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

Kelsie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

My current boss/mentor, Cody Schneider is easily the best person I’ve ever worked for and beside. He is a kind, patient, and respectful leader and friend. I began my tattoo apprenticeship under him at his shop Scarlet Raven Tattoo in the summer of 2017, and have worked the majority of my career there (with the exception of the 8 months that I lived in South Carolina) with him and our great team of artists. In my first year apprenticing, I experienced a rapid succession of personal loss and hardships. Previous work experiences at different jobs had taught me that a decrease in productivity and taking time for yourself would be met with being placed under fire, so I was a bit anxious to come back after taking a couple of days off to recover. When I arrived back at the shop, I went into my room and found a gift that Cody had made and left for me. (For context, he makes beautiful, bizarre artwork out of bones, moss, mushrooms, beads, and other found art) It was a wooden carousel horse, who was missing an ear, leg, tail, and whose paint job was worn from age and elements. Her missing parts had been replaced with bones, and her mane was decorated with lace and beadwork. She had a note under her front leg that read “I found her on the curb, discarded and waiting for trash pickup, so I took her in and fixed her up in my way. Her missing parts are what make her unique, and her “flaws” just make her more interesting. Now she has a second chance at life and a new purpose. Love, Cody”. That note hit so close to home with what I was experiencing in life, and I think that the carousel horse is a good representation of him as a leader. He genuinely loves and supports his artists, and wants nothing more than to see them succeed and be happy. He’s created a community within the walls of Scarlet Raven Tattoo that exudes that very sentiment, and it is a privilege to be a part of that community.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a full time tattoo artist at Scarlet Raven Tattoo in Lincoln, NE for 6 years. I specialize in realism and watercolor tattoos, but I also do a good bit of work in my own version of neo-traditional and American traditional as well. I have also developed a specialty in coverup tattoos over the years as well, which earned me a first place plaque and trophy in the Villain Arts Tattoo Convention coverup category of contests. I also occasionally take commissioned portrait art pieces for people as well, with colored pencil, watercolor, and alcohol markers being the mediums. My favorite subject to create, regardless of the medium, is now and will forever be horses. Drawing them repeatedly while growing up is how I learned realism art, and realism was always my main focus as an artist. When people asked me as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, my response was always “an artist or a cowboy!” So when my mom took me with her to a tattoo appointment when I was 8, I was in complete awe that this was even an option as a job. I remember thinking “what? There’s a job where a bunch of grown-ups get to draw on people all day, and that’s a JOB?!”, so I’ve pretty much been set on this path ever since.
When I was 17, my mom agreed to sign off for me to get a tattoo under the condition that I research and go meet different artists, which is when I met my boss Cody. I started collecting small tattoos from him that I could afford at the time, and used every opportunity to bring in my art portfolio for critique and to show him what I’d worked to improve from last time. It took me a few years of that, but eventually in July of 2017, I started my apprenticeship and began tattooing a few months later. I was working a full time job doing overnights at the front desk of a local hospital, and worked part-full time hours at the shop during the day. It was not uncommon for me to work up to 100 hours a week between the two jobs for the first few months of my tattoo career, but I was able to quit my job at the hospital fairly quick once I started to build up a clientele. It only took me about 6 months of tattooing to start being booked out far enough to feel like I had solid job security.
Something that I picked up from being tattooed by Cody and have tried to implement whenever possible, is making the experience fun for people. Getting a tattoo is already a physically uncomfortable process, so I want to make everything else as comfortable as possible. I love conversing with my clients and getting to know them, and have made a lot of friends in my clientele this way. I always want to make sure that when somebody, years down the road, looks at a tattoo that I’ve done for them, that they can associate it with a positive memory of the experience they had with me in the shop.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would 100% still choose tattooing over any other career if I had the chance to go back and do it again. After 6 years, I still go into work with the mindset of “I GET to be here, I GET to do what I love every day, and I GET to follow my passion here” as opposed to the typical “I HAVE to go to work, I HAVE to spend my day here”. I cant envision myself doing anything else.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I’ve learned both from my mentor, and also through experience, that creating positive experiences and quality work for your clients is really the best way to grow your business. I’ve thankfully never had to pay for ads, post boosting, or anything like that to grow and maintain my clientele, because word of mouth has been my best form of advertisement. If someone is happy with their end result and had a good time in the process, they’re going to tell their friends and strangers who compliment their tattoos about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: scarletravencollective.com
• Instagram: kelsie.shriver.tattoos
• Facebook: Kelsie Shriver Tattoos

Image Credits
Personal photo credit: Jess Beck Photography