We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Timothy Howell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Timothy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I opened Port Side tattoo back in 2018 with an emphasis of putting a spotlight on San Diego tattoo art and the rich history that the city has to offer, we have survived shop floods and a Covid pandemic so far and it’s such a joy to watch the shop grow and evolve every year

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

I’m born and raised in San Diego and got my start here in North Park, I’ve always strived to do the highest quality tattoo that is possible but also put an emphasis on customer service and guiding the client in the right direction. We have tons of never before seen tattoo flash here at the shop so the client can choose a rare more unseen design which is a really neat feature of Port Side

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I first met my wife back in 2009 when I was pretty new to tattooing, she was a client for a few years and then we eventually began dating. When I brought up the idea of opening a tattoo shop she was really quick and efficient on finding places for rent and really making everything happen behind the scenes that most may not know about when it comes to opening a business. She is now the “shop mom” but also really serves as the backbone to the shop and is such an asset to everything we strive to be here at Port Side

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I tattooed full time while simultaneously building the shop which was quite the task and undertaking, it really made me appreciate the shop that much more and understand that putting blood sweat and tears into what you love is really a thing, in January 2020 our year started off with someone kicking in our window and a pandemic followed shortly after which was really a test on the strength of the shop and our will to strive and survive, after these tests I feel like the shop can survive anything and we are resilient

Contact Info:

• Website: Portsidetattoosd Diego.com
• Instagram: Portsidetattoosd
• Facebook: Port side tattoo
• Twitter: Portside_tattoo
• Yelp: Port side tattoo

Image Credits
Taylor Kuykendall took the black and white artist photos