We recently connected with Brittney-jo Bassham and have shared our conversation below.
Brittney-Jo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear a story from back when you were an intern or apprentice. What’s a memorable story you can share with us?
I began my tattoo apprenticeship around 9 yrs old and was taught how to use the machine, how to learn the weight of the machine and overall feel of the equipment. I progressed and used a regular pencil through the base of the machine to do my homework and learn the weight to build my hand. By the time I was 17 in 2014, I got my license as a professional artist and began my journey! I only got paid $10/a day for my apprenticeship which sucked. But I learned along the way the rights and wrongs of running a shop and being an artist.
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.
Hi! My name is Brittney-Jo Bassham. I’m 27 years young, and a resident of Tuscumbia, Alabama. I own The Beehive Tattoo Collective and Honeydew Yoga located in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I was introduced to tattooing by my father. I remember coming down the stairs when I was 5yrs old, and I heard an awful noise coming from the living room. I peered around the corner, and saw my father tattooing his arm.. I thought it was weird but cool at the same time. It wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized my dad was putting art on people forever. That’s an impression that stuck with me for a long time. When I as around 8, we moved to Decatur, and my father opened a tattoo shop in Huntsville, Al. The shop was so sweet, it even had an interesting name, Twisted Needle Ink. I asked for my own set of machines for Christmas the next year, and boy did he deliver! He bought both my siblings, and my mom a set as well, hoping one of us would join the industry, and tattoo with him. I ended up being the only one interested. I was so persistent on learning how to use my new Christmas presents that he told me I needed to build my hands and wrists up to be able to use them because they’re very heavy, especially when they’re fully set up. I began practicing by putting a pencil where the tube and needle are usually set up. I would do my homework and then make a few drawings here and there to see how clean of a line I can pull with how heavy of a weight I had in my hand. After a few years of working on my wrist, and hand strength, I finally got a power supply, and started practicing on grapefruits. First I started drawing simple shapes then lettering, and nautical stars. I also would always try to pull straight lines to see how focused I could be to make them as clean as possible. Somewhere around 2011, we moved back to my hometown in Muscle shoals, where my father opened another studio called Fishpig Ink. I had been apprenticing for quite sometime already, so I was ready to move on to the more physical aspect of being in the studio. You know, learning the trade. Part of my apprenticeship was to work on reception, cleaning the studio, cleaning all of the equipment, managing the inventory and making sure my mentors had a set-up. All that to say I was payed $10 a day for my efforts. Progressing through the apprenticeship, I worked hard to gain the respects of my mentor to finally be able to start my blood-borne pathogens training and then go to the health department to apply for my professional license in July 2014. By that time, I was 17 years young, and a senior in high school, going to Muscle Shoals High. I got lucky and only went for one semester! Though I did tattoo through my final semester of school, I graduated on December 19, 2014 and started my professional career as a tattoo artist in January 2015. In the summer of 2015, I met the love of my life at the tattoo shop. Dennis was coming through for a tattoo apprenticeship however, I could not think of the reason why he did not get a job there. Fast-forward to a few months later, I ended up meeting him somewhere else and we started dating. By September 2016, we were married and he was a big help and support to my craft. I went onto work with my father until 2021. My father and I ended up having a conflict of interest and we split ways. I opened the Beehive Tattoo Collective in December 2021 with my husband as my first apprentice soon to graduate as my manager, and my coworker Moriah Weatherford as my second apprentice. My buddy Zach Humphrey was added to the team early 2022 in January. We bounced back-and-forth between having a team of four and a team of seven and we ended up a team of four by the end of 2023. I’m very proud to say that I taught my team a great skill and I’m thankful that they learned how to grow as a community and a family. As for my skills to offer from my shop, I would like to call my style illustrative fine-line. I offer a few different varieties of styles, but preferred to do florals , geometric designs, and anything fine-line. My husband dabbles a little bit in florals but prefers anime and any geometric designs. Mariah takes on pop culture and neotraditional designs while Zach tackles packing designs or fine line as well! So basically if you’re looking for any fine-line designs, my team definitely has you covered! We definitely love to include any walks of life that has passed through our doors. Anyone is welcome and we’re grateful for any new comers. I’d like to think what sets my shop apart from the the other local shops is that we are kind and inclusive. We really enjoy doing custom designs to fit whatever the client is interesting and putting on their body. My shop offers a humble space that’s enlightening. We also are a themed shop, our name gives it away. We are the Beehive Tattoo Collective with a whole bunch of bees throughout the entire shop. Our color scheme is obviously black and yellow with yellow being a stronghold in the furniture colors. What I am most proud of coming from my business, is that I am a woman owned business and I encourage any woman to reach out and start their dream. In an industry that is definitely a male dominated place, I wanted to show that women can still have their touch in this industry, but still give kindness and work with the public. We understand marking the body is a very permanent concept, therefore we strive to give you exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for an eclectic shop, I definitely recommend checking out! We have a virtual walk-through on Google for anyone that’s out of state that would love to see the environment. Aside from tattooing, I’m striving to be a yoga teacher, and I’m currently in training. I’m expecting to be done with my training by April and teaching at my own studio, Honeydew Yoga, alongside my good friend and instructor Ella Carrow. I will be offering power yoga. We offer suspension yoga, traditional yoga, and meditation session. My studio is directly connected to the Beehive and we do encourage clients to take a look and check it out. Please feel free to download our app ‘Honeydewyoga’ in Android or Apple Store. If you’re interested in suspension yoga, we have a beautiful website (honeydewyoga.com) with beautiful descriptions about what we have to offer at the studio. I hope you had a good read and I appreciate your support!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think what helped me to build my reputation in my industry, is being from my small town, going to school with the people that I get to see from time to time in the area. Word-of-mouth goes a really long way and I’m grateful to be able to have tattooed in my last year of high school, to gain the confidence of my peers, and to spread the word. I’ve been tattooing in this area for about 10 years now and I’m very grateful to have known all the people that have moved to this area to spread the word. Even the clients that have moved out of state continue to share word of mouth of where they got their tattoos. I think communication is one of the best skills to have to build reputation in any kind of job or trade.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
My shop does have an ATM inside the lobby, we We do have merchandise sales and my team members get to make extra commission by selling their own artwork.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.beehivetc.co/
- Instagram: Beeejo_tattoos
Image Credits
Abby Cagle, Felicia Roberts, Hannah Herbster