Sage Advice: Episode 2 │Brandie Cottrell
Presented by: Crum Consulting
Host: Maria Johnson, Junior Consultant in Marketing
Guest: Brandie Cottrell, Owner of Serenity Tattoo Studio
Full Interview: https://youtu.be/60CSSvpt7Xw?si=rYeikqWIc-D4AaMI
Maria: Hello and welcome to the Sage Advice series, presented by Crum Consulting. I'm Maria Johnson, junior consultant in marketing, and I'm thrilled to introduce our next guest today, Brandie Cottrell, owner of Austin's own Serenity Tattoo Studio.
Brandie: Hello.
Maria: How are you?
Brandie: I am doing okay. Sorry for missing this morning.
Maria: It's totally fine.
Brandie: The holidays dysregulate me, so I don't know what's up, down, left, right.
Maria: That's very real, so I totally get it. We can jump straight into the origin question. I kind of wanted to get a background story of when you started Serenity, what inspired you to even become a tattoo artist, and how you landed in Serenity as it is now.
Brandie: So I've always been an artist, and as a child I just remember I wanted to do two things, it was either become a tattoo artist or become a counselor. Running a business kind of ends up being both. But I remember my mom getting a tattoo, her first tattoo, whenever she was 35, and it was of a unicorn. To me, it was huge, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, it just seemed very magical. I think I was 11 at that time, but I didn't want to become a tattoo artist yet. I think I wanted to become a tattoo artist whenever I was like 15, maybe 14 or 15.
At 15 or 16, I started to build little jailhouse tattoo machines out of electrical toothbrushes and remote control cars.
Maria: What? I can't tell you how I did it now, but that's hilarious.
Brandie: I was crafty.
Maria: So you said you were 15?
Brandie: 15 or 16.
Maria: That's awesome.
Brandie: Yeah, could go into engineering too. But it's funny, I have the hardest time putting together a tattoo machine now. My mom was a huge support, she bought me a tattoo kit whenever I was 17. At 19, I started my apprenticeship, and I've been tattooing ever since. I didn't think that I was going to stay in tattooing, like the first ten years it was stuck in my head that I needed to find a real job.
So after I had my son, I went to school for counseling, and I did that for like a year. Then I met my husband, and we moved up to, sorry, I don't know if you can hear my bird, but he wants to chime in.
Maria: Oh, you're fine, that's so cute.
Brandie: We moved up to Austin, me and my son, and it was pretty much do or die. I had to really jump into tattooing, there was that fear of survival. So I did, and then I found out that I absolutely love tattooing. It really felt like I woke up one day and I'm like, I'm going to open up a tattoo shop.
Maria: That's awesome.
Brandie: Before that, if you would have asked me if I wanted to do that, I would have thought you were batshit crazy. I did not see myself being a leader, managing people. But as soon as that switch went off in me, there was no fear, there was no doubt, I just did everything I had to do to open it.
Maria: What would you say switched in you, since you said you were going to school, right, like where did that transition happen where you were just like, you know what, I'm going to do tattooing instead, that's my passion, not this?
Brandie: Well, I still love personal development stuff, so I'm still kind of in that, but I think a lot of it was, at the time I was a drug counselor, and that wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. Also, you don't make a lot of money. With tattooing, I was still able to talk with my clients, I could talk to them about whatever I wanted to talk to them about, and they could talk to me. That was a huge part of it, the best of both worlds.
Maria: Yeah, exactly.
Brandie: I got to do both of it. I got to use a lot of the skills and go deeper with my clients. I didn't get to see them once, most of them I didn't see once a week, but that's a wild thing.
Maria: I couldn't imagine a tattoo a week, but that'd be really cool.
Brandie: And job security.
Maria: Yes.
Brandie: So they get a little bit of a counseling session along with some art. They always say that tattoo artists are like your therapist and your friend, and kind of like your hairdresser.
Maria: That's awesome. So tattooing is a very male-dominated industry, as are many industries, but obviously you're a woman tattoo shop owner. What was getting into that like for you? Like you said, you didn't really feel like a leader, but you're kind of part of pioneering women-owned shops in an industry that can be kind of a guys' club.
