssomething you if you have a
(18:14):
directive like, this is exactlywhat I want, that's easy too.
This is what I want. Is where Iwant it. Obviously you're well
aware you looked at a Googlesearch image, so did everyone
else you bound up up intosomebody with it. That's not a
concern. Tattoo. If you'reunaware of that, I'll give you a
quick advisement. That's simple.
I mean, I'll give you all thepros and cons. Any decision you
make my my job isn't a judgedecision make, it to educate you
(18:35):
so you make the best onepossible for what you feel is
right? So to me, it's like, moredetails. Give me better I can
price you, give you time, giveyou ideas, give you concepts.
But usually, if it's likepretty, like, open in the air, I
set up a free consultation. Thesame thing goes for my wife. I'm
doing removal or permanentmakeup, and it's usually 30
minutes, sometimes even longer,sit down discuss. It's a 30
(18:58):
minute conversation to sit downand discuss your options, what
you're looking to get done, comein the room, get acquainted,
meet us, make sure we're notweird. I get it sometimes it's
nice to walk in first and justwalk around a little bit and
chat with us and get to know usa little bit and kind of back
and forth with us before youmake the decision to sit down
(19:19):
for hours with us and that'shurt you?
Matthew Landis (19:23):
Yeah, because it is painful.
Danny Argote (19:26):
Sowe always set those up because that, I think
that also makes it easier forthe client. You know, they're a
little more adjusted. They'renot having to figure all this
out last minute. They figured itout as a consultation. They know
what they're in for. They focusmore on just getting through the
tattoo as comfortably aspossible. What they need to
bring, bringing a friend, stufflike that. We usually provide
(19:46):
little sugary somethings,because I can't treat everybody
like they're getting sugarcracked if they're not feeling
up to it. Keep them loaded onwater calories. Make sure they
eat prior stuff like that. Givethem all that information prior,
so that way they can come in asprepared as possible. But. It's
like, the more it feels like,the more questions you answer,
the less nervous they come in.
Matthew Landis (20:04):
That's so great.
And you know, I think whenpeople find the right tattoo
artist, they're going to stickwith you for ever. I'm sure the
people that you've been workingon for years are incredibly
loyal.
Danny Argote (20:15):
Thankfully, yeah, do solid work and just be, be as
a cordial and friendly aspossible. Be respectful like you
know, it's not that hard. Yourreputation goes a very long way,
especially in this industry.
It's unfortunate people takeadvantage or people and I get
it, we repeat ourselves a lot.
So do hairdressers. They got asmile on their face every day,
(20:35):
and they're wonderful. Sothere's no reason I get to be
grumpy. Explain how the fingertattoo will look like a year
from now, five times a day. Butit's the job, and if they still
want it, I'll do it, but I wantthem to be educated. So they'll
walk around going, Danny, messthis up. They go, Danny told me
this was a bad idea, and I'mgonna go back to him for my
(20:56):
sleeve, because he cares.
Sometimes that's all people wantjust to care.
Matthew Landis (21:00):
What would you say your superpower is?
Unknown (21:04):
I'm good at putting things together. You know, like
making things that I'm good atmaking furniture you would never
think match somehow work outI'll make a pattern where there
isn't one if I need to. Itdoesn't apply to a lot of
things, but what it does applyto, it does seem to give me an
edge on that could be, whetherit be tattoo designs, concepts,
compositions, I would set up aroom, how I set up my station,
(21:26):
how it's set up my closet.
Matthew Landis (21:29):
That's probably where a lot of that, bringing
that ADD back into theconversation, where that's
probably helpful, right? Becauseyou pay intense attention to
details. There's just so manydetails.
Danny Argote (21:43):
Yeah, it can be daunting, but it's also, like,
wildly gratifying when, when youyou achieve it technically and
officially, and she feel goodabout, you know, she's like, oh,
hold that off. That happened.
That worked. Okay. I always tellpeople, every tattooer is
nervous about tattooing. Some ofus are better at hiding.
Matthew Landis (22:06):
That is like doing hair, because, you know, I
tell people it is terrifying.
It's especially terrifying inthe beginning, but we are
terrified pretty much every day,and it just becomes a part of
us, like we're not even awarethat we're terrified.
Danny Argote (22:20):
They're baseline wild anxiety is pretty much our
baseline.
Matthew Landis (22:24):
Exactly. Let me ask you some other questions.
How do you ride the bumps on theroad to success? Or, first of
all, let me ask you, how do youdefine how would you define
success? What does that mean toyou? Success?
Danny Argote (22:36):
I think at this point, man, I'm only a year in,
so I feel like I'm being alittle overzealous. But right
now, it's setting up passiveincome, something that I can be
paid for, that I've alreadydone, whether it be prior
designs, prior artwork, stufflike that, that I can slowly
turn people onto the fan art.
Becoming officially hired artwould also be good and not,
(22:58):
frankly, is going to be,ideally, my retirement plan, my
back and my shoulders can'ttattoo forever, and I'm already
40, so, so it's, it's thingslike that, where, you know, sick
day when I'm the only one whocan tattoo like, I mean, I have
my other tattooer, but in termsof income bringing home, I'm the
only one that can in thatdepartment. So if I'm sick, if
(23:18):
I'm hurt, something happens thatcould be detrimental. We have
things in place to help andsupport that system, but same
time, last thing you want to dois drain those, those
reservoirs. So to speak. It'sabout setting up passive income
that can at least cover ourcosts. If we could set up a way
that our artwork or peril, orwhatever we have set up, or side
(23:40):
side commissions and stuff likethat, can at least cover our
cost of operating. Then thetattooing can just be profit. I
could be a little more selectiveabout the work I want to do and
be a little less tougher on myown schedule.
Matthew Landis (23:56):
Now, is there a website or somewhere that our
listeners can go to check outyour work?
Unknown (23:59):
Um, so Vagaro.com/inkandartcolorado, I
believe should work. Or you cancheck us out on our Instagram.
(24:25):
It's @inkartcolorado.
