We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Annie Burkhard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Annie, thanks for joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?
Opening a shop was one of the most exciting and most difficult things I had to do. The general tattoo shop model at the time was shifting from artists paying a percentage to paying booth rent, but I had a bunch of newer tattooers working for me who were not able to start off at our shop paying booth rent. I put these new employees on a 70/30 split to start (they pay the shop 30 % of what they make) with some supplies included, which is higher than any other shop starting out, and 2 of the new artists in my shop pretty quickly started stealing from me.
After this happened, I had to fire people for the first time in my life. The stress of running the business overpowered my joy of creating tattoos for people, I had gotten rid of the people in the shop who were being shady, stealing, starting drama, and I switched the shop to a collective- something that I did not see any other shop in Indy doing.
As a collective, I do not make any money off any of the artists in the shop. I have the peace of mind of knowing that no one can feel taken advantage of. I am still an owner and do more work on the back end, like keeping up on and fronting supplies until the end of the mont- I add up all the supplies we’ve spent along with the upcoming rent, and split the bills evenly between all of us, including myself.
Running a tattoo shop is incredibly difficult and sometimes feels counter intuitive to the creative process. I try to make it the easiest most comfortable place for my employees, but no one is out here teaching tattoo artists how to run tattoo shops. I have just worked at enough shops that I know what not to do, but with no HR and no guidance, it is difficult knowing what all of these different artists need in an industry that is vast and constantly changing.
Annie, 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 have been an artist for as long as I’ve been able to hold a pencil. My mom was an artist as well, an incredible illustrator and oil painter in her later years. My parents always encouraged me to become an artist. By the time I turned 18 and had gotten my first tattoo, I knew tattooing was something I wanted to pursue. Friends bought me a machine from a smoke shop, and I realized very quickly that I had no idea how to tattoo, and that I would need an apprenticeship in order to properly learn.
It wasn’t until I was in college that I had finally found a place that was offering an apprenticeship. I dropped out of college my junior year to pursue tattooing, and I have never regretted it. Fast forward to now, it has been 13 years since this apprenticeship happened, 10 years of professional tattooing, and I’ve co owned Mythical Wizard Tattoo with my partner Devan for a little over 5 years now.
The most meaningful part of my job is creating pieces of art that people will wear for their lifetime. I have a page of predrawn tattoo designs that I’ve created for people to get tattooed. When one of my designs speaks to someone, it’s special to me because they are wearing my original art forever. I put a lot of love and care into my designs, and I want my client to feel confident in their skin wearing that tattoo.
Something incredibly rewarding is reworking or covering up bad tattoos that clients have gotten in the past. Some poeple will have a tattoo from their past that they are so ashamed of, they will keep it covered so that people don’t see it. I love fixing that tattoo so that the client can feel comfortable in their own skin, and comfortable to wear whatever they want without fear of people pointing out something they wish they didn’t have. When people feel confident in themselves after getting a tattoo, I feel I’ve done something positive in the world.
A big part of the Mythical Wizard Tattoo brand is being body positive and queer friendly. I myself am a part of the lgbqtai+ community, and it’s my goal for everyone to feel safe getting tattooed in my shop. We will not tolerate bigotry of any kind at Mythical Wizard.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best thing society can do for artists and creatives is continue to support their work and offering them the space to do so. Keep it local, and don’t turn art into a corporate monopoly. Offer art shows, buy art, get tattooed, create something for yourself- visit local popups and street fairs. Buy your birthday and christmas gifts locally.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I had what would be considered an old school apprenticeship. I paid 5k to an old shop owner to teach me to tattoo. He was out of the country every other month because he split his time in Belize. The environment at the shop was not comfortable to be in, but if I wasn’t there when he was gone, I would get in trouble. If I was there and watched someone else tattoo, I would get in trouble. In 6 months I did 3 tattoos and everyone in the shop was more concerned with doing drugs than teaching me to tattoo, and subsequently, my apprenticeship ended 6 months in. I did house tattoos on friends in order to build up enough of a portfolio to get a job in a shop, and that’s exactly what happened, and I have been a professional tattooer ever since. This is a hard industry to break into but as long as you are resilient and love to draw and enjoy the hustle, you’ll enjoy the journey every step of the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mythicalwizardtattoo.com
- Instagram: @boobyhill_
