Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarai Puerta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sarai, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Basically resilience and discipline was everything and is still everything that allows us as an artists to keep evolving in the industry. The tattoo world is something that gets better and better every day, a lot of talented people want to be successful but they don’t have the discipline to learn how to do it right, you need to have your feet on the ground to know that time, discipline and resilience are the only thing that will make you successful, if it was easy it probably won’t last forever and life will make sure to let you know that. You have to listen to your mentors and do not underestimate the people around you, you can learn from everyone even if it is a small thing, it will be useful.

Sarai, 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?

Hello, my name is Sarai Puerta, I’m a tattoo artist born and raised in Venezuela. The firsts memories I have about me drawing maybe are at the age of 6. I have always been an artistic person, really sensitive about painting, singing, dancing, but drawing is something special for me, it allows me to put all my emotions into a piece of paper. Back when I was 19, my uncle Raul had bought some tattoo materials and he told me to try to tattoo, it all started as a joke but it quickly turned into something serious for me, so I went visit some tattoo shops asking about the apprenticeship, that’s when I met Gilbert, my mentor. He’s an old school guy that takes the business seriously, that’s what made me look the tattoo industry with other eyes, not as a hobby but as a lifestyle and I do believe that’s why my clients feel so comfortable working with me, because even though I’m a young person, I’ve been working for eight years as a tattoo artist in three different countries. I take my job very seriously, it is something that people will have for the rest of their lives and I want it to be more than a good tattoo a good experience for them.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I moved from Venezuela to Colombia, maybe I had eight months working as a tattoo artist, my art wasn’t the best, so I was unable to work at tattoo shops, anyways I needed to make money to pay my bills, and I decided to work in a club as a bartender, I hated that job, I used to cry almost every night and ask God for help, asking him to let me work doing art again. The thing is that I got fired from my job and I felt lost, with no savings, no family around, no friends, in a foreign country, but actually that was God answering my prayers, I took my last payment, bought some tattoo supplies and started walking all over the city with the promise of not coming back home until a tattoo shop hired me. That’s when I got my first job as a tattoo artist in Colombia, a small shop inside a flea market, that was the beginning of all. I look back at those days and I can’t say how grateful I am for that opportunity, because without that nothing would’ve been possible.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

That you can’t live of making art. I grew up in a conservative family where the only way to be seen as a success person was having a college degree, well I don’t see anything bad about it, but it was almost forced to be in a job that you don’t liked just to make them happy, just to fit with the society. I decided to stop the cycle and just do what I love, I didn’t care what people thought about me, all I knew was that I was willing to make it work. I had to break my own beliefs, unlearn the things that I was taught and make my own rules, and it worked.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: saratattoo1
• Facebook: Sara Tattoo
• Other: TikTok @saratattoo1
  Business instagram: @sodotattooco

Image Credits

Gabe Feliciano
Natalia Concepcion
Matt Reiter