We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittny Abad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brittny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Switching careers is always risky. It’s hard to leave something you worked for, something that provides you with the things you need to survive in exchange for a chase that you don’t know yet if it will pan out. I spent years and thousands of dollars going to college, working hard to graduate, and landing a well-paying job in biotech, with a clear pathway to larger career opportunities in the field. And I decided to drop all of that to become a tattoo artist.
I had no idea if I would make it or not. I didn’t even have the confidence that I could be financially stable as a self-employed artist, especially not in the same way that I was secure at my old job. I battled with that in my head for months, teetering between this could be the best decision of my life and it could also be the worst. But I felt like time was running out because that’s what you hear growing up, that you need to pick what you’re going to do for the rest of you life soon so you have enough time to put in the work to succeed in that field. I had already picked one so the thought of throwing that all away seemed extra daunting compared to when I picked a college major right out of high school. I was enrolled in a master’s program to further my career when I decided to withdraw and quit my job at a genetic testing company.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that the money and stability didn’t matter if I was doing something that didn’t make me happy. I had to decide for myself that I would rather be struggling with something that I am passionate about, then struggling to get through a job every single day that doesn’t leave me fulfilled. I had to learn to accept myself as someone who wasn’t built to thrive in a 9-5 office environment. I had to get over thoughts of feeling inadequate because I wasn’t as happy as my coworkers were working in the lab. Something was missing and after exercising changes almost every other aspect in my life, process of elimination led me to realizing what I really needed was a career change, and my only option at ultimate happiness was to take that risk.
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 went to school and studied psychology and biology, and I wanted to change the mental healthcare industry. That dream was dashed the more and more I got into the field, later working in genetics and setting my sights on becoming a genetic counselor, after realizing how much of mental healthcare (as intertwined with physical healthcare) is controlled by administration that may not even be connected to the lives of individuals the industry is supposed to help. I felt so disconnected from people I wanted to help, and limited by the rules set in place in the healthcare field (for example at the company I used to work at: having no visible tattoos).
I was disillusioned by the sterility and coldness of the healthcare industry and wanted to do something different but wasn’t sure what until I started getting more tattoos. I felt the way tattoos changed how I saw myself, my body, both in terms of honoring my body as well as allowing it to be a canvas for art that depicts my personality and who I am. Tattoos changed the way I felt about myself. I’ve always loved art and when the idea was planted in my head that I could be a part of that for someone else, I decided tattooing was something I needed to try doing. I connected with the artists who tattooed me, and wanted to create that environment for my clients. We spend a lot of time with our clients. It can be therapeutic without being clinical.
And historically, tattooing (especially in the states) has been very male-dominated and very gate kept. Not very welcoming to LGBTQ+ people and minorities so as a part of both I wanted to change that. I feel very very grateful to be able to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all kinds of people who may not have felt that way before the landscape changed.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The question describes the industry well: it is an ecosystem. There are hundreds of ways you can support artists and creatives, some which involve money, many of them don’t. Sharing artists is free, talking about artists, putting art up, these are all free ways to support artists. All of that may lead to someone paying an artist for their work. As an artist you can put that back into the ecosystem by doing the same, or getting art from other artists. It’s a cycle that is constantly moving in all directions.
A lot of my clothes are from independent artists that I buy from directly. When I get tattooed and clients tell me about places they work, I like to then spend money at their business or commissioning services from them, whatever is useful to me. When people talk about art that I might not do, I try and point them towards other creatives I know who do.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
What’s more to life than love and art? Money and fiscal success come and goes. People come and go. Situations come and go. I truly believe the thing that has the longest lasting affect on all of us, deeply, emotionally, personally is love and art. We might not remember the name of an artist or the era a painting was made but we probably feel connected to it in an ever-lasting way regardless of what state or place in life we are in. I like to think that I can be a part of leaving lasting emotional impressions on people whether it’s just the art itself or the way someone felt about their appointment they had, the conversation we may have had during the tattoo etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blaabad.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: blaabad
- Twitter: bblaabad