Matthew Landis (24:30):
we want to support you and make sure that
Danny Argote (24:56):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Matthew Landis (24:56):
Let me kind of step out of the business for a
second. And. Us to ask you, whatother parts of your life bring
you the most joy and happiness?
you have that passive income.
And I, I'm I've looked at some
Danny Argote (25:04):
Live music, concerts have always been my
of your art, I've looked at yourInstagram. It's really cool. So
jam, for lack of a better term,that was always my little escape
I definitely want to dive alittle bit deeper into all of
of reality. Just, you know, Ihave a little social anxiety. I
that, because I'm just sofascinated. You have such an
interesting story, especiallythat, you know, relation to
well, I would say I just have aI have a good social battery,
music and other art forms, andbringing it all together into
but it runs out quick. I canhang with a bunch of people, but
these really unique, you know,places and spaces, I think, is
I can't do it long. But at aconcert or like a movie theater,
(25:25):
really admirable.
every person is there focused onone something else, not me. I'm
not it's not just bouncing allover the wall, so to speak. The
eyes are all going in onedirection. We're all just here
for the same reason, love thesame thing. Really want to enjoy
it. I find that is such anultimate calmer for me in such a
giant place, because people willbe like, how do you have social
(25:47):
anxiety about going to arestaurant? But you were just at
the foo fighter show with 50,000people. I'm like, because 50,000
people were staring at one guy.
That guy was having anxiety, notme.
Matthew Landis (25:58):
Yeah, restaurants a much more intimate
space than a 50,000 personconcert.
People are looking in everydirection. Energy is being
thrown in every direction, andit's a show. Ideally, all the
energy is going right to thatstage. So you're just observing
that almost a little outside ofit, or partaking and giving that
said energy. But yeah, whenyou're somewhere else, bounce
(26:21):
off the walls that that's whereI'm like, I'm good. That's where
it's too much. It's too it's, Idon't know. It's not harmonized
either. There's also musicplaying at the others. You know,
when you watch a movie or show,there's a main thing that's
louder than everyone else. Soyou know, you can always tap
into that. Unfortunately, at abar, it's usually bad karaoke
(26:44):
music, when a concert's likethis, or a movie, it's this
collective experience, right?
That's bringing everybody sortof together for this common
purpose and enjoyment. It kindof forces the harmony we wish we
all had. I really leave it up tothe client. You know, every
every client handles things alittle differently. So the way I
have it set up here, I have aprojector with all the streaming
(27:05):
services and stuff on there. SoI hand them the remote. I'm
like, you can throw on music,throw on podcast, throwing stand
up, throwing a movie, whatever.
I usually advise that they putsomething on it. They're kind of
used to. And what I mean by thatis, if you try to put a new
movie on, and I stab you, you'regonna forget what the plot is
within two seconds. And thenit's kind of useless to see a
(27:26):
bunch of things going on thatyou have nothing, no idea about.
So I always have like, what'sthe thing you study that you put
on in the background when you'restudying, when you're cleaning
the house, when you're taking anap, you know? But just what's
your background jam is justmusic? Is it an episode of The
Office and Parks and Rec, or oneof those, you know, what's what?
What kind of puts you in thattrying to chill, that move,
because that's really the modeyou want to be in. Like, you
(27:48):
know, I always tell people, likegetting a tattoo, you usually
have a fight or flight responsewhen you get when you're having
pain. It's rare that you givethis third option, but most
people don't realize that, ifyou've ever taken a nap with a
backache, that was the thirdoption. You're saying, I'm gonna
sleep despite this pain. I'mgonna relax despite this pain.
You're not gonna fall asleep bytensing up and screaming and
(28:08):
being mad and shaken some ofthat. You're gonna do it by
going to sucks. This sucks this.
Relax because it still sucks mybackwards. But I'm getting
there. I'm getting there, andthat's, that's the mode you want
to be in. So what's the stuffyou put on in that background
when you're in that mode? That'swhat you want. Or some people
prefer holding a conversation.
(28:29):
And I always tell people, You'rethere for a long time, and it is
painful to be of a goodexperience. I rell people all
the time, tattoos are likepassport stamps. You can look at
that stamp and know exactly whatday it was, how you were
feeling, who you were with orweren't with, what was going on
in your life, who the tattooerwas, and how they were to you.
(28:49):
That's all immediaterecollection. When you look at
that tattoo. You do not want tobe a negative aspect of that.
That's a terrible thing to be.
I heard this great quote once,and I'm going to mangle this, I
know, but it was somebody askedthis younger woman with a lot of
tattoos, how she was going tofeel about those tattoos when
she was old. And she said, I'mgoing to look at them, and I'm
(29:13):
going to know that I had a youthwell spent.
Danny Argote (29:17):
People were like, well, how's it gonna look when
you're 80? How much? How'severything gonna look when
you're 80, look terrible. Sowhat, you know, like, I the only
thing I would tell people is,like, Don't go crazy super
young, unless you're willing toinvest in touching them up over
time or getting stuff that's alittle bolder and brighter,
almost like traditional style,you know, more old school stuff,
(29:38):
because then you can sort ofclean that up over time. And,
you know, like, super, you know,you don't want things to blob up
once you get into the blob zone.
That's why you have a lot ofkids who are like kids in their
30s, but yeah, in their 30s thathave all the blackout legs
because they just got a bunch ofstuff on the routine. Yeah, be
patient. It's good to thinkabout it. There's permanence to
it. I always tell people, if youwant to get something. Put a
(29:58):
reminder of it on your fridge,stare at it for six months.
Matthew Landis (30:03):
Yeah, I have tattoos of tributes to my dogs
and one to my grandmother,because my reasoning is that I'm
never not going to love my dogsand I'm never not going to love
my grandmother.
Danny Argote (30:15):
Yeah, that's the rule three. I always say it's
your parents, your kids, anddearly departed, because if your
parents and your kids piss youoff, tough. They're your
parents, and your kids, thedearly party can't piss you off
because they're dearly departed.
Matthew Landis (30:27):
Amen.
Danny Argote (30:27):
The rule of three, those are three. Those are good.
Anything on now I say, Hey,that's a bit of a dice roll. But
do what you want to do.
