We recently connected with Mandy Wolak and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mandy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

Well thinking back it would’ve been 2002 I was apprenticing to Tattøø in my hometown Milwaukee Wisconsin. Most likely I was tattooing myself at the time. This practice was the most common for beginner artist/apprentices in the event the Tattøø didn’t turn out so great you only had yourself to blame and you can cover it up when you’ve improved. My boss/mentor was tattooing a buddy of his when the cops came in through hand cuffs on him in the middle of this Tattøø session and hauled him off to jail. Lesson learned here…pay your child support! LOL

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

I got my real start as a profession Tattøø artist at Absolute Tattooing in Menominee Falls, WI. Many artist in the Milwaukee area and surrounding cities have worked at one of Scotts four shops he had at some point or another. It was here that I got to work with some now renoun artists such as Dan Hazelton and James Thruth Francis. Having multiple different artist working along side of me opened my eyes to very different styles of art. I believe this is the reason why I enjoy tattooing all different styles of art whether it be full color, classic black and grey, portraits or cartoons. I know one thing that sets me apart from many artists is I’m very easy to get a hold of and I try to have a quick response time. The truth is aside from mental therapy many of us need ink therapy and I’m here for just that!

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Aside from letting your creative juices flow and not inhibiting yourself artistically you need to have thick skin to remain in this industry for a decent length of time.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I know this might sound weird but I think Tattooing actually chose me. I only say that because it wasn’t presented to me as if it was an actual acknowledged profession. Moreover in 2002 there were very few women tattooing compared to men.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.captive-elements.com
• Instagram: Milwaukee Mandy
• Facebook: Mandy Wolak