We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jillian Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jillian below.
Jillian, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
When you first come up with an idea to open your business it is such an exciting time. When you really have no previous experience it’s easy to be so excited you over look a lot of things you don’t even know would have existed. We opened in 2019 and as we began construction I remember being overwhelmed thinking, “Am I going to be able to do this?” But I kept pushing through, we finished basic construction just enough to pass inspections and get up and running. Once we passed inspections it was time to find employees. It seems there are a lot of people claiming to be “artists” but when looking for employees you must be very picky. Employees will make or break your business. On top of finding good employees you need to find the right building or landlord to lease from. I ended up finding a landlord who owns many huge dispensaries and lives in a 2 million dollar home but they could care less about us as tenants. First problem we ran into was having no AC system but the landlord expected us to replace the 30 year old swamp cooler with our own money. And tattooing in 100 degree weather is grounds for having to close for the day. I fought over and over with my landlords because of the swamp cooler. I eventually with the help of my handy friends was able to make due with the old unit just enough to run our business. The landlords of our building also illegally separated the building into 4 units, so when it came time they needed to evict a separate tenant the Denver Sheriff showed up trying to evict all of the tenants. Once that issue was resolved and they legally evicted the tenant behind us, they left the unit completely wide open for 5 days! During those 5 days our shop experienced a traumatic loss of our artist Cat Coleman. You can check out her documentary on Netflix called “Aubrey & Daisy”. The landlords took all of the furniture out of the evicted unit and left it right in front of our door for us to move 2 days after losing our friend to suicide. In the time of losing one of our friends and employees, the door knob was never replaced so we got robbed by someone breaking through the wall of the evicted unit into ours. I was so done with everything. I questioned everyday if this was meant for me and if it was worth it. But I kept pushing and I managed to get artists to fill the void until I could figure out the future of Phoenix Tattoo Company. Mind you all of this was happening in 2020 days which was a hard year for everyone. As we neared the end of 2020 I had to fire everyone who worked for me because none of them had the shops well-being in their minds or their hearts. I started becoming more stingy with who I let come onto my team. I hired James and Nikolay who helped carry the shop through our roughest times. I finally decided I was done with slum lords who were millionaires and I began looking for a new home for us. December 2020 led me to find a building on South Broadway. I met with the owner of the building and he was amazing and was open to all of my visions. We signed a lease and I started putting my entire shop savings into renovating the new shop. One by one I started getting contacted by artists who were interested in working for me. First I hired Alex then Heather then Kita then Keith then Katie and finally Antonio. We opened our new location March 2021 and it was worth all of the heart ache and tears I experienced. So if you gather anything from my story just don’t give up. If you love it and want it enough, you will get it. Keep persistence and never give up on your dreams no matter how terrifying it seems.
Jillian, 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’ve definitely taken some criticism over the years because well haters are always gonna hate. But I began in the tattoo industry about 8 years ago but I was just booking for artists who would come do guest spots in Denver. I do not tattoo but I am an artist and I admire the industry. I vision having a shop where everyone feels comfortable not the normal shop environment of judgemental shops that only care about who you know. I want to help good people grow in their art and their careers. I want to be a safe place. I am so grateful for the crew I have and they run the shop so easily. I have been in the Auto Industry in Denver for 14 years so I spend a lot of my time as a Finance Manager at Autonation Subaru West in Golden Colorado. My passions have always been to help people whether it’s helping bring a great shop to my fabulous artists or amazing art to our clients skin or helping people get into new vehicles. I feel like we have been getting bigger and bigger every year and my referrals to the dealership have grown tremendously as well. I look at the growth we have all experienced and I’m just so proud of my team and that I’ve never given up. Not only have I had the support of my dealership co-workers, my artists, my clients, but my family has always stood by me and no matter the late nights or early mornings, they loved me and supported me through all of the tears.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
A lot of people don’t follow their dreams because of the funding sometimes feels impossible. I saved a lot of my own money from my finance manager position but there are also tons of grants and business loans out there for resources. There is a small business resource here locally called CEDS who make it possible to gain capital for a business venture. Not only does CEDS have direct resources they also can point you in the direction to other resources available and classes to teach business and marketing.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn feeling like I needed a business partner. I started this journey with a business partner who just completely abandoned our mission. And it was scary at first to realize it was all on me now. But as time went on I realized what should be looked for in a business partner if you absolutely have to have one. Always make sure your partner has aspects which they can attribute that you may not be as strong in. Make sure they are openly communicating and will not get lazy once they have achieved a goal. In the end I’d always suggest not going into business with anyone. I’ve been so happy for the last 2 years being in business by myself. People change and even if you’ve know them 20 years like I did my business partner, they are still capable of letting you down.
Contact Info:
- Website: Phoenixtattooco.com
- Instagram: Phoenixtattoocompany
- Facebook: Phoenix Tattoo Company