We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittany Elliott a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brittany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I have been able to earn a full-time living from my career tattooing and making furniture, but it has not always been easy. There were months that I wasn’t making it and months that I was on top of the world. When you’re a creative, the hustle never stops. I have always been a hard worker and had so many goals for my life that I just always did whatever it took to make ends meet so I didn’t have to get a “regular job.” I found out early on that a “regular job” would never suit me. I was on Best Ink Season 2 in 2013, which had a huge international audience, so it was awesome to be able to connect with so many new clients from all over the world because of the exposure I got from the show. It was hard for me to speed up the process of earning a full-time living being a creative, but I did it through hard work and perseverance of perfecting my craft day by day.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into tattooing as early as I could. I asked for my first tattoo apprenticeship at 16 years and was denied because I was both “too young” and “a girl.” haha! I didn’t take it personally, I just used that as fuel to drive me to create an amazing portfolio of art so that someone would eventually take me seriously. I finally got an apprenticeship at age19 and worked 2 jobs in addition to apprenticing for over a year. I did whatever it took to prove myself because I was so in love with tattooing. My mom ran away in 1979 to be tattooed by Lyle Tuttle in San francisco- Hitchhiking from San Antonio to San Francisco at age 15! She and my Dad were both true outlaws and after meeting Lyle Tuttle at my first Tattoo Convention at age 14, I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.
In addition to tattooing for the last 19 years, I also restore vintage mid century furniture into custom, one of a kind, rock n roll creations. I call them “Heavy metal tables.” This started as a hobby to transform my house into a rock n’ roll cave and I couldn’t keep up with how many people were asking about my furniture, so now I split my time between tattooing and making Heavy Metal Tables.
Although my love for tattooing is endless, my hunger for wanting to achieve something that set me apart from the rest of the crowd is ultimately what fueled me in creating something so unique to offer, because tattooing became pretty mainstream. The entire reason I wanted to learn how to tattoo was because it was outlaw.. it was taboo… I thought it was a pirates life and it truly was.
I am most proud of the fact that I have accomplished everything 100% on my own. I had an amazing Dad who always provided for me, but we were working class and hardly had anything left over after bills. My mom struggled with drug addiction after my grandfather committed suicide. It was tough navigating life as a young girl without a mother, but this just made me want to break the cycle. I wanted so badly to prove that I could overcome all of these challenges through my hard work and dedication to what I loved doing – creating.
I just keep it 100% authentic all of the time and I think that is what has set me apart from a lot of other people in my industry.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to truly make others happy through my work. Whether it is doing a brand new tattoo on someone, fixing a horrible old tattoo they have, or making a killer piece of furniture for someone – I get the most joy out of bringing other people happiness and seeing the smile on their face once the piece is complete. THAT is what fills my cup after all of the hard work that goes into what I do.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have had to pivot multiple times in life due to many circumstances outside of my control. I try to have the mindset of, ‘everything happens for a reason,” but this has been extremely challenging at times to rebuild after seemingly losing everything. in 2014, I opened my dream heavy metal shop/ tattoo shop with my partner at the time. I had dreamt of creating this all inclusive place for everything I love – music, art and tattoos! Unfortunately, my partner became very abusive and I had no choice but to just leave. I left 5 years of busting ass behind for my own well being and safety. At the time, this was the hardest thing I ever did because this shop was perfect, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that it was perfect because it was MY vision. Me leaving was like ripping the heartbeat out of the place…so I moved to San Antonio and rebuilt, where I’ve had a private studio for the last five years.
A year ago, I was approached by a friend to pivot into a role as a community growth manager for the Tattoo supply company, Painful Pleasures. I immediately replied, “Yeah dude no way, I’m a tattooer.” I heard him out and wound up accepting the job. What many people don’t realize about creatives is that if we don’t work, we make nothing. No paychecks here, no retirement, no benefits, no medical insurance… nope. You are on your own in this world. I have been in this new role supporting tattoo artists for the last year, and it has honestly been amazing. I have been working with them on product development and many other aspects of the behind the scenes of tattooing. I now have health insurance and can have peace of mind a little with that, especially after tattooing my entire life and never being able to go to the doctor.
I now juggle this role full-time as well as tattooing and making furniture. I work pretty much 7 days a week, but I am grateful I get to do what I love in this crazy life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BZTATTOO.COM
- Instagram: @bzelliott @heavymetaltables
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bzelliott/
- Twitter: @bzelliott
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thehauntedchapel157
