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

Alright, Tony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Taking a risk……that can be such a nerve-wracking experience; especially when the risk is so big. We took a huge risk when opening Imperial Tattoo Company. The tattoo studio I was working at decided to just shut down without any warning. They actually sent people to the shop to tell me as I was in the middle of a tattoo. I was shocked, but whatever….life goes on and you just have to keep going. I had a lot of clients in that area, so I left my phone number on the front door in case they needed to reach me. This was before Instagram was some huge thing and word of mouth was still a big marketing tool. Turns out the people that owned the shop just bailed on their lease with the landlord. Then the landlord saw my note on the door and contacted me. Up until this moment, the thought of owning my own tattoo studio hadn’t even crossed my mind. I had to think about it for a few days but ultimately decided it was something I needed to do. I don’t know what it was, but I just had a feeling. I went to my wife, Sarah and told her what I wanted to do. I told her to trust me and after discussing it, she agreed and put her faith in me. We took all of our life savings, which wasn’t much, and opened Imperial Tattoo Company. It was a huge risk because it was literally all the money we had. We made it work and it has been such an amazing journey. We have an awesome crew and we have been open for over 12 years now. We are very happy we took that risk!

Tony , 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?

I am a self-taught Tattooer and I have been tattooing for 21 years. I have learned a lot in my career, but I definitely don’t recommend the self-taught route to anyone because I made a lot of mistakes along the way. A proper apprenticeship by someone knowledgeable is the way to go. I wish I had someone to show me the rights and wrongs of tattooing instead of learning it on my own. I think this is why I love to share my knowledge with anyone that works at our studio. I never planned on owning my own studio, but here we are. I knew when we opened this studio that we wanted to run it differently than most tattoo studios at that time. I wanted to really harp on professionalism. I didn’t like that an average person would walk into a tattoo shop and probably feel intimidated. It could be a whole new thing for them, and the typical tattoo studio could be a very intimidating thing walking in to. Either the people there were not welcoming, or maybe the client didn’t know the right questions to ask. Plus, back then a lot of Tattooers were assholes. When you walked in that shop, things were done their way or you get out. That’s just the way it was when I first started. Hell, even now there are still some shops run this way. I wanted to run my studio the complete opposite. I wanted people to feel welcomed when they came in, and if they didn’t know the questions to ask, we could educate them on what to ask. So we run our studio like a little doctor’s office or boutique salon. Everything is organized, clean, and professional. When you come in for your appointment, your artist is already set up and ready to go with your design in hand. I hate when I go to other shops and the Tattooer is just now getting set up at the time of your appointment and now you have to wait. I have plenty of friends that do this and it drives me nuts ha ha. I understand that everyone’s time is valuable. We also do all these other little things to try and go above and beyond. We send out appointment reminder calls and emails four days before your appointment. We do check up calls two weeks after your appointment. We email you aftercare instructions so you don’t lose them. Those are just some of the things we do to try and set us apart from other places. Just read our reviews and you’ll see that quality work, professionalism, and cleanliness are the main things people mention…and that’s exactly what we aim for.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Sometimes managing a team can be an unknown road. When you have a great team though, things seem to just operate smoothly. I really believe that hiring likeminded people who have the same goals and outlook is important. I think being a good boss requires someone who is a natural born leader. I am a big believer in “leading by example”. A good leader will do the same things they expect of their employees. You’re all in this together and you’re there to lead the way. I also think team building and quality time really helps. It’s nice to get out of the shop and have fun as a crew.

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

I think just owning and operating a business shows one’s resilience in a lot of ways. It can definitely be hard at times. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that people probably don’t even think about. There have always been rough patches, but one time period hit really hard. We had an amazing crew going and it was the same strong crew for about 7 years. Then 3 members decided to leave and try new things all within a span of a few months. Two of them started their careers at our shop. I helped mentor them and train them in their craft. So understandably they wanted to spread their wings and try new things. So of course, I was happy for them and wished nothing but the best for them. I am proud of the people they have become. But it definitely hits hard when people like that leave, especially in such a short time frame. You just have to remember everyone has a life to live. Everyone has their own journey. Just be happy you were a part of it, and they were a part of yours. Nothing but love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.imperialtattoocompany.com
• Instagram: @tony_wayne @imperialtattoocompany
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sugarlandtattoo

Image Credits
Brandon (for my action shot)