Matthew Landis (30:34):
Last question, what are you looking forward to
in the future?
Danny Argote (30:37):
Continuing working in tattooing, ideally, getting
some more hires. I'd like totake the tattooing to some kind
of level, where I'm startedtattooing a couple of members of
bands recently, and I'm hopingthat that can build up on that,
because I would like that to bekind of gateway to funding a
Community Arts Center with,like, a gallery shop, and that
(30:58):
would be like an independentthing down the line. But, I
mean, even the concept of imageis cool, like, basically that
with a courtyard and a few lessboots, basically, be it.
Matthew Landis (31:09):
What a great idea.
Danny Argote (31:11):
And there's some to that matter. So like, kids
can get into, like, printing,painting, drawing, digital
drawing, just something to do.
And, I mean, it's a be a goodpool for apprentices. It'd be a
good spot for more like, I'mthinking, like, think of a YMCA,
but for the brain, you got onefor the physical mental, the
creative mind, stuff like that.
I'd really love to do somethinglike that down the line with the
(31:32):
fan art and stuff like that. Ifthat gets big enough where I can
actually even be tattooing bandsand stuff like that. It could be
a promotional thing on bothends, you know, and doing
something like that.
Matthew Landis (31:40):
That's incredible, and I think that you
would be so good at that. Youseem like you'd be such a great
mentor. Did I hear you say thatyou worked in education?
Yeah, I was a elementary afterschool art teacher and PE
teacher.
Danny Argote (32:00):
The kids are fantastic.
Matthew Landis (32:03):
All right.
Danny, this has been such apleasure. Thank you so much for
taking time out of your scheduleto sit down with me and talk
about your business and takecare.
Danny Argote (32:14):
Thank you as well.
Bye. Have a good one, man.
Matthew Landis (32:17):
Thank you so much for joining me on this
episode of The VIP Suite. I'mMatthew Landis, and I hope you
found the insights andinspiration shared today truly
valuable for your journey as aSalon Suite entrepreneur and
independent beauty health orwellness professional, don't
forget to follow us on Instagram@imagestudios360 and if you
enjoyed this episode, don'tforget to subscribe to the VIP
(32:38):
Suite on your favorite podcastplatform so you never miss an
opportunity to connect with ourvibrant community and to
discover more incredible storiesand strategies. We love hearing
from our listeners. If you haveany questions, topics,
suggestions, or want to shareyour own success story, feel
free to reach out to me atmatthew@imagestudios360.com and
remember listener, you are theheartbeat of the beauty, health
(32:59):
and wellness industry, yourdedication and passion make the
world a better place one clientat a time, we'll be back with
more engaging and inspiringconversations in our next
episode. Until then, take care.
Stay inspired and continue tocreate your own VIP Suite. For
more information about becominga part of the IMAGE Studios
luxury Salon Suite community,visit our website at
imagestudios360.com.
Music. Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite
(00:04):
at IMAGE Studios, the podcastexclusively designed for
independent beauty, health andwellness professionals, brought
to you by image studios, theluxury leader in the Salon Suite
industry. I'm your host,industry expert and certified
business coach, Matthew Landis.
In each episode, we will bringyou insightful interviews with
solo entrepreneurs who haveforged their own path to
success, from stories of triumphto practical tips and strategies
(00:27):
for growing your client base andbuilding your brand. This is the
place to thrive and take yourSalon Suite business to the next
level. All right, joining me onthe podcast today is Danny
Argote at Ink and Art Collectivetattoo and gallery at IMAGE
Studios in Thornton, Colorado.
(00:47):
Welcome to the podcast. Danny.
Danny Argote (00:48):
Thank you for having us. I appreciate it.
Matthew Landis (00:50):
And now, did I get all of that correct?
Danny Argote (00:53):
One thing missing, we also do permanent makeup and
removal. Now, awesome. Okay,certainly, just went with
collective, because that'sstarting to become a really long
list. Yeah, we're trying tooffer a few different types of
things, and we're now even goinginto printing soon, so that'll
be fun. Printing.
Matthew Landis (01:08):
Yeah, tell me about that.
Danny Argote (01:10):
When I started tattooing, I've been tattooed
now for it'll be 15 years nextmonth, when I began, I was about
the only art medium I wasworking with, and I I went to
school for art. I did a littlebit of teaching elementary for a
few but you're gonna have to andthen that kind of moved into
sort of commissioned art hereand there, and I kind of gave.
Went to the concept of doing afan art, basically just trying
(01:33):
to give a band at a show, aposter, an image, a painting,
something, a just to see whathappens. Maybe they hired me to
do something. Maybe I gettickets for the next show. Maybe
I just got a high five. It's away of like, well, I listened to
this album all day long. While Idid this painting, I had to do
this other drawing and all thisother stuff got me through it.
So here's a little somethingright back at so it's just about
(01:54):
kind of feeding the energy back.
So as I started tattooing now,I've kind of started doing fan
art, or more repeated based andhas had a lot of success, and
I've actually been officiallyhired first a poster recently
for San Diego Comic Con. Yeah.
So I started doing my own printsfor the fan art, because,
frankly, it was getting tooexpensive to hire somebody else
to do it, as I do, especiallylocal shows. I promote the fact
(02:18):
that I'm also a tattooer, ifeven I get two or three
customers out of that pays forthe print job. And, of course,
the fun of just giving art outto people. And yeah, I just do
it for free. I just put it outthere just to see what happens.
I call like a sort of a treatfor the fans and resume to the
bands.
Matthew Landis (02:33):
That is so cool.
So you're just an all aroundartist?
Danny Argote (02:37):
Well, yeah, definitely. I mean, my main
thing is tattooing. It'sobviously my main income, but,
yeah, a pretty well roundedinterest, like the knowledge of
like that. No artwork ingeneral, composition, color
theory, stuff like that. But themain, say, the main three things
that I focus mostly on is, like,I started out tracing comic
books, which was pretty like, Iguess serendipitous, because the
(02:59):
first official hire I had wasfor San Diego Comic Con, for a
band, uh, Cody and Cambria, thatare, that actually are a
soundtrack to a comic series atthe lead singer, right? So,
like, Okay, that was prettyinteresting for that to be the
first official hire, prettywell. And then, you know, we got
into tattooing and illustration.
And I always love band art,seeing the big especially with
vinyls coming back now, it'spretty cool. People appreciating
it anew, again, an album cover,because it used to be when I was
(03:22):
growing up, it was on a CD, soit was so tiny, just like it had
to be very bold. It didn't,couldn't have much detail.
Halftime. Was just a photo andname. And then the vinyl started
coming back, and you startedreally appreciating the artwork
again, because you're seeing allthese big covers again, you're
like, wow, how's it giantpainting? Somebody really sat
down and figured this out andthen put it all through the
(03:43):
booklet and put it through allthe papers as a kid, that and
comic books were always mybiggest thing. So kind of rock
band fan art just became sort ofa natural evolution that,
Matthew Landis (03:54):
Wow, so many different avenues. You know, I
think when it comes to vinyl andjust art in general, people like
having something to hold on toand something to look at. And I
have a friend who's a painter,and he told me something once
about paintings. He's like, youknow, you write a book. I'm a
writer. He's like, you write abook. People might read it once
and put it away and never lookat it again. But when you when
(04:15):
you're an artist and you withvisual art, it's something that
people can appreciate foreverand ever and ever, and it's this
wonderful gift that you put outinto the world. And in your
case, whether it's on somebody'sbody or it's print art or
something like that, it's thiswonderful thing that people will
have for the rest of theirlives. And to talk about, which
I think is so cool.
Danny Argote (04:37):
Yeah, I love it my Honestly, my favorite part is
the kiddos. At the time, there'sparents there. They got young
kids. You got a couple of kids.
They're not going to even try toget in that merch line, because
between the $50 shirt and the$100 poster, and I understand
Ben's gotta make the money. I'mnot even no judgment, so it's
cool. I always print a littlestack of extra, like mini
(04:57):
prints, just so like, if thekid. It rips it up. So what? You
know, I mean, but they get alittle some souvenir their first
show, or stuff like that, whichmaybe the parents couldn't
afford that night, and that madea big difference for them. Like
that was super cool. You lightup over it. It's awesome.
Parents light up almost twice asmuch. It's actually great. But
yeah, that's the best for me,like that. I mean, obviously, if
I get to see the band and stufflike that, and they get to sign
(05:19):
it or get a photo something.
Yeah, that's always really fun.
I've gotten pretty lucky in thatdepartment, but honestly, just
seeing like fans get reallyexcited, or seeing them come
back around, come get a tattoo,I mean, go over the show and
we'll show we're going to next.
And just like kind of music andart has always gone hand in
hand, and I seem to find areally amazing clientele slash
(05:42):
fan base there. So that's alittle sweet spot for me, and
I'm really enjoying the ride sofar.
Matthew Landis (05:46):
I love it.
You're you are like a creativemachine, like your output must
be insane.
Unknown (05:51):
Blame it on the ADD probably.
Matthew Landis (05:56):
I love it. I think it's so great.
Danny Argote (05:58):
I think I've always like gotten visuals to me
when I listen to a song, it'slike, listen to the lyrics, and
then I'm somehow trying to comeup with some way that that would
be like if this wasn't written.
Now, how would it be visualized?
How would someone come to thatsame understanding it's in a
sentence through an image? Andthat's always been a practice
for me, because I've always likewhat they would call writer's
(06:19):
block, or creative block. Andthey're like, What do I draw? So
listen to a song, and I'd belike, Wow, that's a weird lyric.
How'd I Hmm, what would thatlook like? And then, boom, I got
something to drop. It's alwaysbeen my Thank you. Back to news.
I'm like, Cool. That alwaysbroke it right out. I'm like,
just, let me just listen to asong, come up with the weirdest
lyric and see if I can easteregg that in there, and then
obviously in tattoo. And there'sso many people that want to
combine ideas and stuff likethat, all that just really
(06:42):
married each other nicely.
Matthew Landis (06:43):
You mentioned you ADD. How did you find this,
like as a kid? You said youstarted tracing comic books.
Danny Argote (06:51):
Yeah, yeah. So the first memory I had drawing was
tracing Batman comic books,probably around 767, years old,
and my dad took some of mysketches. They were horrible,
but he actually mailed them toDC Comics, unbeknownst to me. Is
like, I had no idea. Coupleweeks later, I had a letter in
(07:12):
the mail from DC Comics, which Iwas like, What is this about?
And I opened it up into theletterhead from the executive
editor of Batman, Batman seriesI was collecting at the time,
and so basically, I mean, it wasvery cut and dry. It was, I'm
not taking any praise away fromhim. That was awesome. It was
amazing. It's very cut, right?
Hey, man, don't send originals.
(07:32):
Go take some art classes. Drawfrom life. You can trace all
day. But if you don't understandthe the skeleton of stuff, like
how you know what the rules are,then you can't break them. Make
something really unique. And Ialways thought that with me,
which was fantastic advice forany young artist. That's
incredible advice, like, gottalearn the rules before you learn
how to break them. That's whythings look weird. But right?
Matthew Landis (07:53):
That's so great.
I learned that in hairdressing,totally different art form, but
I really had to learn the rulesof hairdressing, and I spent a
lot of time going to trainingthat I didn't that I wasn't
being made to go to, but Iwanted the training so that I
could learn the structure ofhair, so that I could then break
it apart and understand whythings work the way that they
(08:13):
do.
Danny Argote (08:15):
And frankly, honestly, hairdressers and
tattooers have a lot more incommon than you think. You have
clientele that have certainexpectations. They have
references from other peoplethat, frankly, don't look
anything like them, or anotherstructure and this and that and
the other. And we have to walkthem through things, they have
concepts that are wildly beyondmaybe their budget, or
understanding of how manysessions it would take, or how
(08:36):
much work it would take, or, youknow, what you're forfeiting and
not for you know, like it's,it's a lot, but the only
difference is permanence betweenus, that that could still be a
couple of years. For you guys,we're dealing with very similar
questions on daily basis. Yeah,honestly, like, what I love
about we love that in thestudios in general, it's just
like the vibe in here is likeeveryone here is working their
(08:57):
own hustle, at their own pace.
They're making their own money.
They're doing, they're handlingit. No one here is out to get
anybody. Everyone's here. I haveso many people walk late. Look,
I walk ladies over to theirstudio. So who are you looking
for? What time is yourappointment? I got you. Let's go
walk over. They walk them overto me all the time. That's
hundreds of dollars of business.
Yeah. I mean, that's, that'sgenuine friendship there. I
mean, like everybody here isjust trying to it's one, yeah,
(09:19):
rising tide saves all boats.
Yeah, lifts all boats.
Matthew Landis (09:24):
I'm guessing that every time that you escort
one of these other clientsthrough the space as well,
they're like, Oh, I've alwayswanted a tattoo or what would
you do? It's sort of like I wastalking to one of my other
guests, Julee George, on thepodcast, and she was saying, you
know, when you tell people thatyou do hair, their face lights
up. And I would imagine thatwhen you tell people that you're
(09:45):
a tattoo artist, that is such anentryway for some really
interesting conversations,because I have a few tattoos,
and people that I know thatdon't have any, they all
secretly want one.
Danny Argote (09:59):
Yeah, we had tried to avoid mentioning to anyone
that I'm a tattooer when we'reat a bar where people might be
slightly intoxicated. Yeah, it'sturned up tenfold.
Matthew Landis (10:11):
You're going to be held hostage for the rest.
Danny Argote (10:14):
I'm also like, Here you go. Gotta go bye. I'll
wait around for it get old me.
Here's my card. Here's a freeart they're already happy with
that. Bye and I get out and go.
Otherwise it's going to be a 30minute conversation about a
sleeve. They're never going toget a concert with you. I'm not
(10:34):
going to remember much tomorroweither.
Matthew Landis (10:36):
And 30 minutes of your time is also worth a lot
of money.
Danny Argote (10:41):
Yeah, especially, look, especially when I'm off
the block, when I'm off theclock, I'll give everybody two
minutes, yeah, two minutes of mytime. What's up? Here's my info.
Nice to meet you. Here's what Ido. I am not working right now,
but here's my information. I'dlove to chat with you. Book an
appointment.
Matthew Landis (10:56):
All right, how did you take this passion and
interest in art and turn it intoa business. Well,
Danny Argote (11:04):
I started tattooing out of a shop 15 years
ago. I started myapprenticeship, and yeah, the
tattoo concept and shops haveevolved quite drastically over
the last 15 years, but normallyand pretty standardly, it was
much like hair aggressors. Theywork, they do their
apprenticeship. They're asked todo a certain amount of years
kind of work off theapprenticeship, maybe at a
commission or booth ran usuallyaround a 10 year mark is when
(11:28):
you start looking about goingindependent, because you built
up enough for clientele. And therule of thumb is, are you
willing to lose two thirds ofyour clientele? Would you be
able to pay the bills?
Matthew Landis (11:37):
And how was that transition for you?
Danny Argote (11:38):
It was good. A lot of what image provides made it a
lot better than it should havebeen. So that way that that
really was a game changer.
What you guys do and provide,for example, the ability to get
keys, Quick, get open, get setup. You're ready to rock.
Particularly for a tattooer, youknow, the hardest part of going
(12:01):
independent is you have to finda location that's zoned for
tattooing, which sometimes,sometimes can be really tough
with because they still treat uslike pawn shops and liquor
stores and strip clubs and stufflike that. We're still in that
zoning style. And then there'syou have to get plumbing. You
have to have a hand sink. Andthen recently, you'd also have
to have a sterile room. Butrecently, almost everything in
(12:23):
tattooing has gone disposable,so it doesn't require
sterilization. Gotten rid ofpretty much every all need for a
sterilization room and autoclaveall that jazz. Everything now is
just disposable one time use,and we just have to worry about
sharps containers and gettingthose properly destroyed. So
that changed game up, and thenjust just knowing we came in,
(12:43):
set it up. We got the keyswithin a few days at the health
department. Three days later, wewere open a week. It took a
week. I was open in a week. Iretained 90% of my customers.
Matthew Landis (12:52):
So how are things going there? Right?
Great. We stayed. We actuallygot a second unit. We started
with a single just for myselfand my wife, and a couple months
later, my former apprentice,who's now in his almost fourth
year of tattooing, he wasleaving the same job I was, so
he set up a double unit up inthe front so they can get a
(13:14):
little more foot traffic andvisibility. I have one of more
the single rooms in the back fora little more privacy for some
clients who'd rather just haveclothes and stuff, you know,
yeah, well,Stacey Valez, our owner there in
Thornton, she speaks very highlyof you.
Danny Argote (13:26):
She's been fantastic and incredibly
supportive, man. I'm verygrateful for you know,
Matthew Landis (13:30):
She's one of our owners, and all all of our
owners are really great, but shereally loves the people that are
part of that location and so, soyou work with your wife,
correct? And how is that?
Great! It really is. I'm always,like, amazed that there's
(13:51):
stereotypes against it. Like, Imean, we're not in the same
room. That might be a littlemuch in the same room all day,
and then go home to get I getthat that's a little, you know,
when you need your me time, Iget that bouncing out. That's
okay, but she's got her own roomup there. She's got her own
world and schedule. She'shelping me out on my schedule.
And yeah, it's great. Yeah. Imean, most days I'm here pretty
(14:11):
much myself, you know? I mean,she's kind of either the other
room or she kind of run arounddoing little stuff in between
and basically managing so Idon't lose myself. Basically
make sure that I'm always goingin the right direction. She's
like, are you doing this? Yeah,okay, yeah, you're right. Okay,
yep, hope, yep, correct, yep,you're absolutely right. I just
(14:32):
need her because, I mean, Ithink life is cheaper than the
level of assistant I would need.
So I think it's so important tohave a partner or work with
people that sort of balance outour skill sets, right? She
honestly, she is the firstHow do you divide up the work?
Do you do the tattooing and doperson I called partner.
