We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Valerie Desautel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Valerie below.

Hi Valerie , thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My need for starting my own personal studio came from the previous tattoo shop unexpectedly closing. I was faced with finding somewhere to work that would allow me to work my preferred schedule and it didn’t really seem that many businesses where willing to do that. I had previously owned a walk in tattoo shop that had employees and I knew for seven years. I didn’t really feel like I wanted to manage artists again and deal with a large over head. So thinking about my options I felt moving forward as a private studio and just having to worried about my own clients was the way to go. Once I knew that was the direction finding the perfect location was next. I couldn’t be happier with the building I found, Agua salon suites in Fort Lauderdale, and the landlord and manager was so sweet and very attentive to all renters needs. The location was great, the rent was affordable and there are many other business in the same area so perfect place to network and share clients with other professionals. It only took a month of planning and another month to set up and have all the licenses needed to start working. I’ve been there for about a year now and things have been great!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I work as a tattoo artist and I have been apart of the industry for almost 20 years now. I do most styles from color, black and grey, fine line, geometric, realism and pop art. I have a bachelor’s degree from in fine art from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) I am also a veteran of the US Army. I think what sets me apart from other artists is my patience. I have always believed that getting a tattoo is a very personal experience and although I’m here to guide you with my expertise, I always make sure the client is involved with the process, I want to work with a budget that makes them comfortable and to share ideas through the creative process. It’s important to me that my clients always feel comfortable in my space and know that their time is valued and how much I appreciate them choosing me as their artist. With all of the options available to the consumer now it makes it more special to know they trust in my work enough to have me being their tattoo ideas to fruition.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There have been a few times that I had to pivot when it came to my career. When I left the military I felt lost until I found tattooing. I became an apprentice at 23 and not having a lot of knowledge in the art community. Back then it was more of a craft where they had pre drawn designs and people would just choose tattoos off the wall. Although it was a fun part of the tattoo industry things were changing and I was happening fast. At 26 I opened my first tattoo studio before I was even a licensed artist! I have learn from a previous shop that I worked for that you didn’t need to have a tattoo license to own a studio. So once I knew that the goal was being able to create my own space that felt safe and gave me the ability to grow. After I opened the studio became officially licensed and the next 7 years were all about learning. I was learning to draw my own designs, learning how to manage a studio and artists, I was honing in on the craft of tattooing. Although me and the other artist eventually outgrew the studio it was a time I look back on fondly. I decided to focus on the art and enrolled in Rhode Island School of Design. Once I graduated I started working with some really amazing tattoo artist and just soaked up as much knowledge as I could. My foundation for art and tattooing was now equal parts. It was a lot of hard work and sacrifice but it was all worth it to get to where I am today. I believe you have to stay flexible and sometimes willing to let things go in order to move forward

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Working in the tattoo industry has been like the Wild West at times. There are no universal standards. Some shops and owners have been extremely unprofessional. So as hard as it is to be around negative people and environments I have found you can learn a lot from that too. Learn what not to do and how not to treat people. It makes you look within to see how you want to present yourself to your clients. How to work in an ethical manner, and how to treat your own employees one day if you are lucky enough to have them. I was always very grateful to the people who worked for me. I tried to show them appreciation regularly and listen to what their needs were as well as my own . It’s important to be firm to be able to have your business to run the way you want it too but you can also learn and benefit mutually from working together and listening to others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Neon cherry tattoo

Image Credits

Self taken