It was early march of 1996, I think. I quit my day job, walked in to the tattoo shop I was working at and told the owner that I was ready to tattoo full time. By then I had been there almost 9 months learning all I could.
So I started taking customers. It was exciting and unnerving at first. You're actually getting paid to stick your artwork on someone!
For the rest of the year we traveled across the country doing tattoo shows in Detroit, Delaware, Florida, Alabama and Denver. I was having a great time and meeting new people all the time. We were open from 10 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week.
Then by early '97 the shop moved to a new location one block away. this location was a lot better, more foot traffic, high visibility and easier to reach by those not familiar with the area. We were all making money everyday, but the money also changed the attitude of the owner towards us the tattoo artists. By then we had four tattoo artists working there. It was Lord Yatta, Mecca, Pay and myself. The tattoo owner was always stirring up trouble between us, instigating arguments, and at times he would threaten to cut our pay if we were late to work for any reason.
The situation really deteriorated to the point that I approached one of my friends and asked him if he was interested in owning a tattoo shop. He replied Yes. Thats all I needed to hear to get me started on planning our own tattoo shop.
By my account, I had been at that first shop for almost two years and I had learned a lot. I knew enough to open my own and I wanted to bring all the current tattoo artists with me. We all got along great and worked hard. We all knew our place and were comfortable with our work. So I called an artist meeting at my house and we discussed ideas on how to improve the situation at the tattoo shop and get along better with the owner. And we also discussed the possibility of us having our own tattoo shop in case we cannot improve the situation at the tattoo shop.
So we plan to discuss our issues with the owner of the tattoo shop in a day or two. Lord Yatta was gonna be the spokesperson since he's known the owner much longer than any of us. And so the meeting begins and we have a list of 5 subjects that we wish to discuss. We didnt get past the first one and the owner is already getting irate at Lord Yatta, so I butt in and say my part in support of our position and the owner snaps at me. The discussion turned real sour and I could see that there would be a negative resolution out of this discussion.
Finally the owner threatens me by telling I couldnt get a job nowhere else, I retort that I've had a job before and I can get another one. the owner then challenges me to walk. I dont respond, I simply get up, clear my desk, pack my bag and I step!
The plan was for all four of us to step together as a team and force the owner to budge in our favor, but it didnt work out that way. Lord Yatta didnt move, Pay was lost in what had happened but Mecca did get up and started packing. the owner was furious, he knew he lost two good artists and his pride was not gonna let him back down. We stepped out!
And that day I started organizing my thoughts and plannning my own tattoo shop.... it was march 1997.