We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kateřina G. Tomaselli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kateřina below.
Kateřina, appreciate you joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
I’ve always had a talent for painting. But I didn’t develop it in childhood. Instead, I went to college, I had various part-time jobs, and eventually ended up working in an international corporation.
The big break came during my maternity leave. For my birthday, my partner arranged a one-day session with a tattoo artist. At the end of the session, I made her first tattoo on a real person. Sure, It was just a begining of the whole story and the learning process.
I dedicated all my free time while her children were asleep or with a sitter to learning and practicing. I certainly wouldn’t start without maternity leave. Many women changed careers during early motherhood. There is more room for thinking about your next steps.
I have practiced first on family, friends, and soon friends of friends.
The next big milestone came when I stopped tattooing at home and set up my first studio. It was a big decision. But it wasn’t a hard decision because they didn’t want to hire me anywhere since I had so little experience. Now when I’m doing great, studios want to have me, but now I don’t want them.
I’m proud I managed everything myself, without outside help. Of course, it was also given by the low initial budget that I couldn’t hire a professional to help me with some stuff. But I’ve found that I can do many things on my own; all I need is time.
Then the pandemic came. I had to close down for the time being and I was thinking what to do next. And since I was dreaming about working closer to home and having a bigger space where I could organize events, I used the lockdown to look for a new tattoo home. Last summer, I have opened a new studio in Karlín.
In November last year, I have appeared in the Forbes 2021 special focusing on successful women in business. I think they chose me because of my perseverance and determination. But it came as a bit of a surprise when they contacted me. Apparently, they’ve been looking for interesting stories, and they followed my work for a while.
My plan for keeping her business thriving is continuous improvement. I bought online courses by well-known tattoo artists who use interesting techniques in which I want to improve. On my premises, I exhibit paintings, I do workshops, someone can read poems, have an exhibition of their paintings- And I plan to host in foreign tattoo shops to get some other experiences and contacts.
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
I’m a tattoo artist, a mom, and a bit of a pit bull – after years in the corporate world, I decided to turn my career upside down and get into tattooing – I bit the ball and didn’t let go.
I’ve dedicated all my free time to creating designs and practicing tattooing on family and friends. Soon they told their friends, and it snowballed. Before I knew it, I was opening a modern tattoo studio in Karlín so that I could take care of my growing clientele.
I’m never done working on myself. Last year, Forbes Česko appreciated my diligence and determination when they included me in their annual selection of inspiring stories of successful Czech women, Forbes Woman.
With me, you won’t wake up with a tattoo hangover. We always consult your ideas in advance. I enjoy being inspired by your imagination and helping you materialize it. I will prepare an original design (or revise yours), and we’ll fine-tune it before your visit.
I dip into various tattoo styles and techniques. I make both black & white and color tattoos. I like to play with micro tattoos and I enjoy doing linework, dotwork, abstract tattoo art, and my top favorite motif is mandalas. I also fix or cover old tattoos.
I choose only high-quality, natural, vegan products that make healing and home care as smooth as possible.
You can easily find my tattoo studio, just a few steps from the Florenc station and close to Masaryk railway station, if you come to Prague by train. Feel free to bring your kid, friend, or grandmother. I welcome both small and big visitors.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
The initial capital I had wal only like 1000 Euro – just to buy the tattoo machine, ink and several needles.
At the begining of my career I was tattooing for a very little money, basically with the point to get more experience and have money for the material.
How I get more experience, I asked more money for the tattoos and save it for the next equipment I needed to buy to improve my service, or just make my work easier.
The last step was saving money in order to rent and rebuilt the space for my new Tattoo shop.
So everything was done with the effort, but I didnt have any big amounts saved at the beginig of my career as a tattoo artist
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For sure it is indepence, traveling with my ming in the other space. And I love if my work is inspirative for other people or make them happy
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mamatattooprague.com/en
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamatattooprague/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MamaTattooPrague
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-tomaselli-mamatattooprague-k%C3%A9rka-od-m%C3%A1my-a4808361/
- Other: tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mamatattooprague