We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tobias Redson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tobias below.
Tobias , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Nowadays the market is pretty saturated, you can throw a rock in any direction and it seems like you’d hit a tattoo studio. “Slow” season makes every tattoo artist quake and there’s always that fear “Will people forget about me? Am I as good as the many other tattoo artists out there? Am I any good at all?” It’s times like this I consider getting a steady 9-5 job and going through the daily grind all over again. Almost immediately when I feel like I’ve been defeated- appointments come flooding in. I then run into the issue of being really tired and feeling overwhelmed but I feel SO satisfied after a long day of tattooing. Being a business owner is HARD! It’s constant work even when I’m at home. From design work, to social media management, keeping on top of supplies and sanitation standards, advertising, to wrangling my co artist, Les, for events and networking opportunities- the work NEVER ends! This career has been so incredibly rewarding though. I started out as a starving freelance artist, did that for over 15 years, had so many odd jobs and regular jobs, and I just don’t think I could go back to a mundane life. And yeah, I still take the occasional gig to supplement income in the slow season. I recently got a job as a painting instructor and I still do some freelance commissions here and there. It’s not defeat to do what you can to stay on your feet. I am so thankful for what I have and how far I’ve come, I’ve made so many beautiful connections through my business that I wouldn’t trade for anything. My career is constantly evolving as well. I’m constantly looking for new things to get into in the body art field. Your only limitation is your imagination!
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.
My name is Tobias Gemini Redson and I’m a licensed tattoo artist, freelance artist and owner of Gemini Mourning Tattoo Studio in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve been tattooing for around four years and I freelanced for over fifteen years. I apprenticed alongside my dear friend and co-artist, Les Wabaunsee in a terribly chaotic class of like twelve other aspiring tattoo artists. In the studio we currently offer tattoo services and tooth gem/tooth whitening services! Les and I also started traveling to tattoo and sell our artwork at conventions and festivals. The biggest hurtle for any business starting up is getting clientele! During my apprenticeship I managed the social media for the studio I was contracted under as part of my tuition. It taught me a lot about the importance of an online presence but after that, word of mouth is incredibly powerful! I’ve pushed to host a flash sale every month for about two years now. Doing small tattoos for cheap just to get people in the door and meet us face to face has been tremendous for networking. We really want people to get to know us, we’re a woman owned and operated studio and we really strive to make our studio a place clients feel safe and respected. We encourage our clients to ask us questions, we love to educate about tattoos in a clear and kind manner. From silly banter, snacks, sensory toys, and upbeat music, we strive to make our space comfortable.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met my co artist, Les Wabaunsee during our apprenticeship. I’ll be honest, at first I did NOT like Les. Les was and always has been very chatty and friendly and I was just so focused on just getting through my apprenticeship. It took several months for me to warm up to Les and not see them as an annoying distraction. That’s a me problem- Les is wonderful and I’m just so thankful to have her in my life. When the studio we apprenticed through went out of business, Les and I went our separate ways to different tattoo shops. On a whim I just decided I should check in with her and I’m SO GLAD I did. Les told me they weren’t happy at their current shop so I got them a job at the one I was currently at. Eventually I got offered my own studio space in a collective of eclectic artists and I left the studio where Les was. After a month I just REALLY missed Les and asked them to move into my studio. We’ve been together for over two years independently now and I couldn’t be happier!
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
I think the best answer I can give is to actually care. I find myself actually caring about how my clients are doing. They’ll be surprised at how I remember conversations we had previously. I’ll remember what kind of job they had, I’ll congratulate them on their engagement, I’ll get them a present for their birthday, many of my clients become my friends! I have a client that recently broke his arm and he called me up to tell me one of the tattoos I put on him got punctured. I didn’t care about that- I was just so glad he was okay! I had just had him over for a Halloween party at my home and I was so scared! I was ready to go see him in the hospital! Keeping your humanity is important, it builds strong bonds and it enriches your work life balance. It takes so much trust to allow someone to permanently mark up your body, the least we can do is actually make an effort to care.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Geminimourning.com
- Instagram: GeminiMourning
- Facebook: GeminiMourning
Image Credits
Spencer Sumlin & Miranda Anthony