We recently connected with Mylaijah Drake and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mylaijah , thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I started my career as a tattoo artist just about a year ago. In all honesty I never would have thought I’d get as far as I did. In the beginning of it all I kept striving myself to learn how to perfect my craft. There were a few tattoo artist that I looked up to and i kept saying to myself “wow I wish my work can look like theirs”. In order for my work to be were I wanted it to be I had to be dedicated to what I was doing. I set myself goals that I strived to achieve so I can be successful in my career. I did many things such as learning from other artist, watching youtube videos and I even practiced tattooing on myself to become better as a tattoo artist. I can say from being dedicated and committed and never giving up I have witnessed a drastic change in my work today then from when I first started.

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

My name is Mylaijah, but I go by Hollywood. My business name is called HollywoodTheArtistt. I am a professional tattoo artist and piercer. I come from a very “artistic” family background so art was always in my blood. I always had other hobbies that I took seriously but drawing was never one of them. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with drawing or where I wanted to go with it. I always had a love for tattoos I would literally got a get a new tattoo every other month just because. Getting tattoos was a stress reliever for me it was something that made me happy. One day I was just coming from getting a tattoo done on my hand and I was just thinking to myself. “I have all these tattoos that I love and drawing is that one hobby that I have that I never took seriously, so why not try tattooing” and that’s exactly what I did. That same night I watched many videos on products I would need, how to start, what to expect, etc. The next morning I ordered everything I needed to start. Eventually everything got to me and I got started. People recommended I try to start on “fake practice skin” to get the hang of things but it just wasn’t working for me. So I then took the risk and tattooed myself. I was beyond nervous but I’m all about taking risk because you never know the outcome. Once I felt comfortable I started tattooing friends and family. Ever since then I have sky rocketed more then I ever thought I would. What sets me apart from others is that every client that I come across comes back for more. Why? well because I make sure that whatever ideas my clients have I make it my priority for it to come alive. I make sure that all my clients have the best experience working with me. What I am most proud of is how far I have come in such a short period of time. I find tattooing as a hidden gem to me it was something that I was very good at but I didn’t know until I started doing it. What I want my potential clientele to know about me is that I make visions come true. You can come into your appointment with a vision and leave with your vision coming to life.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I first started my social media platform I have to figure what I planned to do so that I can get people engaged. The first thing was my aesthetic. I asked myself “how can I make my social media stand out and look different from others?”. Eventually I figured it out and stuck with it I had a great outcome of doing so. Next, to start gaining my followers I would ask friends and family and even very successful tattoo artist to help promote my page to get people to know i’m a new tattoo artist. I then proceeded to start posting some of my work such as tattoos I have done or even sketches for potential clients that maybe interested in it. I then proceeded to a do a tattoo deal to get people engaged and gain clientele. The deal was anyone can get a quarter sized tattoo for just $20. My social media boosted from that because you don’t see a lot of tattoo artist doing deals like that. All in all you want to make your social media stand out, do things differently then other people in the same career as you. BE DIFFERENT and THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

How I keep in touch with my clients is that maybe after a few days to a week after their appointment with me. I follow up with them with a text message asking them how their tattooing is healing, answering any questions they may have, giving advice and even asking them to share any pictures or videos of their tattooing. I sometimes even contacts clients about tattoo ideas that I have drawn that I think they make like and ask them if they would like to get it. I notice that people like when you show that you care!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @hollywoodtheartistt