You don’t want to waste your life burning countless hours stuck in your morning commute, mindlessly filling out paperwork, or getting yelled at by bosses. There’s so much more to life than driving people around in a ridesharing car or typing up expense reports. Instead of dreading every work day, you could start a new career and follow your passion to become a professional tattoo artist. But no matter how excited you are about following your dreams and starting your tattoo artist career, any job change that big may seem scary at first.

Thankfully, you don’t have to start your new tattoo artist career alone. Unlike art schools, traditional colleges, or trade schools, we’re ready to help you change your career into something you’ll really love. Whether you work from behind a desk, behind a steering wheel, or from home, we’re here to guide you every step of the way toward the career of your dreams. Below we’ll discuss the 4 steps you can take to begin your tattoo artist career today (and how we’ll help you do it)!

1. Think about your current job.

Does it allow you to express yourself creatively? Do you feel inspired going into work every day? Do you have the opportunity to use your art degree or art training? If the answer to any of these is no, then you have a great opportunity now to pursue artistic independence and turn your profession into something that makes you feel creatively free. Your job doesn’t need to be something that buries you in paperwork, forces you to be stuck in traffic for eons, and robs you of the energy you need to create art. It’s possible to earn a great income in the arts by working as a professional tattoo artist.

2. Do your research!

Anyone who’s looking to achieve artistic independence needs to know how to transition from their current day job into a sustainable, productive, artistic field that still pays their bills. While little online shops and craft shows can be fun, tattooing is a billion-dollar industry that’s growing every year. Millions more people are getting tattoos and there’s never been a better time to learn this craft.

That said, not all tattoo artist training is the same, and not all training will help you to reach your goals. For decades, the model has been to seek a tattoo apprenticeship and learn directly from those working tattoo artists. This is a great plan, but traditional apprenticeships can be very hard to get and unfortunately are often not designed to be fair. We’ve experienced first-hand the frustrations of trying to learn tattooing in other apprenticeships, where aspiring artists are stuck at the front desk or mopping the floors instead of learning the craft. If you’re really working toward artistic independence, you need to make sure that you’re learning to tattoo through an apprenticeship or training that’s structured for you to win quickly, not keep you in indentured servitude. To make things easy, we’ve put together this handy blog comparing different tattoo schools and training programs.

3. Now that you’ve done your homework, it’s time to take the plunge!

We know that starting a new chapter in your life can be nerve wracking, so we created our tattoo workshops. These are low-pressure, day-long workshops where artists can see for themselves how our tattoo apprenticeships are designed to help you achieve creative freedom and financial stability. Not only will we provide insider tips into the tattoo industry, but we’ll get you hands-on experience with a tattoo machine. We’ll do everything we can to provide you with a seamless transition into artistic independence with total transparency.    

4. Watch your artistic freedom flourish!

When you start a new career, there’s typically a lot of uncertainty about what kind of community you’ll find. At Body Art & Soul Tattoos, we’ve carefully developed a team of artists and built an artistic culture that champions collaboration. And those aren’t empty words! Our mission is to ensure equal opportunity for everyone who embodies excellence in the tattoo industry, worldwide. This means that everyone, from your world-class trainers to the artists that inspire you, are supportive and like minded. Our tattoo studios are open to any artist, regardless of age, skin color, orientation, gender, or background. No matter who you are, you’ll be welcomed into this new career and community.

Having lived it ourselves, we know how empowering and rewarding it can be to transition from heartless corporate America to the artistic independence of being a professional tattoo artist. With a love for art and a willingness to learn, we believe that everyone is capable of achieving their creative goals through our tattoo apprenticeships. Let this summer be the season you change your life and start pursuing the creative freedom that you deserve.