We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Young recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shannon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think it takes a combination of determination, education and persistence to be successful in any field.

Everything starts with a dream. A desire and determination to bring a vision to reality. Once you decide what you are passionate about then you can decide to be resolute enough to bring what you’ve envisioned to life. In most endeavors I’ve attempted to accomplish, it’s generally started with a fairly false sense of confidence. I believe anyone who has achieved anything of significance would agree. The thought, “I could do that,” even if it seems like an unrealistic feat at the time. Tina Fey said it best, “Confidence is 10% hard work and 90% delusion.” You need a little bit of delusion to kick start the process. People might even laugh. Prove them wrong.

That brings us to education. If you aren’t educated in your field you might as well be shooting in the dark. Most people don’t inadvertently stumble into success. Even if it seems that some might, there is always a level of internal unspoken planning or intrinsic skill involved. The better you understand your industry and the more educated you are in the skills required, history and your potential peers or adversaries, the better off you’ll be. Many great leaders have been quoted as saying “knowledge is power” for a reason.

While determination is a focus on your purpose, persistence is the continuation of action surrounding that purpose. I’ve watched people who haven’t been inherently talented or exceptional in their field eventually become more successful than a lot of their peers by simply working harder than others and refusing to give up. Those people in a lot of cases can end up with far more recognition than the people who become discouraged or quit at the first signs of failure. Perceived failure can just be stepping stones along the way, but it depends on how you look at it. For example, you can view a tragedy as a simple set back and as motivation to keep striving forward, or you can use it as an excuse to give up entirely. There are so many things in life that can happen that are out of your control, but the one thing you can control is your reaction.

In 2019 my husband, who was also an artist, was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Basically overnight he became paralyzed and brain damaged and I slowly watched him pass away over the next two years. We were forced to close our successful tattoo shop and our tattoo pigment business we had worked over ten years to create. Our entire lives became dedicated to his treatments and care. After he passed I fell into a deep depression and felt like my career had taken such a nose dive that I’d never recover. I’ll admit that for a while I wallowed in misery. It was the lowest time of my life. I wanted to give up everything we had worked so hard for and just sleep for the rest of my life. Instead, with a lot of support from friends and family, I realized that he would have never wanted that. It took a couple really special people in my life reminding me of my worth and what I’m capable of to get me back on track. Now each new day I’m more motivated and determined than ever, striving not only to make him proud but to continue to prove to myself that I am capable of being successful on my own. Things that once slowed me down or felt like failures before he became sick now seem so insignificant. Instead of feeling sad and discouraged, I try and use my experience to feel less afraid and more unwavering in my endeavors than ever. Perception is really everything.

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?

I was kind of late in the game, so to speak, when it came to beginning my career as an artist. I had already been an insurance agent for nearly ten years before I decided that I just couldn’t sit in an office any longer or I would lose my mind. I decided that I was going to go to college but I had no idea why. I just knew I needed to start on a new path that didn’t involve what I was currently doing. This was despite the fact that at this point I had done very well for myself in my insurance career at a young age after getting my 2-20 Property and Casualty Agent License at 18 years old. People told me I was crazy for wanting to change my life and start over.

I applied to Florida State University and didn’t get in. Instead I started at a local community college. Once in college I took some art classes as electives. I was 25 and the oldest student in the room in most cases. I was terrified because I had never taken an art class before and I thought I was going to be laughed out of the building. In a bazaar turn of events, it turns out I wasn’t half bad. A professor approach me one day and asked what I was going to school for. I told her I had no idea, to which she really encouraged me to be an art student. I remember I almost started crying when I explained to her that I could never do that. I shamefully admitted that I couldn’t draw and even though it sounded like a dream job it was completely impractical and I could never make a living doing it. She laughed and said, “Honey, once upon a time, I couldn’t draw and now I’m one of the head art professors at this university. If you want it bad enough, you’ll learn. You CAN learn.”

I went home that day and thought for hours about what she said. I really took our brief conversation to heart. It sparked an idea in me that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I continued to take art classes and because I was really excited about them, I did well and my grades reflected it. I finished my AA at the community college and now Florida State University was forced to accept me.

I applied to be an art major and eventually auditioned for the Bachelor of Fine Arts program. They only accepted a handful of students each semester and the program itself only consisted of about 50-60 students at a time. I graduated in 2010 Cum Laude with a BFA in Studio Art from FSU. At the same time I was doing an artist internship at a business affiliated with FSU called Master Craftsman Studios. I learned how to pour iron, create mosaics, pour concrete and a variety of other sculptural based art work. I also began an apprenticeship at Fine Art For Life Tattoo around the time I was graduating from college. At this point I was on a mission to make as much art as possible even though in retrospect I was really just continuing to do what I loved. I didn’t have any kind of actual plan. I was still graciously working in insurance part time to pay my bills in addition to taking out student loans. I never slept during those years. Fortunately, because my grades were so good, my last two years of college were paid for by grants. Sometimes now in retrospect when I think about it, I have no idea how I did it all. I was so broke. All the time. In the back of my mind though, all I knew is that I was having the time of my life making art and that no matter what, I couldn’t end up back in an office full time.

