Black Lotus Tattooers

Eyes in the back were And for me, I was Cause I never owned a shop. Ha. Come on in. My name's Halo Gray. I've owned Black Lotus Tattoo Gallery now for eight years. And we are located in Hanover, Maryland. You get to a point where you start to realize that not every person is good at every single style. And I worked in a shop where you didn't get to choose. You did the tattoo that walked in the door, whether you were good at it or not. And I was Their main concern was money. They wanted to make sure that they made money, which I understand. So I went to another shop where the tattoo artist only cared about art. And the shop was dirty and the cleanliness wasn'taking into consideration. We didn't have a front desk person. Funds never got answered. But they were phenomenal artists. So I was I can't control all of those things. But what I can do is open a place where a manager is very good at managing and an entrepreneur is very good at entrepreneuring and the technicians are very good at being technicians. And those technicians only do what they're good at. I treat my front desk staff the same way. I treat everyone And I just reaffirm it. I can attribute the success of the studio based on everyone brings something to the table and they're aware of it and valued for it. So the very first thing I did was I started going on a guest spot spree. I did, I think, 71 guest spots. I had a list of all of the things that were, does the owner tattoo or not? Does that have a negative impact on him? Is the shop open floor plan or closed floor plan? How are the people? Are they happy? What are their percentage rates? How much time do they get off? Are they forced to do tattoos they don't I mean, I sat down and figured out, based on everyone else'successes and mistakes, which route I wanted to go to. All of the tattoo shops where the tattoo artist or the owner was a tattoo artist, all of them respected the owner more. When you're in the mud with your crew, I think that's important for morale. Those were the things I really wanted to do when I opened a shop. What does my shop look If my shop is open for five years and successful, what is that And I needed to figure that out before going into it so that I had a name. Having a standard for your studio so that you're not just blindly telling people you're doing this wrong or you're not doing this wrong, but setting those guidelines out in the beginning, I think it's helpful. Because for me, it's made the hiring and firing process so much easier because it's not me that's firing you, it is you unable to meet these requirements that's firing you. So the hiring process of Black Lotus is actually very accidental. I try to let it happen naturally. You have to have guest spotted here three times. I don't even consider you. So if someone says, hey, I want a job, I say, awesome, we start with guest spots. You have to do at least three guest spots. Because people put their best foot forward on the interview. Always. People are stellar during interviews. And then three months later, they start to settle in. So I don't ever trust the face value of anything. I think it takes a lot of effort to keep that face up three or four months in. I need a little bit more than an application. I need some type of commitment and consistency. For me, when I'm looking for someone that's going to mesh well here, most of it is a willingness to learn, I think, and a willingness to accept criticism, because I think it's important, especially in art. A willingness for the understanding of a team effort that it's a bunch of little things that add up to a big thing. There's a lot of little things you have to do for the greater good. So most of it is just meshing properly. I think when you're a business owner, one of the things that you tend to forget is that there's always a balance between friendship and boss. I'm very lucky that has him in a problem. But it is a strange dynamic. It is. I've only lost one original person. It was Rick, Merv, little Dan, and Larry. It was the four artists I was working with. And they all showed up on time. And if they didn't have appointments, they still showed up. And then it was this one little dickhead. It was just I'm I don't have an appointment either. And I'm here at noon, and I own this place 40 hours a week. That's what it is. That's what everyone else who gives you hundreds of their dollars to get four hours of your time does. And he's like, well, if I can't ass I was You can get the fuck out. And all of the guys in the back were And for me, I was Because I never owned a shop. But I knew I wasn't going tolerate that. The real reason he got fired isn't because he did something wrong. It's because he undermined everyone else that was doing something right, and it's not right. And I think being an employee, I felt that before. I've watched people who worked half as hard as me make twice as much money as me, and I was I think being an employee gives you the opportunity to see mentally how you feel valued and underappreciated. And then as an owner, I know how to avert that. Owning a shop is not simple, but I wouldn'trade it. I secretly I do. I love it. Having the struggle and not knowing what's going to go on every single day, and I love that. I do. I think it brings value to my life. My name's Halo Gray. I've owned Black Lotus Tattoo Gallery now for eight years, and we are located in Hanover, Maryland. Nice.