We were lucky to catch up with Brenton Weaver recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brenton, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

– Tattoos for a Cause (and collaborating with other artists) –

Back in December our shop, Brass Cat Tattoo, collaborated with another local tattoo artist and owner of Matchbox Tattoo – Trish Donnelly, to raise money for Wild Heart Wildlife Rescue. We were so excited because Wild Heart is such a great non-profit; they rescue and rehabilitate all kinds of local wildlife and do not take a salary which inspired us to donate all of the funds from the event to the cause. We offered flash tattoos designed by Brenton, Trish, and another local artist Jordan Taylor. Brenton and Trish donated their time and supplies so that 100% of the money raised that day went directly to Wild Heart.

However, we were a little nervous leading up to the event; there was no way to know if anyone would show up. My partner Angel had made a website with a QR code sign-in for the event, but it was walk-in only, so it was really a toss up as to whether or not the event would be a success. Day of, we arrived two hours before the event to find a line outside our shop. All in all more than 55 people showed up to support Wild Heart!

In the end we raised over $2300 and inked 30 people, with some clients getting multiple tattoos. People came all the way from the UP, Tawas, Grand Rapids, and Detroit. It was shocking. At the end of the day we were exhausted, but the event was a win! Jess Sommers (who operates Wild Heart Wildlife Rescue and helped with the event) said it was the BEST event they’ve ever had. We couldn’t be more grateful to our community for showing up and supporting such a great cause.

It was such a great success and we’re looking forward to doing more collaboration with other local artists to support more of the causes we hold dear.

Brenton, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design with a bachelors in Fine Arts / Painting degree during the great recession. My career prospects were bleak – even by art-student standards. I fell in love with tats partly because I needed outlet for my skillset. Most of my art prior had a dark, decaying vibe – think anatomy meets mechanical. Tattooing was a great medium for my art style and offered nearly limitless opportunities for growth and creativity.

A little over a decade ago I was able to land an old-school tattoo apprenticeship that I worked full-time alongside my soul-sucking corporate day job. The process of learning to tattoo was grueling and required so much discipline that I had no free time for several years and gained a lifetime worth of ulcers. Eventually I was able to quit my day job to be a full-time tattoo artist and I was so grateful to have found my calling – though it would take a few more years to find my tattoo “home”. I had a dream of opening my own shop (and nearly did a few years in) but the stars just did not align until 2024.

My partner has nearly 2 decades of business-ownership experience and we just knew it was time to take the leap to start something of our own for our little family. We wanted to create an environment that fosters creativity and collaboration while also being a family-friendly, community-oriented hub for tattoo art in our corner of Midland.

We were fortunate to find the perfect spot for our little tattoo shop on Ashman Circle. It was not an easy start but it has been so rewarding to design a space that feels like a welcoming, peaceful, and inspirational place to create my art and share it with the community. Some shops can feel a bit unwelcoming and we want clients to walk in and feel completely at ease, welcome, and inspired. And now I feel free to focus on the art that feeds my soul while continuing to focus on the fundamentals of great tattoo design.

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

I’m going to let Angel tell this story :)

Brenton and I met serendipitously back in 2016 at the Detroit Moped Rally. We both collected mopeds and had our own little moped flipping businesses. It was a very niche hobby – and 2016 was probably the peak of it. Social media connected moped nerds all over the country (and the world) including Brenton and I. I lived in Florida at that time but I’m from Michigan and spent that summer traveling up north and attending as many moped rallies as I could – the first of which was the Detroit Rally. It was not a love connection at first (Brenton actually was the first to break down at that rally so we didn’t even get to ride together) but we definitely had shared interests and stayed connected because of how small the moped community is.

Fast forward to right after the pandemic. I was still coming up to Michigan in the summers but had to return to Florida for work every fall. I owned a salon I started when I was 18 and, because of the business, had been trapped in Florida though I always knew my heart belonged back in Michigan. Right after returning to Florida Brenton reached out and asked if I still rode mopeds and I told him I did and was hoping to go home next summer and that we could meet up for a moped ride. What started as a nebulous, nostalgic plan for a summer moped ride soon grew into a friendship and much more, eventually bringing me back home to Michigan for good.

We have so much in common and really just understood each other in a way that felt completely natural. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to have a family business and, although I didn’t tell Brenton right away, I had a vision of us opening a tattoo shop together. I’ve always been very independent but dreamed of finding the right business partner and sometimes you “just know”. This was it for me – though it definitely took years to convince Brenton to take the leap as far as starting a business was concerned. As predicted, it was the best move we could’ve made for Brenton’s career and for our family. I can’t even put into words how fulfilling it is running a business with Brenton. Running a business is never easy but it’s amazing what you can accomplish with a great teammate. And, as usual, I was right ;)

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

We had money set aside for our wedding and we decided to use it to open the shop instead. We also went into debt. UGH! We didn’t turn a profit the first year but we did break even AND managed to pay off the debt to boot. It was a scary time but we made it through, thanks to the support of our community.

Owning a business is not for the faint of heart. Lori Greiner from Shark Tank once said “”Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” and she was right! Now we’re so busy with work we don’t have time for a wedding anyway so – win-win! << sarcasm >>
Although there are definitely hard times while running a business we are so grateful every single day that we took this leap of faith, and that our community was there to catch us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brasscattattoo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brasscattattoo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tattoomidlandmi/
• Other: https://brasscattattoo.as.me/

Image Credits
Brenton’s Headshot and photo of lobby: Younge Photography LLC
All other photos were taken by us and used with written client permission.