We were lucky to catch up with Kianna Riley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kianna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
The kindest thing anyone has done for me career wise was believe in me and grant me the opportunity to prove what I’m truly capable of. Before I started tattooing consistently I was doing a tattoo every 3 months on friends or family or even myself. I decided to go get a tattoo for my 26th birthday from a shop. My sister forwarded me the information to a talented artist named Marques Neal. I booked with him and he actually ended up double booking so he arranged for his coworker to take care of me. While we were waiting on her Marques was asking me about where I got my tattoos from and I told him that u did a few myself. He asked me why I never started an apprenticeship and I let him know that I didn’t know where to begin or who to go to and I had a toddler at the time. A month later he contacted me asking me how serious I was about tattooing and that he would be my mentor for free and help me become the artist I had the potential to be. This was so meaningful to be because he didn’t really know me all we had was a 20 min conversation that stuck out enough to him to consider making me his apprentice. And now 2 years later I am a licensed tattoo artist thanks to my mentor and the coworker who ended up doing my tattoo is one of my closest and dearest friends. That one opportunity really opened so many doors and spaces to meet such wonderful creative souls
Kianna, 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’ve always been very artistically inclined since a child. I just never knew how to translate that skill into an adult career until later. It took a lot of work and dedication. There was a long time I wasn’t making any money and nobody was booking with me and it was hard to see myself being successful. But I trusted the process and keep pushing through.
I provide tattooing services so most clients present me with a design or an idea for a design that I bring to life on their skin. My clients have a great experience every time they visit me. I listen to their ideas and talk to them about what flows and getting on the same page as far as the end design. It’s important to me that my clients feel comfortable. There are a lot of people who come to me after another artist feeling discouraged or that the artist just slapped a design on their skin for the money. I offer knowledge on tattoos, after care, and I put together original designs as well. Anyone who has walked into the shop or my chair has a 10/10 experience with snacks, drinks, laughter and music.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Going out to events in the city just being seen and socializing. I go out and show off my tattoos and everybody wants to know about them and where I got them.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Doing free tattoos really helped me. There was a lot of people who were weary about spending money to let an apprentice play on their skin. But for the designs I wanted to add to my portfolio I offered for free and those designs I did for free ended up drawing in a lot of people. It even lead to me learning about myself more as an artist and my style
Contact Info:
- Website: https://form.jotform.com/243238104767155?fbclid=PAZnRzaANtstlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp4dnDe5KGqmngp7OS-lAIIym9TJP67hdp1jm4mW2-wJKX8MrfvTJrIEECom-_aem_H7MksOFF9ozj9MPWr58AUg
- Instagram: inked.by.kiwiii
- Facebook: Kianna Riley