(14:53):
you also do permanent makeup?
Danny Argote (14:55):
I just do tattooing. My wife does
permanent makeup as well as,say. Lean removal. It's not
laser, totally different. Itinvolves, and I probably still
get yelled at for possiblygetting this wrong, but I will
try to be very broad strokeabout it, basically tattooing a
saline solution and removing inkthrough the process of osmosis.
(15:16):
You ever seen like cucumber,they put salt on all the water
laser, something you're breakingapart cells enough so your lymph
nodes underneath can take themin, run them through your
bloodstream, kidneys and liver,process and dispose right? Well,
we don't have long term data ondoing a lot of it at once. Like
over a lifetime, hasn't reallyshown issues, if not, we've
(15:38):
noticed by now with heavilytattooed people, but remove,
like letting a lot of it breakapart at once, that could be
daunting. It's just a lot ofthings we're not 100% sure
about. This way, we're justliterally pulling out the horn
object. As your body recognizesthe depths with the saline
solution, it's pulling the inkout and and it's a lot easier on
(15:59):
the skin. It heals a lot faster.
It's not giant boils andblisters, it's just a tattoo,
and that way it allows you tolighten it, to cover it up, or
remove it entirely. So it givesyou the options there as well.
We use numbing agent priorbecause it's saving solution.
Obviously, salt on the wound,not the greatest feeling, but we
numb it up so you don't feel it,so in less pain, less sessions.
(16:21):
I honestly, I barely believed init at first, but I've had a
couple of examples that havecome back, and I've just been
amazed at how much it was ableto take away.
Matthew Landis (16:32):
That's socool.
I've never heard of that before.
That is, sounds really, reallycool.
Danny Argote (16:38):
Yeah, we're trying to make it more like, I don't
want to say experience, but morelike a genuine service. You
know, a lot of times it feelslike it's kind of a turn and
burn style. You know, I don'twant tattoos emulate Waffle
House. I want you to feel likeyou had, you know, like a
generally good time, and knewyou were cared for. You know, is
something that's permanent onyour body. The worst story you
(16:59):
could ever last reminder youwant on your body is a story
about a tattooer who's just meanor rude or indifferent or just
didn't care, just wasn't in on,you know, like, that's, that's
terrible, and it's on your it'sgoing to remind you every time
you look at that, that's, that'snot great. So you have to bear
that responsibility with eachclient, if you can. You gotta be
honest enough to be like,Alright, let's get you
rescheduled or something, or getyourself in a better mood.
Matthew Landis (17:21):
So tell me for our listeners, like, what is the
process of finding the righttattoo and going through making
the appointment and gettingeverything set up? How does that
work?
Danny Argote (17:31):
I mean, general advice. One, there's two things
that an artist wants to know offthe bat, subject and style. What
it is you want? I want an owl. Iwant a plane. I want a rose.
Okay? Style would be I want itreally old school, sailor,
Jerry, traditional looking. Iwant it more watercolor style. I
(17:51):
want a very fine line, you know,all these little adjectives
basically, just to basicallygive me an idea of what kind of
style you want, and then yourplacement and size, because
that's going to dictate how muchdetail can go into those areas
and heal well over, over longterm. Yeah. So it's a matter of
figuring those factors out, andthat really helps out. Way our
shop runs through it is, if it'ssomething you if you have a
(18:14):
directive like, this is exactlywhat I want, that's easy too.
This is what I want. Is where Iwant it. Obviously you're well
aware you looked at a Googlesearch image, so did everyone
else you bound up up intosomebody with it. That's not a
concern. Tattoo. If you'reunaware of that, I'll give you a
quick advisement. That's simple.
I mean, I'll give you all thepros and cons. Any decision you
make my my job isn't a judgedecision make, it to educate you
(18:35):
so you make the best onepossible for what you feel is
right? So to me, it's like, moredetails. Give me better I can
price you, give you time, giveyou ideas, give you concepts.
But usually, if it's likepretty, like, open in the air, I
set up a free consultation. Thesame thing goes for my wife. I'm
doing removal or permanentmakeup, and it's usually 30
minutes, sometimes even longer,sit down discuss. It's a 30
(18:58):
minute conversation to sit downand discuss your options, what
you're looking to get done, comein the room, get acquainted,
meet us, make sure we're notweird. I get it sometimes it's
nice to walk in first and justwalk around a little bit and
chat with us and get to know usa little bit and kind of back
and forth with us before youmake the decision to sit down
(19:19):
for hours with us and that'shurt you?
Matthew Landis (19:23):
Yeah, because it is painful.
Danny Argote (19:26):
Sowe always set those up because that, I think
that also makes it easier forthe client. You know, they're a
little more adjusted. They'renot having to figure all this
out last minute. They figured itout as a consultation. They know
what they're in for. They focusmore on just getting through the
tattoo as comfortably aspossible. What they need to
bring, bringing a friend, stufflike that. We usually provide
(19:46):
little sugary somethings,because I can't treat everybody
like they're getting sugarcracked if they're not feeling
up to it. Keep them loaded onwater calories. Make sure they
eat prior stuff like that. Givethem all that information prior,
so that way they can come in asprepared as possible. But. It's
like, the more it feels like,the more questions you answer,
the less nervous they come in.
Matthew Landis (20:04):
That's so great.
And you know, I think whenpeople find the right tattoo
artist, they're going to stickwith you for ever. I'm sure the
people that you've been workingon for years are incredibly
loyal.
Danny Argote (20:15):
Thankfully, yeah, do solid work and just be, be as
a cordial and friendly aspossible. Be respectful like you
know, it's not that hard. Yourreputation goes a very long way,
especially in this industry.
It's unfortunate people takeadvantage or people and I get
it, we repeat ourselves a lot.
So do hairdressers. They got asmile on their face every day,
(20:35):
and they're wonderful. Sothere's no reason I get to be
grumpy. Explain how the fingertattoo will look like a year
from now, five times a day. Butit's the job, and if they still
want it, I'll do it, but I wantthem to be educated. So they'll
walk around going, Danny, messthis up. They go, Danny told me
this was a bad idea, and I'mgonna go back to him for my
(20:56):
sleeve, because he cares.