Once I graduated college and finally completed my apprenticeship I started tattooing part time. I was terrible at it. My mentor, Mike Tuten, (who would eventually become my future husband) started encouraging me to quit my job. I sobbed for months telling him that I couldn’t possibly do that because I didn’t have the money to support myself with the few poor tattoos I was doing a week. Another few months went by and with his continued encouragement and support I finally took the leap and quit insurance for good. It was horribly scary times. I barely had money for food or any kind of rent. It was worse than how broke I was in college. I kept at it though. I couldn’t go back at this point, I was all in!

Fast forward two years and I was progressing rapidly with my art and tattooing. Mike continued to teach me and push me diligently every day to paint and create other forms of art. He had been tattooing and creating art for over ten years longer than me professionally. He basically mentored me through every project I worked on. After only two years he closed his tattoo shop and I went through what he called “hyper drive apprenticeship” where we traveled up and down the entire east coast tattooing at shops all the way to Vermont and back to Florida. I learned so much during that time. When we returned he encouraged me and walked me through the process of opening my first tattoo shop. I couldn’t have done it without him. Forever Young Tattoo was very successful and we had a great time with it. We had a handful of artists working with us over the years. After a while we started traveling and tattooing more and more all over the country and eventually internationally. Next thing we knew our desire to travel and tattoo, especially overseas, was insatiable. I wanted to work in a bigger city with well known artists I admired. I was ready for a bigger pond. We closed shop and took a huge risk and moved to California. We were back to square one with no clients and now living thousands of miles from family and friends. We had saved up enough to spend a half a year painting in the mountains and eventually opened our next venture there called Fine Art For Life Studio in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles. We quickly built a clientele and it was a great success. Not without its trials though. I walked up and down mountain hills miles in snow for half a year when our only vehicle died once. We worked at multiple shops around LA part time during the first year of our business being open before we could afford to stay on the mountain and work full time at our shop. The only other local tattooer had given the area a bad reputation for getting tattooed so we had to fight against the stigma. We were determined to make it work though. There was no way we were going to go back to Florida defeated. Mike and I always treated art like war. There was no way we were going to lose. We spent most of our nearly 5 years there tattooing and selling watercolor paintings. After a year or so our business was thriving and we had multiple artists working with us. Those years working in LA and the beautiful mountains outside LA were some of the best years of my life. I think what set us apart from a lot of other tattooers is the care and love we put into each piece. Also the fact that we paint so much and have taken on many other artistic endeavors. I feel like it shows in our work that we’re more than just technicians.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Let me start off by saying, I am not rich. Not even close. In the past, every time I’ve told someone that I am going to start a business their first question is, “Who are your investors?” Or, “I hope you have (insert some absurd amount of money) to do that!” The fact is, I don’t agree with that at all. I’ve accomplished most of what I’ve done in my career with just enough money to get started and carry me through the first three to six months. Like anything, there’s a million ways to bring an idea to fruition. Not saying that my way will work for everyone. Obviously, if you’re manufacturing a product in mass scale, for instance, there are a lot more factors to consider. In my case, I know my product. I know my clientele. I know how much monthly income I’m currently making. I do my research and use common sense. I calculate exactly how much money I need to make every day versus how much money I will be expending. Again, use common sense. If I was barely able to pay my bills selling my product, I probably wouldn’t jump into opening a store front without a large investment to back me up. The idea is to start small. Start with a low overhead and a great product. You can use social media so much to your advantage for free advertising. I’ve seen plenty of people start small businesses out of their home or online that have grown to be very successful with little to no money to start. Now, obviously the more money you have, the less you might have to physically work and you can outsource labor, etc. That’s great if you can afford it, but the majority of us can’t. You just have to be willing to put in the research, work and hours of shameless self promotion to get there. Also, get creative! There are so many ways to get to where you want to be without saving a million dollars to jump into the ideal platform for your business. I’ve watched at home bakers and food carts turn into thriving local stores by starting at local markets and fairs. I’ve seen people who write poetry and books in their spare time in their bedrooms become published and flourishing in their field by finding the right outlet. You never know what opportunities are waiting if you don’t seek them out.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I think one of the most effective strategies for growing my clientele has been being myself. I learned a long time ago that clients really love to know the people behind the work. Your story is important. For a long time I avoided putting anything too personal online. I tried to keep everything strictly business. When my husband got sick it forced me to be more vocal about our personal situations. Even before that we went through struggles with the business. One time our building in California was flooding constantly every time in rained and our slumlord didn’t care at all. Being vocal about it (but not in an overly annoying or needy way) ended up benefiting our situation by showing our supportive clients what we were up against just to keep our business alive. People respect hard work and perseverance because it isn’t easy. Everyone has struggles and I think that sharing both the good and the bad times are important. People relate to that. Especially now in a time of social media being so prevalent. We’ve gotten to a point where big business is controlling most of capitalist America and people want to support small businesses and real individuals and their families more than ever. People like realness. I’m not saying to post every little emotion you have or overwhelm your viewers with nonsense that’s irrelevant to your business, but a healthy amount of “this is me and this is my story”, is important.      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shannonyoungtattoo.bigcartel.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/shannonyoungtattoo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonyoungtattoo