We recently connected with Cory Brown and have shared our conversation below.
Cory, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
School kills creativity. Going from childhood to adulthood, the statement “you can be whoever you want to be” changed within a short few years to “get a job with a steady paycheck and good benefits.” In our most impressionable years, we are taught to believe our security is worth more than our dreams. I can’t even recall how many times I have been in the position of receiving unwarranted advice on what i SHOULD or NEED to be doing with my life. These comments ALMOST stopped me, but I was blessed with ability to think outside the box.
I worked at a fast food restaurant at 14. I hated it. I was a good worker, but got fired immediately after going out of town for a family emergency after my boss told me I couldn’t go. Strike 1: $5.75 an hour isn’t worth having to choose between family and money. Lesson 1: someone owning your time and controlling your income will never be acceptable to me.
With my work ethic, I managed to become the youngest manager at a home improvement company. In conversation, I found that multiple employees that I managed with lower positions had a higher wage. Strike 2: Even as their boss, I made $3 less than employees under me simply because “they were older.” Lesson 2: never let someone else tell you how much you’re worth.
After a long run of applying for jobs elsewhere, I continuously found others being chosen for the position because they had more accredidation. Strike 3: Someone that listed a particular background or a degree would be considered over my resume, even though I had several years of experience in the field. Lesson 3: Book smarts are valued over manual labor and sweat equity.
Changing the status quo and going against social norms is hard, but its also hard to to get a good paying job with good benefits–you have to choose your hard. To be quite honest, even if I did get a higher paying job, I still hated being a forklift driver and laborer regardless of the pay. The “hard” i wanted to chase needed to directly reflect the value perceived in the outcome. You will either work hard to create your dream, or you will work hard to create someone elses. I wanted to be an artist, not a laborer. I didn’t mind the work as much associated with chasing my dream because it was leading me to a career i loved and was passionate about.
I was introduced to the tattoo industry and lifestyle in my teenage years, and I had already been tattooing as a hobby for 5 years. In losing hope in the integrity of the work force coupled by my disapproval social norms, my focus shifted and I spent as much time on my side hustle as I did in my current career. Instead of hanging with the homies after work, I would go to tattoo shops and scrub floors for free. I spent less time watching tv and playing video games, and more time drawing. Instead of buying the latest shoes, I spent my last bit of money traveling to tattoo conventions. Not only did this provide an constructive artistic outlet at a troubled time, but it allowed me to apply my acquired work ethic with a vested interest in myself. It awoke a hustle inside of me that propelled my mindset and life to the next level. It fulfilled me.
I was face to face with troubles and at a place where I knew i needed change, and I can honestly say tattooing saved my life. At age 25, my first daughter was born–the stakes were higher. Most would consider this a time in life to make sure their career and benefits were secure. I knew i wanted to raise my children setting the example that they can do anything their heart desires, with enough time control and financial freedom to actively raise them. A month after my first daughter was born, I quit that job and decided to become a full time tattoo artist. It is never too late to start over.
After working in a flourishing shop for 7 years, I faced my fears and decided to open my own studio. I am extremely proud of what I have accomplished in the past year and a half since opening Classic Grey tattoos; my only regret was paying closer attention to society’s roadmap of success instead of chasing my dream much sooner. Had I gone with my gut at age twenty and pursued my passion instead of pushing it to the side to chase a steady paycheck with benefits for five years, I know I would be much further. Better late than never.
With this said, my mission is quite simple: pushing a narrative that whatever you want to do, just do it! Never push your dreams aside to appease anyone else’s expectations, because even when you live up to their measure of success—you’ll still live an unfulfilled life. When you step into your purpose and spend a life doing exactly what you were meant to, you will work effortlessly in your own business to provide financially and never worry about chasing a paycheck.
Also, never be afraid to start over—no matter where or what point you are in life. With the right mindset, even if all odds are against you, you can always bet on yourself. The hardest part of it all is working up the balls to step out of your comfort zone, do what needs to be done and become the person you need to in order to get where you want to be. But it all boils down to your mindset.
