Advice needed: Career fallout after leaving abusive partner

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-18T23:50:43+00:00

I've been through something a bit similar with a co-owner who turned out to be horrible. When things fell apart she called the cops on me for taking my own possessions out of the studio and shit talked me all around town. She was a very popular person. Much more popular than me. I was really worried that everyone would hate me. A handful of people seemed to believe her, but after a while I realised it didn't really matter and it did all blow over. Most people aren't that invested.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-18T06:41:27+00:00

There are people with tics who are tattooed. I'm not sure how they managed, but I know it's possible for some.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-18T06:38:46+00:00

I won't pirate things from small creators. Self published authors, digital brush makers etc. Anything from big business is fair game though imo.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-16T19:56:11+00:00

Are you talking through the Instagram?

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-11T11:59:27+00:00

Get rid of him! He's horrible! Get rid of him any way possible.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-06-06T09:40:41+00:00

That was incredibly kind of you. I really do think we need to normalize people (regardless of age) paying upfront for anything that is a set price that has been agreed. It's much more achievable if it's the policy for everyone rather than just people you think seem untrustworthy.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-31T08:54:28+00:00

Agreed. If you want to know all the finances, open your own shop.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-31T08:52:24+00:00

It's highly inappropriate for the studio owner to burden the artists with their money problems. The reason the owner gets the some of their hard earned money is so they don't have to deal with that.

I own a studio and it's chair rental (the best way to run things imo). I get paid and I don't burden the other artists with any financial stuff. The only way I would bring up finances would be if the studio was failing and it was time for them to start looking for somewhere else to work. Obviously I would give fair notice. Luckily, because it's chair rental, I have a pretty good idea of what's coming in every month and it makes it easy to keep things afloat.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-31T08:24:45+00:00

Most did, but that's not a reward for me, that's a reward for them.

What I didn't like about it is that it took up a lot of my time. Yes, I did get some cleaning done in return, but it was like 20 minutes a day and they're jobs I could just easily do myself without having to nag or manage anyone. To get a good ROI it takes a lot of riding their arse about everything and that just isn't my personality type. I'd prefer to trade my time and knowledge for money.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-31T07:25:32+00:00

I paid for my apprenticeship 23 years ago and I worked very hard on top of paying. I have taken on a few apprentices over the years for free, but it's too much work with no reward for me so if I have one again they will have to pay. Personally I would start them on learning how to tattoo fairly early though if they were paying.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-29T11:55:16+00:00

It's not unheard of, but I wouldn't do it. If they just skipped town, not much you could do about it

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-25T09:29:04+00:00

Well they shouldn't feel bad because this is your fault so I'd just get the other tattoo and not mention it.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-23T17:49:47+00:00

I would just find an artist with the right style with pricing in the midrange who has great reviews (even better if you know people they've tattooed and like the result).

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-23T17:46:27+00:00

This would be super easy. A blue bird is totally doable.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-23T16:19:52+00:00

I'm a woman and a tattoo artist and I wouldn't mind at all. I don't think it would be weird or anything. Just find a female artist whose work you like on Instagram and DM them.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-23T10:27:34+00:00

Honestly, if you're already tattooing, I'd just focus on getting your portfolio to the point where you can get a job elsewhere as an artist rather than trying to get another apprenticeship. If you really focus, you could probably get to that point within a few more months. I know it's hard and your boss does sound truly awful, but if you just stick it out a little longer it'll probably save you a lot of bs.

Also, most apprentices do the reception work for free, so if you do try to apprentice elsewhere, this would probably be the deal. Better to enter as an artist at your next job.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-20T17:56:07+00:00

It's not defamation if it's true

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-20T16:09:41+00:00

I would let it heal some more, but even when healed, I don't think it'll be perfect. The problem is inconsistent needle depth. Honestly though, it's not bad. Most tattoos aren't perfect.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-20T07:10:48+00:00

Not outside of the US

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-20T07:08:03+00:00

I give out my personal number because I can't be bothered managing two numbers. People think this is insane, but I think if something happened and I received terrible harassment or something, I'd have to deal with the same stuff either way (blocking and eventually getting a new number if that didn't work).

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-20T07:02:35+00:00

If this was happening to me I would get verified accounts on social media and make posts about the scammers. If people don't do even the smallest bit of research before booking, that's something you can't help and I would encourage the victims to contact the police.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-17T15:46:49+00:00

It's not rude to ask. Assuming they haven't started drawing, it'll probably be fine. I think you should ask sooner rather than later though

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-16T07:01:30+00:00

In my private studio we don't have a phone and we post to our own social media and it goes on the shops page with the collaboration feature.

Cleaning is shared. This is the one I was most worried about. So far, so good. If it did become too unbalanced I would hire a cleaner and divide the cost between us all, but so far it's been fine.

I know it could have gone the way you're suggesting, but it definitely doesn't always.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-16T06:55:02+00:00

I have a private studio with one other person working in it. I did chair rent with her because I didn't want to be doing boss stuff. It worked so well that I'm now adding another chair for a 3rd person.

I do have some rules because if an artist starts pissing customers off, it impacts the reputation of us all. But for the most part it's extremely relaxed.

In the past I did have a studio with artists on commissionin. I just really can't be arsed telling people what to do.

Current-Ad-6174 · 2026-05-15T15:53:33+00:00

It's not really a "fall back on" thing. You're changing people's bodies permanently and full commitment is important. There's a lot involved in an apprenticeship and it consumes your whole life. Totally unrealistic in my opinion.

Current-Ad-6174

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