We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gemma Astor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gemma below.

Hi Gemma, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My tattoo shop, Gemstone Tattoo, started in a very chaotic and unexpected manner. It was the late winter of 2014. When I began the process of opening the business, if you had asked me a week prior what my plans for the future included; owning my own shop was not on my radar. I had worked for someone else and that work relationship ended abruptly and traumatically for me. Literally one day after my departure from my former studio my husband brought up the idea of renovating a space he knew about in Portland. At the time, it was very raw and unfinished. When we went to look at it I could see the potential, but also felt a huge sense of overwhelm as there was so much physical work to be done. It took us about two months of work on the weekends to get the shop ready, At certain points during the renovations I felt so disillusioned and unsure of how it would all come together. My husband is a very talented and creative builder, and he really made it all possible with the help of a couple of friends. I will never forget the day the electrician put up my lighting and the shop suddenly started to look and feel beautiful and inviting. I had worked for many years running other people’s businesses so the systems and infrastructure of the business felt very familiar and doable. I built my website, social media, and did all of my legal formation work while we worked on the space. I had to email and call all of my old clients to let them know I had moved to my own location. It was a slow and very organic build up to get to where I am today. I can look back and appreciate the frenetic and abrupt way it all came about. It literally felt like the universe picked me up by the scruff of my neck and deposited me where I needed to be.

Gemma, 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 am an artist through and through. To create and make are my motivation and life blood. I began the lengthy process of becoming a tattooist in 2009. It is a humbling, arduous, and lengthy process to apprentice as a tattooer. It requires a lot of discipline and self directed focus to be successful. Being a business owner really caused me to go inward, to keep my nose down, and just keep moving forward. I often say it has made me a bit of a hermit.

I have worked with the public for about 30 years in different forms of customer service. So, the human element of being a tattooer is really natural and enjoyable for me. I love helping clients with design concepts and using my abilities as an artist to bring their visions to life.

In 2019 I finally felt rooted enough as a tattooer to begin focusing on my work as a painter. For a very long time I needed to be fully present and focus only on the tattoo part of my career as an artist. In the last six years I have built a budding second career as a fine artist. This work is very different than my tattoo trade, it is a deeper more intimate layer of my creative self. I have always felt this other element of my artistic identity under the surface and it has been incredible to bring that to the forefront.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have always strived to provide a comfortable and safe environment for my clients. In many ways Gemstone Tattoo is the antithesis of what many people expect of a tattoo studio. I work alone and provide a one on one experience for my clientele. This fosters a great sense of ease and comfort for people who come see me for tattoos. My shop is peaceful, calm, and very welcoming. I do work for clients who are experiencing great loss, grief, joy, triumph, and so much more. I hold space and honor all of the varied reasons people seek out tattoos. I also listen well, and am very communicative with my clientele. I consciously work to be an ethical and honest tattooer. I want everybody to feel informed, empowered, and heard.

I also know that as I have branched out into my painting career that has further helped my reputation as an artist. My tattoo clients love seeing this other element of my creative work and it has definitely brought more people to me and my business.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I began my career in shops that provided walk-ins and were open for very long days each week. When I first opened I still felt that was the only way I could successfully run my own business. As time progressed I started to realize that I didn’t actually need to take walk-ins or be in the studio five or six full days a week. I’m a planner and I don’t like the pressure and spontaneous nature of walk-in appointments. Between realizing this and implementing changes was an awkward and unsure period of time for me. I literally had to unlearn other people’s rules and business practices and that was a huge challenge. But, as time moved on, I started to enjoy and thrive in a system that was designed by me for my own life. I can now look back on the past eleven years of Gemstone Tattoo and am so appreciative of the fact that I listened to what I knew I needed to do for my own life and career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gemstonetattoo.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/gemstone_tattoo Instagram.com/gemma.astor.artist

Image Credits

All images were photographed by me personally.