In sharing my story, I aim to inspire, by example, anyone that crosses my path to chase their dreams without using society’s “go to school and get a good job” mentality. My mission is clear and straight to the point: Whatever you choose to do with your life, do it.
Cory, 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?
Meet Cory Brown, tattoo artist and owner of Classic Grey Tattoos in Southern Maryland–an atypical tattoo studio on the rise. There aren’t random spontaneous people walking in and out as they please to select from traditional tattoo flash framed on a wall. Walking in, when your eye catches each piece of unique artwork with low-fi music to set the vibe, you may not realize it is a tattoo parlor at all. The design and concept of the shop was carefully curated to reflect the casual and laid back creative process and experience of an artist at work.
Every artist (medium, niche) — when you see a certain art you know its ______
We specialize in black and grey realistic tattoos, we do no color at all. All of our work is custom, the majority of our clients receive large scale pieces which they give the idea of what they are looking to have done and we come up with how to put it together. Our work stands out since these are large scale pieces done over multiple sessions, typically the artists only tattoos 1 person per day giving us more than enough time to properly plan out and execute with enough details in each piece to set a standard as the client wears it as opposed to banging out as many tattoos a day to get a fatter payday.
I’ve been an artist my whole life. Ive been heavily influenced by graffiti and hiphop culture, even though I have appreciation for all forms of art, these two have always been what I’ve been drawn to because I was always just around it and they literally go hand in hand. Graffiti and art murals helped mold the style of art I would draw. I travelled a lot at a young age, but I remember regardless of where I was at the moment I’d always look for the street art first. My parents grew up in Philly and I remember when we would drive to visit I would love looking out the window going into the city because of all the huge murals on the side of the buildings and under bridges. This particular experience helped me formulate my art style. Hip hop music always engrained its number message in my brain. “Respect and honor thy hustler.” With hiphop being so relatable I’ve always known 1 thing. Ive never heard of no rapper making it big of working a normal paying job. All of these rap “artist” made it big doing what they did best, art. I had a lot more respect for independant artists like Jay-z. Master P, Nipsey Hussle for the simple fact that they took their music, without help from major record labels and were able to become some of the most relevant artists in the game even to this day. Even down to the core, these people are still just “artists” as I am. The ticket is to find my art form and find a way to push it hard enough to sustain my lifestyle.
Tattooing for me came into play I’d say at age 15. Most of my friends were all older and getting tattoos already so naturally they asked me to draw up their tattoos and I’d go out with them and watch them get my work tattooed on them. I used to get frustrated because I’d feel the artist would get through the tattoo fast ultimately not doing the artwork any justice. For a period of time I was just under the impression that you couldn’t get tattoos to look as I would draw them. It wasn’t until I found out about Mr. Cartoon who not only a tattoo artist heavily involved in the hip hop scene at the time, but the tattoos looked a lot like the style of art I was doing. Graffitit style gangster mural type art with crazy shading. This did spark a lot more of my attention, but like most teenagers I was in the rebellious stage still. Art was still a big deal at the time, but spending the majority of my time at that time with the homies was my main concern. This opened my eyes to a great deal of reality that i probably could’ve done without but now i think was necessary for my growth and overall mission. Not to long after high school I found myself face to face to some trouble along with a few hard lessons that lead to my ultimate decision to pursue tattooing as a true option for my life instead of just hanging and possibly going down a road I saw was self destructing.
