We were lucky to catch up with Katie Grinstead recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

The tattoo world is massively different than when I started out. To put a timeframe on that, March 2023 marks 20 years since my apprenticeship, so I have definitely been misunderstood and mischaracterized dozens of times. Some instances I let bother me, other times, it was something I expected. One particular story of being mischaracterized took place late on a Saturday night in front of my home shop in San Francisco. I was finally done tattooing for the day and I was enjoying the busy street happenings while having a smoke. A very nicely dressed man in his mid 40’s was walking by then stopped right in front of me and asked if I would tattoo a small something on each of his index fingers. With a side grin as I exhaled I replied, “Sure man, come by tomorrow, we open at noon.”

That was clearly not the answer he was expecting, so after a few minutes of him trying to talk me into doing the tattoo right then, and me politely explaining that we were closed, plus I had tattooed all day and my shift was over, he starts digging in his pocket for something. I’ve seen this before, so I flick my cigg and head for the tattoo shop door before he finds whatever he was looking for. This man stops me with a, “Wait, wait, wait!” I turn around and he is holding one thousand dollars in cash and says, “Here, I’ll pay you a grand to tattoo my fingers right now. Let’s do it. You’ve never made this kind of money in one night, it’ll be so easy.”

Appalled, my niceties were instantly gone and I raised my voice and while stepping closer to this guy and said, “What about me shouts prostitute? Huh? What made you think you can just throw money at me and get what you want even after I’ve repeatedly said no? Huh? Cmon, explain yourself!”
This well dressed jerk finishes with, “Well, you’re cute chick who does tattoos, I didn’t think you’d ever turn down easy money,” and walks away mumbling something rude under his breath.

It was that moment I realized had I been a heavily tattooed guy, that wouldn’t have happened. This stranger characterized me as some tattooed woman who would easily be bullied into accepting money to do whatever he wanted. He had no idea that I am a very opinionated woman who tattoos, and who was exhausted, just enjoying a smoke before heading to the train to get home to my family.

I’m not surprised that many areas of society still see us as just another tattooed person who works at a tattoo parlour. I do still have to remind myself that my physical appearance will never be appreciated or respected by some. Not everyone will accept that I’m not a “trouble maker” or a “druggie” or whatever other negative characterizations are made about tattooed folks. I’m a Mama with a 20 year long career who provides for my family.

Katie, 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 fell into this industry by accident. I had a 4 year academic scholarship to a university business school and I also had some spare time before the semester started, so I went to get a tattoo. Here I sat getting tattooed, and eavesdropping on the conversations of the tattoo shop employees around me. I heard them talking about needing to hire an apprentice. The thought of working in a tattoo shop, had never crossed my mind until that moment, so brave 18 year old me asked if I could apply for the position. That day, I walked into a tattoo shop with the intention of just getting a tattoo; but when I walked out, I was holding a job application that would change my life forever.

Having a proud, Hispanic mother, and a Union strong (IBEW) blue-collar father, independence and hard work are no strangers to me. Being a tattoo artist allows for full autonomy with everything from work hours, and work place, to products and vendors of choice. Though the title is Tattoo Artist, this job isn’t just tattooing, it’s also keeping up with supplies, social media, self advertising, travel, answering lots of emails, consultations, and of course late night and early morning drawing; all the while trying to maintain friendships, hardships, staying present for my family and a little self-care when I can. A healthy work/life balance is something I have to constantly keep in check because burn out is a very real thing.

My career began in Colorado, then took me to San Francisco for nearly a decade, and here I am back on my home turf. It was the time in SF when I learned that the weird pictures living inside my head are actually art that people want to wear on their skin. Talk about mind blowing! Folks now ask me to “do my thing” and “make it weird” when I design their tattoos. So many clients who sit in my chair are the oddball or black sheep of their family and friends, so we get to connect through stories and experiences. Some clients have said they never ever would have gotten tattooed until they saw my tattoos. Occasionally, I even get the honor of covering up or decorating scars to help folks feel happier in their own skin—for me, THAT is the success that I am very proud of.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Going to get tattooed for the every day person is commonly viewed as something fun or wild to do once in a while; something out of the norm. Many of these folks don’t have a job in a creative space, so they don’t know the landscape of a creative’s work life. In a job like mine, we don’t have the luxury of leaving work at work. We don’t logout at 5:30pm then go about the rest of our day. We don’t automatically have weekends or bank holidays off. We don’t have PTO or a work-from-home option. We don’t have a Union or Human Resources. Some of us don’t even get a paycheck, we get paid from each client and go home with the our cut of the cash we made that day.

In a creative’s job like mine, every project we take on has a due date. Every client is like a new “boss” waiting to see the “presentation” they’ve asked you to make. When I show the client what I’ve created, there is a split second right before they see it where my tummy gets the butterflies and I second guess my work. The difference for me, if this client doesn’t like what I’ve presented to them, they don’t have to get the tattoo, which means I don’t get paid that day. There is no salary to fall back on, no minimum wage to hold me over. Same goes if the client doesn’t show up for their appointment. No tattooing = no money earned.

While this really is the best job that I ever could have asked for, some people see it as a pass time. As though it’s just something I do becases I like to draw. Many times during a tattoo session, I have been asked, “So what do you do for a living?” Or, “What’s your real job?” Or, “How do you support your kids? Do you have another job?” I am not joking.

Conversely, I hear comments like, “Wow, you charge a lot, you must make really good money.” Or, “When did tattoos get so expensive? You must be rich.” Many people don’t know that we don’t keep every dollar we collect from our clients. A decent percentage goes to the shop owner, a chunk is set aside to pay taxes, some goes to supplies, some goes to savings, and whatever is left goes to our bank account. Like I said before, many of us don’t get a typical paycheck with governmental deductions done for us, we have to keep track of it all ourselves.

With the up’s and downs many of us creatives face, overall I would prefer this particular group of stresses to a job where I have none of freedoms I desire. There is nobody to tell me I can’t take off a week during winter break to be with my kids, or have to worry about blackout dates when I want to go camping. Nobody to tell me I’m not allowed to work because of overtime restrictions. Nobody to check if I’m going into the office enough times per month. Nobody to tell me what techniques I’m allowed to use or not use. There is nobody to tell me how to do what I do.
For better or worse, I am my own boss.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being an artist goes hand in hand with independent thinking. Having three children watch first hand the struggles and rewards of an artist gives them a neat perspective. They see my work ethic shine when I can’t make a design work how I want it to and I start over from the beginning over and over until it’s right. They also see the photos of completed tattoos on clients who are smiling and stoked about what I just put on their skin. Raising children with the arts as a core part of life is more rewarding than I can even explain.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie.g.z/

Image Credits
Photos by: Gary Isaacs Sunny J