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

Marie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, let’s take a stroll on memory lane, back to when you were an apprentice or intern. What’s a memorable story from that time that you can share with us?

I started tattooing and piercing in Georgia under an apprenticeship piercing. I always wanted to get into one but it was hard bc the tattoo world has almost became gate kept with knowledge especially where I am from. The only way to learn almost is teach yourself or you have to know someone. I had an artist and after conversation he brought me in to be a piercer and I told him I want to learn to tattoo as well. I worked under him until I moved to Florida, and that’s where the self teaching began.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Onyxxed Apparel & Ink is a tattoo business and a clothing brand. I’ve always loved art and fashion so I wanted to create a brand that represents my style, so why not make it around what I love, tattooing. Our moto is “it’s more than a brand, it’s a lifestyle.”
We provide clothing for tattoo enthusiasts and artists alike. Dark enough to be able to tattoo in, and complimentary to the style of pieces I typically do.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I always wanted to pursue a career in tattoo and piercing but gathering clientele was difficult. When I moved to Florida I bought a machine and started on myself. From there others would see me do mine and started trusting me to do theirs. As my work progressed, word of mouth spread and I started encounter more and more people at my full time job where business became steady.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I payed attention to social media because being self taught, I watched others work and picked up on key factors. I realized that there was many other aspiring artists that were in the same boat as me, so I decided to start helping by offering the things I learned. The most common set back of social media in inconsistency. You have to hold yourself accountable and keep content consistent in order to stay relevant.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Onyxxedapparel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onyxxedapparel/profilecard/?igsh=MXdreWpuMTRiaW40Mw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reeree5009?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: TikTok @Mindfull_Artist