After spending a day hand cuffed to a state police barracks bench, I decided to go home and draw a whole portfolio full of the style of tattoo work I aspired to do. Once it was complete, I set an alarm to get up early and drive to every known tattoo parlor in the area in hopes to gain an apprenticeship. Spending time in a tattoo shop meant less time spent possibly getting into trouble. Every single shop I went to told me NO. But I didn’t stop there. There was 1 shop in partitcular that i was interested in. Even though he told me no, I knew that if you can put enough money in someones pocket, that eventually they can’t deny you. I knew at the time i was still drawing tattoos for people so from that point on I would only draw a tattoo for someone if they only went to that shop to get it done, and i had to be there. After seeing my face enough every week, the owner finally came to me one night explaining to me that obviously I had a good enough following and he couldn’t continue to turn me down. He wanted me to work in his shop. The only downside is her couldn’t pay me, but in exchange for work he would teach me to tattoo. I was sold. After work everyday I’d go directly to the tattoo shop and do work for free until I learned the tattoo basics. The owner eventually moved and the new owner only wanted himself to be there, so I was forced to leave the shop. This did not stop me. I would tattoo anywhere, anytime. Ive spilled ink all over my mother’s basement. I’ve tattoo on someone’s front porch at midnight, I’ve tattooed in plenty kitchens before. The tattoo indusrty shuns on this type of behavior, but by seeing how far I’ve come I’m proud of it. I didn’t quit. I was lucky enough to be invited into a credible shop Ink Junkeez years later where I was about to pursue tattooing full time and I’m extremely appreciative of the opportunity because the invite came right as I was once again about to give up on it. I am now the owner of my own shop and I could not be happier.
I own the shop Classic Grey Tattoos, ultimately I am going to continue pursue my streetwear brand “Classic Corner” to push my overall mission to show to everyone, regardless of background, can pursue a passion against what society tells you what should be done, and flourish. The streetwear brand itself is going to have the vibe of Classic hiphop to merge my love for tattooing with hiphop’s message of being a hustler. The word “CLASSIC” has always been a huge part of my journey because the word classic itself has everything to do with art. The definition of classic is – a work of art of recognized and established value. Everyone knows a classic record when they hear one, but very few understand the hard work and dedication the artist had to push through in order to get that piece of work out to the masses. Without this hard work and dedication, what everyone now recognizes as a classic would’ve died right there in the basement where it was born. My hustle started in the basement, I’ve put my hardwork and dedication into it and produced a lifestyle I am able to sustain now because of it. Just like i did with tattooing, anybody can do with their passion and ultimately become a Classic themselves. This is now more than just tattooing.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
After deciding to focus on tattooing, I had to build my clientele—which included doing a lot of tattoos outside of the style I ultimately wanted to operate in. After I had built up a solid clientele, I had to start filtering out requests that weren’t in my niche: high contrast black and grey realism. In considering both my financials and the effect on my clients, I was reluctant to turn down appointments.
When I finally started to tell people I did not do the style of artwork they wanted anymore, I was surprised to find it had the opposite effect. It usually led to a conversation on the style of artwork I was to do and they ultimately respected my honesty. Most times, they still chose to work with me and get a black and grey tattoo that helped me become recognized in the realm of tattoos I am known for today. Did I lose a lot of clientele? Absolutely. However, in studying, applying and progressing in a more specific style, I was able to get better–quicker. Not only did it bring in new clientele that wanted this style, and that were willing to pay the price I was worth, but it also allowed me to spend each day doing what I love.
There were several lessons to be learned and unlearned throughout defining my niche. First, spreading myself too thin didn’t allow me to focus on any one style and get better at it. Secondly, learning saying no to anything that did not serve my progression forced me to take one step back, but two steps forward—in the right direction.
In deciding to pursue tattoo artistry as a career, then further defining the art I wanted to do and single handedly curating the space I wanted to do it in—I designed my dream “job.” If I continue to operate with excellence in my passion, people will always gravitate toward its authenticity and expression.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
From the beginning, my focus has been completing clean, solid tattoos. My passion and consistent growth are always at the forefront of my career. With my intentions always being on the level and quality of service, I am able to retain satisfied customers and attract potential ones through word of mouth and marketing. Aside from good business ethics, the length and localization of my career have given me great clout and “street cred.”
I am a humble life-long student of the industry–followers can see this with the visible progression of my work. My love for the art separates me from the surge of “new artists” surfacing as tattoos are becoming increasingly accepted and “trendy.” My focus on growth, not payment, has naturally been instilled in my clients perception and helped build my rapport and loyal clientele.
These things together have helped me build value in my services–I don’t focus on what money a service can bring me, I focus on the service itself and let the money follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: classigreytattoos.com
- Instagram: @classicgrey_tattoos
- Youtube: ESClassic