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

Ninfa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I am currently a part time tattoo artist / commissioned painter. I run a small business as a single mom.
I started around 7 years when my daughter was born. As a child raised by a single mom I knew I wanted a career that allowed me to be 100% present. The first 2 years I was struggling, I didn’t have loyal clientele. I had new clientele but no actual relationships were being made and so they came and went. Throughout the years I’ve realized I’m not for everyone and that’s okay. There’s a artist for everyone.
I’ve branched out far enough with time and now I have whole families as clients. You really have to do your best everytime because one client can quickly turn into 10.
I’m blessed to be here now making a full living and with relationships that turned into friendships.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business provides tattoo services and commissioned oil paintings. I have a certain dark niche, I excell in horror, dark fantasy and portraits. Realism black and gray.
We have a lot of talented artists hustling here but the relationships you make are going to set you apart. The ambiance and the safe space. Everyone needs someone to talk to and vent to. I realized how important that was through my career. If you’re a client it’s a sacred space, you have to respect their privacy outside of your sessions.
I try to keep my rates reasonable for the simple fact that I prefer middle class affordable services. Everyone deserves good art.
You need a certain level of maturity to be your own motivator and your own boss. It’s really easy to get too comfortable, I have to be my own critic as well as my own cheerleader. It’s all about balance.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Anyone starting a business has resilience inside of them to keep pushing everyday. It was a lot easier showing up to a regular job, having a boss tell you exactly what to do and knowing your paycheck came every other week.
In the begining I was fresh out a abusive relationship, this person made sure I was left with zero self esteem. I had nothing in my name, I was living in and out of motels with my kid. I kept busy by entering art shows around hoping to make extra cash selling my paintings. When I actually sold them and made commissions from them I realized nobody could take that away from me. Not a single person was big enough to tarnish my talent. It gave me a new perspective. You’re going to get hate, jealousy and even intimidate the wrong people. It’s going to happen when you have something others admire. Art allowed me to pick myself up and talk myself out of quitting everyday for like 2/3 years.
I think my stubbornness and resilience allowed me to promote myself and believe in what I offer. I don’t even recognize who I was when I first started, art has given me everything.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a artist is the non-conventional lifestyle and the respect. I have a total different idea of what daily life should look like and it’s not slaving for a large corporation. It’s not a 9-5 job, or missing out on important milestones in my kids life. My kid shows me off all the time and it’s a constant reminder that she’s proud and thinks I have a interesting job. My inner kid is proud of me. It’s also pretty cool when I meet new people and I tell them what I do or when I hear how many compliments someone gets from my art. I love making people feel better about the way they look. I’m actually really introverted and humble but I appreciate the respect I get for my art.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Sd_bodyink_pacheco