We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zoey Hunter Vick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Zoey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Heart n Soul Tattoo, Its what I knew it would take to make it – my Heart and Soul. I come from a self employed family so I had very little fear of being self employed. I believe deeply in the roots of my trade and its history – doing it “right”..meaning doing a proper apprenticeship and going from there. My road wasn’t as simple as I had thought it would be, after a few years working for the artist who initially taught me the tools of the trade I branched out to meet older tattooers who were much more like minded to me. The spark was there, I was hungry to take in the entire world of tattooing and to learn it from the men I saw on pages of magazines when I was a kid and only dreamed of tattooing. They opened my eyes to a different perspective of tattooing, once I could see it clearly I knew where I was wasn’t where I wanted to be. I wanted to hold onto the traditions of the old generations, I wanted to tattoo people who wanted more than number 4 on flash sheet 6 on the wall, I wanted to leave behind a legacy for my kids to be proud of ; and I wanted to make my father proud and stand on my own to feet and “make it” because I worked hard. I had a client who trusted me with his back even though I was new in this , I was honest that it was more than I could handle so he would get one piece of the artwork at a time as my skills developed. He reminded me a lot of my father so I found myself very fond of him as my father had only died a few years earlier. I had already planned my departure into owning my own studio and I had told myself I would name it Heart n Soul Tattoo because I was jumping on a leap of faith with very little financial backing so it was going to take that to make it, but I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone – when this particular client came in on his last session I told him my plan and he looked at me and said “kid, this place will go under without you” I laughed and said no, I’m just one tattooer here and he responded with ” No, you are the heart and soul of this place and when its gone its gone”. I laughed and kept it to myself how weird that statement was considering what name I had been throwing around in my head. He came to my grand opening and the look on his face when he saw the sign was priceless and emotional. I’ll never forget how I felt, everything in that moment was right. 21 years later we are still standing, I opened the door with the last ten bucks I had to my name in my pocket and a hope. My kid brother has always stood next to me and now he runs the original shop on his own and I run the one in Texas. We maintain the foundation of day 1, we stick true to who we are as individuals, we try to enjoy the ride even in the roughest of times and we do our best to keep our people happy with not only their artwork but the way they are treated along the whole journey.
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
Well , I’ve been able to draw almost as long as I can remember. When I was a kid artist kids weren’t so openly accepted, the guidance counselors would tell you to be an architect or a graphic designer an that was about all they pushed and then they would just shrug their shoulders and tell you there is always the military or art teaching. It was a very closed minded time , fortunately my father would always tell me I didn’t have to fit in anyone’s box , that it would work out an not too get discouraged. I went to art school and I fell in love with tattoo magazines, I had seen tattooed people my whole life , it was beautiful and mysterious to me . I wasn’t happy in art school , I walked away and I worked hard at regular jobs until I landed an apprenticeship.. the first time I held a tattoo machine I have the overwhelming feeling of home in my soul . I offer custom tattooing, scar covering and body piercing. I got into scar covering because I was furious a close friend of my aunt who had breast cancer was being charged to have her surgeons nurse tattoo the nipple on . I felt like she had already been through enough and now this insurance says her nipple is cosmetic? And this nurse is charging you 800$ to do this? Absolutely not. I called other tattooers that I knew had more experience than I did and asked them how to do it – since then I’ve covered mastectomy scars, replaced the nipples , covered burn victim scars as well as self harm scars and surgical scars. I love what I do in general but scar covering is a very specialized section of my trade that comes with a completely different gratification to do . I find that my proudest moments always lie with my brother and how far he has come in our trade on his own hard work but if I have to think about it completely on myself it would be the fact that most of my clients become so loyal they end up generational- I have so many wonderful families that I’ve worked on the parents , the grandparents and then their kids turn 18 an often we get to all be together while I tattoo the kids . It’s a really great thing to be a part of – I get to know them on a different level – we get to tattoo creatively and to celebrate happy moments in their lives and often I get to help them through the grief of loss as well . It’s important for me to work hard every day and hopefully make my clients know they are more important than the money I charge .
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Since I’ve come to the Fort Worth area I am honestly stunned that the most common client complaint is how rude and non responsive other artists are . If I only heard it once or twice I’d have dismissed it but it’s literally told to us in person, via email and msgs almost daily for the last few years . So I believe what built my client base in this area has a lot to do with this , this area is saturated with tattooers . There are lots of talented people so after they realize your good and reach out then they choose us based on how the next steps go . I find no sense in procrastination on responding to clients reaching out to us nor do I feel the need to be unapproachable when they visit my business in person. We are human , we can’t click with every client but being honest and professional goes a long way . In today’s world I feel as though people find it refreshing to just have an artist be candid with them over their project and stay on top of the appointments. It’s my livelihood, it’s my passion , it’s my legacy – I want my clients to feel that off me , I want them to feel like their skin is important to me whether it’s a basic name or a Backpiece.
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Any fun sales or marketing stories?
My favorite marketing was a Tattoo-o-thon. Technically it’s a charity event we do but marketing is difficult in my business, “sales” etc are frowned upon in the industry as it cheapens our art form , and we don’t resale anything really so it’s hard to do sales/marketing events . This tattoo o thon is put on in Northern California by an older tattooer who’s been in the area for over 40 years . The pressure is definitely on , it’s all over the television news, papers, internet social media and news outlets- I was just one of 20-25 artists so your nervous you won’t stand out , that your shop name will just get loss in the sea of others , the stress of can I tattoo in shifts for 24hrs? Are we going to make the money for them? It was a lot to juggle mentally and physically combined with knowing you are about to donate your time and everything else after flying there all in hopes that you not only have a successful event but you can market your own shop through it all . In the end we raised 18 thousand dollars for UC Davis children’s hospital, I got to see old friends and make new ones , I ended up in a few of the write ups and took away several clients that ended up long term at my shop there . It was a such a great experience I’ve decided to do the same event here in Fort Worth . Get all these artists together for a fantastic cause with an outlet to also self promote..
Contact Info:
- Website: hearts soul tattoo.com
- Instagram:zoeydmonster2
- Facebook: heartnsoultatttoo
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
Zoey Hunter Vick