Sometimes that's all people wantjust to care.
Matthew Landis (21:00):
What would you say your superpower is?
Unknown (21:04):
I'm good at putting things together. You know, like
making things that I'm good atmaking furniture you would never
think match somehow work outI'll make a pattern where there
isn't one if I need to. Itdoesn't apply to a lot of
things, but what it does applyto, it does seem to give me an
edge on that could be, whetherit be tattoo designs, concepts,
compositions, I would set up aroom, how I set up my station,
(21:26):
how it's set up my closet.
Matthew Landis (21:29):
That's probably where a lot of that, bringing
that ADD back into theconversation, where that's
probably helpful, right? Becauseyou pay intense attention to
details. There's just so manydetails.
Danny Argote (21:43):
Yeah, it can be daunting, but it's also, like,
wildly gratifying when, when youyou achieve it technically and
officially, and she feel goodabout, you know, she's like, oh,
hold that off. That happened.
That worked. Okay. I always tellpeople, every tattooer is
nervous about tattooing. Some ofus are better at hiding.
Matthew Landis (22:06):
That is like doing hair, because, you know, I
tell people it is terrifying.
It's especially terrifying inthe beginning, but we are
terrified pretty much every day,and it just becomes a part of
us, like we're not even awarethat we're terrified.
Danny Argote (22:20):
They're baseline wild anxiety is pretty much our
baseline.
Matthew Landis (22:24):
Exactly. Let me ask you some other questions.
How do you ride the bumps on theroad to success? Or, first of
all, let me ask you, how do youdefine how would you define
success? What does that mean toyou? Success?
Danny Argote (22:36):
I think at this point, man, I'm only a year in,
so I feel like I'm being alittle overzealous. But right
now, it's setting up passiveincome, something that I can be
paid for, that I've alreadydone, whether it be prior
designs, prior artwork, stufflike that, that I can slowly
turn people onto the fan art.
Becoming officially hired artwould also be good and not,
(22:58):
frankly, is going to be,ideally, my retirement plan, my
back and my shoulders can'ttattoo forever, and I'm already
40, so, so it's, it's thingslike that, where, you know, sick
day when I'm the only one whocan tattoo like, I mean, I have
my other tattooer, but in termsof income bringing home, I'm the
only one that can in thatdepartment. So if I'm sick, if
(23:18):
I'm hurt, something happens thatcould be detrimental. We have
things in place to help andsupport that system, but same
time, last thing you want to dois drain those, those
reservoirs. So to speak. It'sabout setting up passive income
that can at least cover ourcosts. If we could set up a way
that our artwork or peril, orwhatever we have set up, or side
(23:40):
side commissions and stuff likethat, can at least cover our
cost of operating. Then thetattooing can just be profit. I
could be a little more selectiveabout the work I want to do and
be a little less tougher on myown schedule.
Matthew Landis (23:56):
Now, is there a website or somewhere that our
listeners can go to check outyour work?
Unknown (23:59):
Um, so Vagaro.com/inkandartcolorado, I
believe should work. Or you cancheck us out on our Instagram.
(24:25):
It's @inkartcolorado.
Matthew Landis (24:30):
we want to support you and make sure that
Danny Argote (24:56):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Matthew Landis (24:56):
Let me kind of step out of the business for a
second. And. Us to ask you, whatother parts of your life bring
you the most joy and happiness?
you have that passive income.
And I, I'm I've looked at some
Danny Argote (25:04):
Live music, concerts have always been my
of your art, I've looked at yourInstagram. It's really cool. So
jam, for lack of a better term,that was always my little escape
I definitely want to dive alittle bit deeper into all of
of reality. Just, you know, Ihave a little social anxiety. I
that, because I'm just sofascinated. You have such an
interesting story, especiallythat, you know, relation to
well, I would say I just have aI have a good social battery,
music and other art forms, andbringing it all together into
but it runs out quick. I canhang with a bunch of people, but
these really unique, you know,places and spaces, I think, is
I can't do it long. But at aconcert or like a movie theater,
(25:25):
really admirable.
every person is there focused onone something else, not me. I'm
not it's not just bouncing allover the wall, so to speak. The
eyes are all going in onedirection. We're all just here
for the same reason, love thesame thing. Really want to enjoy
it. I find that is such anultimate calmer for me in such a
giant place, because people willbe like, how do you have social
(25:47):
anxiety about going to arestaurant? But you were just at
the foo fighter show with 50,000people. I'm like, because 50,000
people were staring at one guy.
That guy was having anxiety, notme.
Matthew Landis (25:58):
Yeah, restaurants a much more intimate
space than a 50,000 personconcert.
People are looking in everydirection. Energy is being
thrown in every direction, andit's a show. Ideally, all the
energy is going right to thatstage. So you're just observing
that almost a little outside ofit, or partaking and giving that
said energy. But yeah, whenyou're somewhere else, bounce
(26:21):
off the walls that that's whereI'm like, I'm good. That's where
it's too much. It's too it's, Idon't know. It's not harmonized
either. There's also musicplaying at the others. You know,
when you watch a movie or show,there's a main thing that's
louder than everyone else. Soyou know, you can always tap
into that. Unfortunately, at abar, it's usually bad karaoke
(26:44):
music, when a concert's likethis, or a movie, it's this
collective experience, right?
That's bringing everybody sortof together for this common
purpose and enjoyment. It kindof forces the harmony we wish we
all had. I really leave it up tothe client. You know, every
every client handles things alittle differently. So the way I
have it set up here, I have aprojector with all the streaming
(27:05):
services and stuff on there. SoI hand them the remote. I'm
like, you can throw on music,throw on podcast, throwing stand
up, throwing a movie, whatever.
I usually advise that they putsomething on it. They're kind of
used to. And what I mean by thatis, if you try to put a new
movie on, and I stab you, you'regonna forget what the plot is
within two seconds. And thenit's kind of useless to see a
(27:26):
bunch of things going on thatyou have nothing, no idea about.
