Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meg Melchert. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Meg thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I dont think any FULL TIME SELF EMPLOYED journey is easy. How did I make it happen? HARD WORK, EVERY SINGLE DAY. I think it is a common thought that going from a full time 9-5 for someone else to working 100% for yourself cant be “that hard”. I have heard the statement “must be nice to do what you want, when you want:” a million times. There is no more false statement.
When someone truly wants to succeed, build a life from their craft it is an all in, all hours, all thought consuming journey. Even when the growth has happened and you have an amazing team working with you, the work doesn’t get easier, it becomes a different type of hard.
There is no fast track to a successful business wether in the startup phase or in the growth phase, there is planning, pushing, praying, failing and trying again, rethinking, reworking, redesigning, tears, cheers and a million steps in between. But you cant rush any step. You have to go through each step with an open mind ready to learn. In each phase of business there are new skills and tools you add to your tool box so you can reference back as needed.

Meg, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Meg, a licensed and insured Permanent Cosmetic Tattoo Artist. I specialize in permanent makeup, correction and removal services. My passion is helping others discover their most confident self! I am always pushing my own creative boundaries by exploring new methods and techniques to bring my “A” game to my clients! What I do daily is more than a cosmetic service for my clients. I get to help build confidence, find a spark a client may have lost along the way, and help to heal physically, and emptionally. I am proudly part of my husbands tattoo studio, Purgatory Tattoos. This is where it all started! After lots of discussion, thought and planning my husband, a very successful tattooist with 38 years experience, agreed to apprentice me. We had to figure out how to live, love and work together. That took some time!
After 22 years in business, I am most proud of the amazing team we have built and the relationships we are blessed to have from the tattoo industry.

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

For me, the most rewarding feeling is at the end of the day is locking our door of our business knowing we busted our asses all day chasing our dream doing something we love. Through tattooing, I get to use my creativity to bring my clients wishes to reality! Seeing client reactions to the complete tattoo makes my heart smile!

How did you build your audience on social media?

While growing a following I think honesty captures people attention. To be honest, I dont have the largest social media following in our area of those who do what I do. I do believe what sets me apart is the raw, unedited, unfiltered, true images I share of my work and of myself. I also present myself verbally on line the way I will speak to a client, friend or family in person. I think being your authentic self online is important so your clients, past, future and present can relate to you. I have also been asked why “dont you do reels and post more” and my response has alwasy been the real life connections are the most important to me. I want to spend my time focusing first on the physical connections and the online connections come second for me. I am a simple girl and I really value the inperson connections and thanks to social medai I have met and connected with some of the most amazing clients. I cant wait for the amazing people I have yet you meet, in person and in the socail media world!

Contact Info:

• Website: inkdandclassi.com
• Instagram: @inkdandclassi
• Facebook: Ink’d & Classi
• Other: @purgatorytattoo1

Image Credits
Headshots By: Heather Guier owner of Cottonwood Photography