We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leslie Ayala. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leslie below.
Leslie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I was a first generation Latina student athlete. Growing up, you are taught to pursue school to become successful. That was the dream my family carried on their backs when crossing the border. After six long years of college and earning my degree, I thought I had everything I needed to become successful to achieve their dreams. But as I stepped into the job market, something didn’t feel right. Despite having the qualifications, I was unfulfilled, stuck in a cycle of going through the motions of life that didn’t inspire me. Working a 9-5, waiting for PTO to accumulate to have a vacation didn’t seem fitting for the life that I wanted. My passion had always been art, but it wasn’t until I decided to take a risk and follow that love that everything changed. I taught myself how to tattoo, with the help of the Arizona tattoo academy. I blended my creativity with entrepreneurship. Today, I’m a successful female tattoo artist. I am the manager and tattoo artist at Bold Beauty Company in old town, Scottsdale doing what I love every day. I hope to inspire others to take risks in this society and open their own business in whatever they love. Going to school isn’t for everyone and doesn’t ensure financial security. Taking ownership in my life has been life changing. Everyday I just aim to become 1% better.
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.
After I graduated college, I quickly learned a simple degree can’t get you far. It may take you one step further than those with just a high school diploma. But our advisors forgot to mention the 1000 more steps and 5 other different paths you could take to become successful. No one really preaches to low income students about being your own boss is the best path to take in order to take full ownership of your own life. I use to be a manager at a Dutch Bros coffee shop. I was a salaried employee enslaved to my job. That job required me to work 24 hours and although I made decent money I had ZERO ownership of my life. I lived, breathed, and ate coffee.
One day, I remembered I kept seeing videos on TikTok about entrepreneurship. Everyone spoke about building a business like building a toddler’s Lego set. I was researching all my possibilities of what kind of businesses I could open. A coffee shop? A protein shake house? A cleaning business? Renovating furniture business? None of these ideas screamed at me. I wanted to build a business I was passionate about and that I could do a heck of a great job in. I started to evaluate my skills, programming, behavior analyst, customer service, people development, drawing, painting, design…. It hit me. When I was in 7th grade, I use to pretend to be my class tattoo artist. I would draw for kids and they use to promise they were going to tattoo my designs. The thought of becoming a tattoo artists was intimidating. I was a 5 foot 2 Latina woman with a total of 2 tattoos. Who could possible take me seriously? I stumbled across the Arizona Tattoo Academy, in which the owners Brit and Alesha took me in and taught me the basics. Soon after, I was hired at Bold Beauty Company as a fine line tattoo artists! I fell in love with how safe and uplifting my shop was. I became friends with some of the coolest people I know. I am grateful for Alesha for being a strong woman in entrepreneurship. Her goal is to help people achieve their goals and here I am doing so. I’ve been tattooing for approximately 2 years now. I’ve gotten extended training in New York by Jason Lu. Every day is an exciting new challenge. I push myself to grow 1% more each day. I love that I hand craft each design to all of my clients needs. Leaving a forever mark on their bodies is the most beautiful and rewarding experience I can endure. My next goal is to be a shop owner in which I can motivate other people like me to grow in their own tattoo business.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
When you envision a tattoo artist, the first person you picture in your mind is probably a big-heavy tatted bald guy or Kat Von D. Tattooing became a secret side hustle that no one in my family knew of to avoid any sort of discouragement. Once I hit my first year practicing and growing a strong clientele through marketing strategies. I quit my full time job to pursue tattooing full time! My business scaled up to where it is due to content creation. Social media has changed the direction of tattooing. If you enjoy art, have a drive for drawing and creating, and a passion for helping someone accomplish their tatted dreams. Tattooing could be for you! I am so thrilled that I took the huge risk to do something I never imagined myself doing.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
“Atomic habits” by James Clear is by far my favorite book! I reread it constantly to keep me grounded and focused on my growth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Inkedby.L.A
Image Credits
Loftsixcollective