So I always have like, what'sthe thing you study that you put
on in the background when you'restudying, when you're cleaning
the house, when you're taking anap, you know? But just what's
your background jam is justmusic? Is it an episode of The
Office and Parks and Rec, or oneof those, you know, what's what?
What kind of puts you in thattrying to chill, that move,
because that's really the modeyou want to be in. Like, you
(27:48):
know, I always tell people, likegetting a tattoo, you usually
have a fight or flight responsewhen you get when you're having
pain. It's rare that you givethis third option, but most
people don't realize that, ifyou've ever taken a nap with a
backache, that was the thirdoption. You're saying, I'm gonna
sleep despite this pain. I'mgonna relax despite this pain.
You're not gonna fall asleep bytensing up and screaming and
(28:08):
being mad and shaken some ofthat. You're gonna do it by
going to sucks. This sucks this.
Relax because it still sucks mybackwards. But I'm getting
there. I'm getting there, andthat's, that's the mode you want
to be in. So what's the stuffyou put on in that background
when you're in that mode? That'swhat you want. Or some people
prefer holding a conversation.
(28:29):
And I always tell people, You'rethere for a long time, and it is
painful to be of a goodexperience. I rell people all
the time, tattoos are likepassport stamps. You can look at
that stamp and know exactly whatday it was, how you were
feeling, who you were with orweren't with, what was going on
in your life, who the tattooerwas, and how they were to you.
(28:49):
That's all immediaterecollection. When you look at
that tattoo. You do not want tobe a negative aspect of that.
That's a terrible thing to be.
I heard this great quote once,and I'm going to mangle this, I
know, but it was somebody askedthis younger woman with a lot of
tattoos, how she was going tofeel about those tattoos when
she was old. And she said, I'mgoing to look at them, and I'm
(29:13):
going to know that I had a youthwell spent.
Danny Argote (29:17):
People were like, well, how's it gonna look when
you're 80? How much? How'severything gonna look when
you're 80, look terrible. Sowhat, you know, like, I the only
thing I would tell people is,like, Don't go crazy super
young, unless you're willing toinvest in touching them up over
time or getting stuff that's alittle bolder and brighter,
almost like traditional style,you know, more old school stuff,
(29:38):
because then you can sort ofclean that up over time. And,
you know, like, super, you know,you don't want things to blob up
once you get into the blob zone.
That's why you have a lot ofkids who are like kids in their
30s, but yeah, in their 30s thathave all the blackout legs
because they just got a bunch ofstuff on the routine. Yeah, be
patient. It's good to thinkabout it. There's permanence to
it. I always tell people, if youwant to get something. Put a
(29:58):
reminder of it on your fridge,stare at it for six months.
Matthew Landis (30:03):
Yeah, I have tattoos of tributes to my dogs
and one to my grandmother,because my reasoning is that I'm
never not going to love my dogsand I'm never not going to love
my grandmother.
Danny Argote (30:15):
Yeah, that's the rule three. I always say it's
your parents, your kids, anddearly departed, because if your
parents and your kids piss youoff, tough. They're your
parents, and your kids, thedearly party can't piss you off
because they're dearly departed.
Matthew Landis (30:27):
Amen.
Danny Argote (30:27):
The rule of three, those are three. Those are good.
Anything on now I say, Hey,that's a bit of a dice roll. But
do what you want to do.
Matthew Landis (30:34):
Last question, what are you looking forward to
in the future?
Danny Argote (30:37):
Continuing working in tattooing, ideally, getting
some more hires. I'd like totake the tattooing to some kind
of level, where I'm startedtattooing a couple of members of
bands recently, and I'm hopingthat that can build up on that,
because I would like that to bekind of gateway to funding a
Community Arts Center with,like, a gallery shop, and that
(30:58):
would be like an independentthing down the line. But, I
mean, even the concept of imageis cool, like, basically that
with a courtyard and a few lessboots, basically, be it.
Matthew Landis (31:09):
What a great idea.
Danny Argote (31:11):
And there's some to that matter. So like, kids
can get into, like, printing,painting, drawing, digital
drawing, just something to do.
And, I mean, it's a be a goodpool for apprentices. It'd be a
good spot for more like, I'mthinking, like, think of a YMCA,
but for the brain, you got onefor the physical mental, the
creative mind, stuff like that.
I'd really love to do somethinglike that down the line with the
(31:32):
fan art and stuff like that. Ifthat gets big enough where I can
actually even be tattooing bandsand stuff like that. It could be
a promotional thing on bothends, you know, and doing
something like that.
Matthew Landis (31:40):
That's incredible, and I think that you
would be so good at that. Youseem like you'd be such a great
mentor. Did I hear you say thatyou worked in education?
Yeah, I was a elementary afterschool art teacher and PE
teacher.
Danny Argote (32:00):
The kids are fantastic.
Matthew Landis (32:03):
All right.
Danny, this has been such apleasure. Thank you so much for
taking time out of your scheduleto sit down with me and talk
about your business and takecare.
Danny Argote (32:14):
Thank you as well.
Bye. Have a good one, man.
Matthew Landis (32:17):
Thank you so much for joining me on this
episode of The VIP Suite. I'mMatthew Landis, and I hope you
found the insights andinspiration shared today truly
valuable for your journey as aSalon Suite entrepreneur and
independent beauty health orwellness professional, don't
forget to follow us on Instagram@imagestudios360 and if you
enjoyed this episode, don'tforget to subscribe to the VIP
(32:38):
Suite on your favorite podcastplatform so you never miss an
opportunity to connect with ourvibrant community and to
discover more incredible storiesand strategies. We love hearing
from our listeners. If you haveany questions, topics,
suggestions, or want to shareyour own success story, feel
free to reach out to me atmatthew@imagestudios360.com and
remember listener, you are theheartbeat of the beauty, health
(32:59):
and wellness industry, yourdedication and passion make the
world a better place one clientat a time, we'll be back with
more engaging and inspiringconversations in our next
episode. Until then, take care.
Stay inspired and continue tocreate your own VIP Suite. For
more information about becominga part of the IMAGE Studios
luxury Salon Suite community,visit our website at
imagestudios360.com.
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