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

Aaron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I made my first tattoo about five years ago now. I’ve been working in tattoo shops since 2011 always doing front counter stuff cleaning scheduling stuff like that. I did that in a few different tattoo shops for about nine years. While I really enjoyed doing that side of it. I reached a point where I knew I wanted the tattoo and I’m forever grateful that my mentors gave me that opportunity. Sometimes I look back and wonder if I could’ve started sooner, but I think the lessons I learned along the way helped me build my people skills.

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?

I started getting tattoos when I was 16, I was instantly hooked. I started buying books and reading as much as I could about it. I got tattooed as much as I could. When I was 21 got my first job in a tattoo shop. It was mostly scheduling cleaning breaking down stations and talking to clients. I didn’t get paid. I just traded for tattoos. That was when I first learned to paint. When that shop changed ownership I was out of a job, but about six months later, a new opportunity came up. They needed help at another shop in town and I started working there part time. It was much busier much more high volume, and I enjoyed just being in it when I got to quit my grocery store job and just work in tattoo shops. It was a dream come true about a year into that a few of the guys were gonna open their own tattoo shop and asked me to come along and manage it. I was nervous but excited I knew it would be a decrease in pay, but it meant I could be more hands-on with clients and really good to know the ins and outs. Dedication tattoo opened in 2013 and it’s really cool to be there from the start. After managing the shop for seven years, I put together a portfolio of my art and wrote a speech asking them to teach me to tattoo. I’m forever grateful that they said yes that’s when my tattoo journey really began. I spent about a year just painting and drawing then, I got to do my first tattoo on my wife. I spent a year after that just tattooing friends and family people who knew I was still learning. I remember the rush I felt the first time I got to tattoo a stranger. It felt like all the hard work that paid off, and I was finally getting to do what I always wanted to do. After that, I spent another year doing walk-ins on people who understood that I was newer. When I graduated my apprenticeship, it was 2023. Just before Thanksgiving the shop through a big dinner and it felt like a real celebration of my accomplishments. I was uncertain if I was going to have a job in the shop that I love so much after completing my apprenticeship so when Brian Thurow and Sam Yamini told me I had a spot I was ecstatic. I’ve been tattooing walk-ins and appointments ever since. Being surrounded by people who are always pushing themselves has helped me push myself. This march markes 13 years of dedication tattoo, and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My favorite part about tattooing is getting to connect with people and bring their ideas to life. I always enjoy doing designs that help people remember lost loved ones or pets. I think it’s not only important to look back on it and remember that person or pet but remember how the experience was. It’s something that I’ll do for a very short period of time in comparison to the time they will have it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think being creative for me means always learning. There’s always something new or an aspect that you can improve. Being surrounded by motivated people and watching them push themselves fuels me to keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dedicationtattoo.com/aaron-ulfstam/
• Instagram: @mr.spidertattoo