Brandie: Well, so in 2012, actually, more women started getting tattooed than men, and that's definitely how it is now. I would say in the beginning, whenever I first started, I started in 2008, a lot of people thought I was a receptionist. I never took offense to it, because usually they'd be like, oh, you're doing my tattoo? And I'd be like, yes, yes I am. And they're like, oh, I've never had a female tattoo artist, you're going to be my first one. So there was a lot of opportunity in the beginning to change people's perspective, and that was fun, that was interesting.
At the time I didn't know that's what I was doing, but looking back now, I had several opportunities to give clients a good experience and get tattooed by a female. Nowadays I don't think it's nearly as hard to find a female tattoo artist, we're definitely starting to flood the industry if we haven't already. The only thing is that a lot of the shops that have been around for ten-plus years are male-dominated, because they were the staple, they were here before women really started stepping into the industry. So they have that old-school, hard rock and roll, party-hardy, "I'm going to sit in the corner and look tough" mentality. I have to say, I've worked in those shops and I absolutely love those men. But if I walk into a tattoo shop that I'm not familiar with, I get nervous.
Maria: Yeah.
Brandie: But I will tell you right now, all those men are just huge softies. Most people in the tattoo industry, actually, if they're covered in tattoos and their eyes are blacked out and their head is tattooed and they look scary, they're usually quiet, dorky, introverted people. Not to say that there aren't tattoo artists out there where, since this is a close contact art, there is a lot of inappropriate stuff that happens to women. Whenever I first started, I was probably hired because the guy thought I was hot, I'm not going to deny that, and it is what it is. But there's a lot more awareness in the tattoo industry now of that kind of stuff, and also a lot more availability for women to have other women tattoo artists.
Honestly, I think there needs to be a big change, there's not a lot of tattoo artists of color, and there's not a lot of people of color who get tattooed, because they have this idea that it's not going to show up, it's not going to look good. But if you get a tattoo artist that's educated with pigmented skin, then you'll be fine.
Maria: Yeah, I'm sure we can find something that you like. Would you have any advice for women trying to enter the industry, and especially, like you said, women of color trying to enter the industry, or any marginalized person?
Brandie: I would say anybody's capable of doing anything, I don't care your race or sex or anything like that. It can be more difficult, and those difficulties will arise, and it's just making sure that those don't keep you from doing what you want to do, or hindering your perspective on life. I do see a lot of women where there's a bitterness that will arise in somebody dealing with a lot of these struggles, and I would say, have the mentality of being the victor and not the victim. Go into it knowing there's going to be issues, there's going to be challenges that arise, and just make sure you remember that you're going to be victorious over it, and that none of that stuff is going to bring you down.
Also do your research. If you're a tattoo artist getting into the industry and you're a woman or somebody of color or anything like that, do your research on the shop, don't take the first shop that says yes. And even if you're a client, don't go to just any tattoo shop, make sure you look into the tattoo artist, that you feel comfortable, that you have a consultation, do your research.
Sorry, that was very breathy.
Maria: Oh, no, you're totally fine. I think it's these moments that make it fun and entertaining.
Brandie: I agree, it's nice knowing when you're not the only one that gets all worked up about this, because every time before I start these I'm like, why am I shaking? I have some ice packs behind my back, it helps cool my nervous system. I do it before every meeting.
Maria: That's really smart. Honestly, I have coffee, which is probably not a good idea before each.
Brandie: Yeah, that's fine, get away from the caffeine.
Maria: My caffeine addiction says no.
Brandie: That's fair.
Maria: So how many years has it been now that you've been running Serenity?
Brandie: We opened up January of 2022. There's a huge debate in the shop, none of us can do math, whether or not we've been open for three years or four years, I don't know why.
Maria: That's hilarious.
Brandie: Yeah, we're going on our fourth year.
Maria: Hell yeah, that's awesome. So how would you say that over that span of time, your relationship with your clients started to grow and evolve into that trust-based, very personal relationship that you mentioned earlier?
Brandie: That's something that I've always been good at with my clients. I always tell this story, but I worked in a shop with two other artists, and they were much better artists than me, but I was able to build better rapport with my clients, so I was able to keep up with them. If you have good rapport and trust with your clients, they will stick with you forever. Something I teach everybody in the shop is, you can have an amazing tattoo, but if the experience was really shitty with the artist, then that client is not going to be happy with their tattoo. You can have a shitty tattoo and the most amazing experience, and the tattoo is going to be all right.
