We recently connected with Kenzie Mayberry and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenzie, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

In December 2023, I moved from apprenticing in a large shop of 17 artists to a single booth studio to continue tattooing as an artist. The space needed a lot of renovating before I could get it inspected. My dad and I took a month to transform the place into a clean, safe, and functional tattoo studio. In early march, I was finally able to get licensed and start taking clients. I decided to keep the location pretty discreet; by appointment only. I didn’t put any signs outside that said “tattoo,” and the blinds on all of the windows stayed closed so no one could peek in. I kept the address out of all of my social media and off of my website. I planned to only send the location to my clients after setting an appointment and getting a deposit, and that’s exactly how I operated for nearly three months.
May 24th, I got a call from my dad as I was getting out of the shower. He asked me if I had any appointments; I had one at noon. He told me to go ahead and cancel it, because someone had broken in and stolen all of my supplies. I couldn’t believe it. I felt so naive and embarrassed for thinking that my business was safe as long as I didn’t advertise my whereabouts.
I got to the studio as fast as I could. Someone had broken in through the window of the back door, packed up all three of my tattoo machines, my ink, my needles, ink caps, card reader, stencil printer, and made off with it all including my father’s speaker and his rug. My dad was there, and a police officer who helped us with the investigation. Unfortunately, we hadn’t yet put up any security cameras. The neighboring buildings didn’t catch anything on their cameras either, so the thieves were never discovered.
I scrambled to replace all of my supplies so I could keep as many appointments as possible. My dad was so generous in helping me to replace everything that was lost, and he immediately set up a security system. I made an instagram story letting followers know that I was out of business for a few days while my supplies were being shipped. Several of my friends and clients responded to that story asking about what happened. Many of those people sent me money and supplies to help with replacing everything I needed to get back to work. I was so surprised and honored to have received the support and encouragement I did. As the unprompted donations came in, I realized how many people cared about my small business, and it made me feel so empowered in such a discouraging time.

Kenzie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a 21 year old tattoo artist and business owner based in Denver, Colorado. I started my official training when I was 19, after studying art for a semester at Red Rocks Community College. I have always been an artist. Since about two years old, all I’ve ever wanted to do was draw and paint. I had so many things in my head that I wanted to be able to create. I have always been constantly learning new techniques and honing in my skills. However, I didn’t always think I would end up doing art for a career.
In middle school and high school I really thought I would end up teaching math. Math was always my favorite subject in school, and the one I was best at. I loved sharing my interests with other people and seeing them become passionate about new things, so teaching seemed like a good fit. During my senior year, a few of my classmates were surprised that I was applying to colleges with math as my major instead of art. My reasoning was only that I wasn’t confident that I could make a living doing art. I remember a couple of my friends mentioning tattooing, which was something I had never considered. Not many people in my family had tattoos, except for my dad having one. I wasn’t sure if I was cut out for the industry and for working so closely on other people’s bodies. After receiving my college acceptance letters, though, I realized how badly I wanted to pursue art full time.
Immediately after graduating, I purchased a tattoo machine and some fake skin and began my own practice with the Tattooing 101 online course. I got to about 70% completion before I decided I needed to acquire some in person instruction. I went to several tattoo shops with my portfolio. No one even looked at my work before turning me away for not having any tattoos. I became discouraged, and put tattooing on hold. I did some traveling, and took some college courses before I started working at a motorcycle dealership in Lakewood. I shared with one of my coworkers that I was interested in tattooing but wasn’t successful finding training. He told me he used to work with a guy who was now an artist at a shop nearby. He put in a good word for me and I got an interview which led to an apprenticeship which lasted nearly eight months before I felt ready to go out on my own. I did my first tattoo on real skin in September of 2023, and I have been learning and advancing my technique ever since.
I currently specialize in fine line and black and grey, but I enjoy tattooing with color as well. Swords, bugs/animals and plants are my favorite subjects to tattoo, but I have practice in other areas also. The most important part of my job is making my clients feel comfortable and heard through the entire tattoo process. I know how it is to be nervous about getting tattooed in an open concept shop with other artists and clients around. It can feel difficult to speak up about design and placement, which makes it hard to get exactly what you want. Anyone deciding to get tattooed should be able to trust their artist with their vision, and feel comfortable communicating with them about their design or any concerns they have about the process. I offer a private space where clients can choose to listen to music, enjoy a movie, chat with me, or relax in silence while I tattoo them. I welcome anyone wanting to decorate their body with art in an open minded space.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Perseverance was always something I prided myself on. It is something I grew up admiring in others, and I believed it was the most respectful way to success. When I was four years old, there was a movie I used to watch called Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams. It had a couple of short stories; one of them followed Princess Aurora through her journey in ruling her kingdom. She sang a song about how she needed to persevere through all of the problems she was facing by trying to keep everyone satisfied. By the end, she had stuck out the hard times and proved to everyone that she was tougher than they took her for. That movie is where I learned the word, and it’s what made me want to prove myself to everyone, like Aurora.
All through grade school, I was a perfectionist and I gave nearly all of my time to my classes. I was in a lot of accelerated and advanced courses, but I wasn’t naturally gifted in most of them. I had to work hard, and give up things like sleep and a social life in order to keep As in everything. I wanted to prove myself to my family, my classmates, and my teachers. By the end of high school, my test scores and GPA were high and I graduated with multiple honor chords. Perseverance got me exactly what I wanted: visible proof that I was maybe smarter or more capable than others took me for.
I carried this mentality into my later education during my apprenticeship. I had to be the most diligent, most obedient, and most skilled apprentice those artists had seen. But being the most obedient turned into sacrificing my self respect and personal boundaries. I went home after those long days at the shop feeling ashamed of how I let myself be seen and treated by some of the artists. However, I also felt proud for enduring the tasks and “initiation” they put me through. I felt like I was earning my right to be an artist. After several months at the shop, I started receiving praise and thanks from many of the artists. Some of them told me they bet on how long I would last when I first arrived, and at that point I had far surpassed their expectations. Hearing that was like a reward. Yet again, I finally had that proof that I was strong and resilient, and other people noticed. But when I went home that night, I didn’t feel that same feeling of relief and pride. I felt more embarrassed for caring so much about what other people thought of me. Ultimately, I realized that it was my own expectations of myself that led me to take it so far. I know now that nobody I cared about would’ve thought less of me had I done worse in school or my apprenticeship, but I didn’t want to let myself down.
Once I realized that my value doesn’t come from how other people perceive me, I was able to move on to greater things. It was really hard to leave some of the people who stood beside me at the shop, I feared letting them down. But you can’t disappoint anyone who truly cares about you by doing what best serves you. My tattooing journey has taught me that perseverance is a valuable quality to have, but it can be harmful when taken too far and in the wrong circumstances.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Starting out my tattooing journey with a close bunch of friends and family to support me has been the best promotional tool so far. As I was just beginning to tattoo as an apprentice, so many of my friends let me practice on them. They would tell their friends and family about my work, and eventually my name got out to a larger audience by word of mouth. Even to this day, most of my clients come to me having seen work I did on their friend or family member.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maybeink.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tattoomemaybe/profilecard/?igsh=MXRwdzZkaDV6Mm9ycg==

Image Credits

Kai Aune