We were lucky to catch up with Annette LaRue recently and have shared our conversation below.

Annette, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned in 1989 with an extensive apprenticeship. I worked with a single person, a lady named Cindy. She and I worked together every day with the exception of Mondays, the day her studio is closed. We worked very closely together, and she made sure every day I was doing my homework, and I was learning what I needed to know. I don’t think I could’ve done anything to speed up what I did to learn. It was so much to learn and it takes time. A lot of it just takes experience you have to see what happens over time so you cannot speed up the process in my opinion. I don’t think it would’ve helped me to learn faster. I probably could’ve learned a little bit slower so I could have retained a little more. I Really needed to practice drawing much more than I did. And the biggest obstacle for me was not being a better artist, and being better at drawing. I should’ve gone to Art school for a year or two before I started learning to Tattoo. Instead, I waited about two years after learning to go to art school, and I did go to the Academy of Fine Arts in New Orleans for 2 1/2 years. I regret not going sooner and longer.

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.

I got into the industry kind of by accident. I made friends with a lady who is Tattooer and she needed help over bike week and I volunteered to help sell, organize and clean. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it was very interesting because every single day you dealing with different people. We make tattoos for people every day and we tattoo their great ideas on them. We help people find ways to make their ideas into great art that will last on their skin. We work closely with our customers so they get exactly what they want. I’ve always been very respectful of peoples need to have their tattoo done now. Sometimes people wake up and that’s the day they have to have it. A lot of customers get very disappointed if they go to a shop and you can’t tattoo them that day because you’re busy with other clients. . I have made it important in my business to always be available for walkins for those people that can’t wait. I believe this has made a big difference in the way my business has grown and developed. People know they can come in and get tattooed without a long wait. Now if there’s a customer you have to wait for that customer to be done but that’s all you have to wait for, you don’t have to wait days and weeks or months like a lot of other shops.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2011 I was thinking about retiring. I was living in New Orleans and running a shop with 25 employees. It was not very easy, and I was not enjoying myself. It was infighting and a lot of backstabbing and a lot of chaos. Trying to round up and manage 25 tattooers is not easy. So I decided to make a change, and I bought a tubing and kayak rental place an hour north of New Orleans. I sold my personal home and used the profit as a down payment for that business. Three years into that business I realized I did not know what I was doing. I am a Tattooer. I am trained to be a Tattooer. I am trained to manage Tattooers. I loved living in the country and I loved my tubing and kayak rental place but I was having a hard time managing those people because I didn’t understand how they worked. So I sold that business and I lost a lot of money. I was really upset and I moved to Philadelphia with my boyfriend at the time. And I got antsy up there. There was nowhere for me to work so I have a friend in Virginia and I went to visit and worked at their shop. While I was there they told me that they had a small shop for sale and asked me if I’d be interested in it and I laughed but I ended up buying that shop. I had to instantly pivot from being a kayak and tubing rental place owner back to being a tattoo shop owner. It wasn’t very hard because I was born to manage tattoo shops. It’s what I do best. Now I’m back doing it and I feel great. I don’t ever doubt myself and I don’t ever doubt that I can find and manage good workers. I’m so glad I’m back into tattooing.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For me, the reason I wanted to be creative was to allow myself to have unlimited freedom. Freedom to travel, freedom to wake up late, freedom to not go to work or go late if I desire. I also wanted freedom from a boss. I didn’t want anybody standing over me telling me what to do and making me nervous or sad or mad. It seems like every boss I ever had liked to micromanage and I wanted to get away from that. Most bosses are really not very compassionate or empathetic to their employees. My goal was definitely to not be micromanaged and to not have some boss mocking, taunting or threatening me in anyway. Being creative, I was a little more sensitive and it was very important to me to be free from mean bosses. I made it a mission to be free creatively, and in my personal life. And I’ve also made it a mission to be a kind caring boss that promotes creativity.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @annettelarulez
• Youtube: Annette LaRue

Image Credits

All photos by Stephen Tiberi