Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jen Beirola. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jen, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
I have learned that the universe will guide you back if you get off course. I initially chose a safe route when I was transitioning out of the military and back into civilian life. I went from active duty Air Force into a civilian contractor/full time reservist position. That job was really misrepresented and a terrible fit. I felt like I was in a rat race without the freedoms of civilian life and the pay was not great. My new boss wanted to fire me but, I fought tooth and nail to stay. I was in a full on desperation survival mode mindset.
The first year in a Government job is a probationary period. They didn’t really need a reason to fire me. It happened and felt like I had completely destroyed my life.
What I know now is that this turn of events was actually a lucky twist of fate for me. I went to the the tattoo shop that I had apprenticed at and was offered a full-time artist position. Dick Warsocki, my mentor and the shop owner had just moved Grinn & Barrett to a new location. His entire crew of artists pulled a mutiny right after the move. They all quit without notice and opened two different shops that would try to compete in the same local market. This broke Dicks spirit and when I came back around he was trying to sell the business through a brokerage. Luckily for me, no one bought it and I was in the right place at the right time to take over ownership.
Jen, 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 did a formal apprenticeship and have been tattooing for 24 years. My favorite part of tattooing is that I can help people feel better about themselves. I do a lot of fixing, finishing, and covering old work. I am a very versatile artist and specialize in good tattooing in whatever style the customer wants. I am most drawn to the styles of American traditional, Japanese, fine-line, and lettering.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The internet is a game changer. When I started tattooing we did not have a computer to source imagery. We had manila folders labeled by subject, reference books, and flash. As a result, I am still a huge reference book collector and prefer to source imagery from my book collection over Google or Pinterest.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
NFT’s are a little too complicated for me to expend any energy on. I really do not connect with digital art. In my opinion it lacks soul to me. I would much rather produce and collect art that is hand crafted and cannot be reproduced by AI.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.rockyshorestattooco.com
- Instagram: jenbtattoo
- Facebook: Rockyshorestattoo
