040: Faith (@americanflesh)

Books Closed: Tattoos and the Internet Collide, Hosted by Andrew Stortz

In this episode, I talk to Chicago tattoo artist, Faith (@americanflesh), about how she walked away from tattooing for over 2 years to undergo conversion therapy through a church, what it was like coming back to tattooing afterward, and her inspiration to open her new shop Wish Me Luck Tattoo.

Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:17) Do you know Fred Durst?
(02:50) Faith’s 2.5 year break from tattooing
(05:23) Conversion therapy
(12:32) Starting to tattoo again after being ex-communicated from the church
(18:35) Inspiration to open her own tattoo studio
(27:03) “Old School” reaction to using GoFundMe to initially fund a tattoo shop
(36:51) Scarcity mentality in tattooing
(42:22) Is a lack of openness hurting tattooing?
(51:15) Setting boundaries and time management
(58:27) Specializing vs. street shop tattooing
(01:00:30) How much influence should we have on our customers?
(01:05:28) Covering tattoos for free in certain cases
(01:07:36) Hopes for 2021
(01:13:32) Outro
(01:15:27) Bonus post-interview clip; Is using personal identity a gimmick?

BOOKS CLOSED is hosted by Andrew Stortz (@andrewstortz)
Graphics by Jeff Donlan
Music by SAKURA @sakura.beatz
and Epidemic Sound
Want to join the discussion? Leave a message for me on the Books Closed Voicemail Line: [phone]
This episode's sponsor:
My search for Fred Durst!
This isn't a joke, I want to talk to Fred about his time tattooing in the 90's. If you know him or a way I could reach him to inquire, please DM me @andrewstortz or email: [e-mail]