We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Giulia Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Giulia, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To me when it comes to being successful or reaching a point of sustained success, you have to eat sleep and breathe what you do. When I’m in the shower, driving, or even just scrolling on my phone I’m thinking of new ideas, designs, or ways to improve. You just have to keep doing. If you stop, so will your success. Consistency is key. If you’re always there, people will remember you even if they don’t love your product or style. I also think Inspiration is everywhere. Taking a balanced amount of time off to keep yourself happy and inspired and willing to keep going has been a big help for me. I think intense hustle culture is sometimes necessary, but is also the death of creativity and 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.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve made art. It started from coloring, to painting model cars, to tattooing on fake skin and took off from there. I’ve always been around tattoos—from my Nana who is covered in them and used to ride a Harley, to my mom who has some iconic early 2000’s style tattoos (cue the brass knuckles and skull cupcakes,) to my cousin who was an established Tattooer and amazing artist, and my Dad who had some machines at home and tattooed himself (very well, I might add.) The early 2000’s had a pretty profound impact on me from the tattoo culture, to the music and beyond. I grew up with early rock n’ roll playing throughout the house like Elvis and KISS, and as I got older that developed into a love for classic punk, horror movies, and extreme metal. All of that tied in with the tattoo culture of the time. I remember going into my cousin’s tattoo shop when I was about 12, and there were red and black walls, gargoyle statues, horror figures, and Godsmack playing on the speakers. To a 12 year old tomboy, that alone sold me on the career. Getting to make money off of your art, work your own hours, and listen to your favorite music all day? That’s the dream. From then on that was always the goal. I got my first tattoo machine around 14 or 15 years old. In the meantime, I was making bootleg band tees with stencils and spray paint since I couldn’t afford the real ones. All of this combined with me going to an art college and getting a degree in printmaking, culminated to what I do now; tattooing, and making horror and band t shirts. What potential clients and customers can expect from me in my tattoo work and side work is honesty, realness, and quality over quantity. Making the best thing I can possibly make to the point of being a perfectionist (sometimes to a fault,) to make sure they’re happy with what they got. I bend over backwards and work long hours that no one sees just to make sure I’m putting out quality work. I made a promise to myself to never be stagnant in what I do, because that’s when the work suffers. I invest everything I have back into my businesses. If it’s not money, it’s time and effort. I always have my hands in multiple DIY projects to make sure that I never stop creating. Something my clients and customers always say to me is that they can tell I care. I’m as much of a fan of horror and music as they are. I’m not cashing in on something that’s popular, or tattooing horror portraits just because I can charge a certain amount…your appointment with me or interaction at my vendor booth will be the BOTH of us geeking out about whatever it is that you’re getting.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My business Heavy and Hell co is still very new, we’re about a year old, so we are still hustling to gain momentum and build customer loyalty. I think something that has helped us this early on, is making sure that when there’s an event or a flea market, we jump on it as fast as we can. One of our earliest ideas was also to stand out as much as possible. We make sure that our table/setup looks distinct enough that people will start to recognize it. A cool moment for us was seeing another vendor wearing our t-shirt that they got online, at the same event as us. She didn’t even know we’d be there. It was pretty awesome to see she recognized us because of our distinct style. As far as tattooing goes, I think what helped build my good reputation besides making quality tattoos, is the connection I make with my clients. More often than not, my clients become my friends. Some have even become my closest friends. Something I hear a lot is that people refer me based on how friendly, understanding, and willing to work with them I am. Not every Tattooer is like that. I make sure I go above and beyond to maintain a long standing relationship with my clients. They know they can trust me to not only make them a good tattoo, but check in with them, and maintain a bond and a trust with them that will last over years.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I actually met my best friend and business partner, Anna Pisani, in art college. We weren’t paired up as roommates, but we were put in the same dorm house. We pretty much became instant best friends when all the girls in the house were having a movie night—Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2. All of them ended up leaving the room within 15 minutes because it was “too scary and gory.” I think one girl said she felt sick. Hahaha. We stayed and watched the entire thing. From there we became like sisters. We found we had the same interests; Halloween, horror, vintage, fashion, rock n’ roll, punk, DIY, riot grrrl, etc. We eventually both majored in Printmaking with a focus on screen printing (or silk screening.) That was almost 10 years ago. We knew for sure one day we’d go into business together. It took a while to start Heavy and Hell co, but now that we’ve finally done it, it’s been a blast.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Giuliadavistattoo, https://heavyandhellco.bigcartel.com/
• Instagram: @giuliadavistattooer, @Blackstonetattooco, @heavyandhellco,