Maria: Yeah.
Brandie: So you can grow your portfolio with that client.
Maria: Yes, that's how you did it in the beginning.
Brandie: Now at Serenity, we do great tattoos and we try our best to have great experiences. I would say now that I've opened up a business, I'm not as on top of my own game as I used to be, being able to, I wouldn't say it was a game, it was more that I had more energy and bandwidth to really sit and chat with my clients. I am a curious person, and sometimes too curious about my clients. Now, some days I really just want to come in, put in my headphones, put the TV on for my clients, and just let us vibe out. So I do that a lot more now.
Maria: I think a balance is pretty necessary, especially in an industry like that, where you kind of become someone's little counselor, or just someone to chat with, for however long you're tattooing them. It doesn't surprise me that energy gets taken away from you so fast, especially with running the whole place on top of it.
Brandie: Yeah, yeah.
Maria: Do you have any advice for people who kind of struggle with the same problems when it comes to communicating with clients, like how you can still build trust without having consistent communication?
Brandie: So a lot of artists have a hard time tattooing and talking at the same time, I do not find that difficult. But what you can do is find, like my thing is talking with the client and communicating on a deeper level. There's Rey, our other artist, sometimes she's also a talker, but she's also a gift-giver, so maybe even creating little take-home packets. Not every artist, most artists aren't very social, so there are other ways to build that rapport and that experience that doesn't involve a whole lot of chatting. What are the five love languages? Quality time, so kind of like you said, I'd consider that quality time, where you just throw something on and you're both enjoying each other's presence in silence.
Maria: Yeah, yeah.
Brandie: There's gift giving, food should be one of them too, you could provide them with a snack, just showing your gratitude and your love through your own love language. Not all clients are going to take it, but you're going to find your people who do enjoy that. There was also another artist who had a little goodie bag with a sticker and some ointment and a little note and a palo santo stick, it was super cute. And Rey, with her clients that she's had for a long time, will get food or flowers or other little gifts.
Maria: Sweet, that's really smart. And from a marketing perspective, speaking of branding, how important would you say branding and community has been toward your success? Would you consider your branding its own entity, or is it more an extension of you and your own personal taste?
Brandie: So it started off as its own entity. Branding isn't so hard, well, yes it is, it is difficult. Whenever I first started out, I didn't really want a super girly shop, I wanted a cozy, homey shop. It went girly on me anyway. I wanted it to be all light and love, a lot of white everywhere with plants and nature. And then there'd be days I came in and felt like, I just want to sit down and tattoo, not talk to anybody, though I try not to show that being a business owner. So I started to integrate some darker elements, painted the walls a darker purple.
The branding has evolved from being all sunlight and love, and now it's still a little bit of the sunlight but a little more moody too, depending on your flavor. I wanted to integrate both sides of that.
Maria: I think when it comes to that, you kind of get stuck in a mindset of, this is the brand and this is what it's always going to be. So when things start to change, it feels like you're starting over sometimes.
Brandie: Yeah, it's work, but whenever you have a business, it's always going to be work. It was fun once I got over the hump of the fear of changing it, like, gosh, how am I going to do that?
Maria: Would you say that was the biggest key to getting over that hump with branding, telling yourself, this is mine, I can do whatever I want, this isn't permanent, there are no rules?
Brandie: I had to have a lot of the other artists be like, you know, you could do this or do that. I'm like, oh, that's simple, and it's not, you know, $10,000.
Maria: So how would you say you got to where your branding is right now? What interests came into play, I'm curious.
Brandie: So Serenity, it comes from, I'm in recovery, I quit drinking alcohol in like 2012.
Maria: Congrats.
Brandie: Yeah, and my husband's in recovery as well, and just the personal development part of that. So Serenity comes from the Serenity Prayer, and my husband actually came up with it. I was freaking out, I couldn't think of anything, I'm not good with words, I'm not good with names or anything like that. And then, the walls were all white, I was thinking of the light and the love, and then I'm like, you know what, that's not who I am sometimes, that's not me all the time. And Serenity is just one part of the Serenity Prayer, there's also serenity, wisdom, acceptance, and there's one other one in there, but I have it painted up on the wall.
I love books, I love learning, I love spiritual stuff. Even though it's the Serenity Prayer, I wouldn't say I'm Christian, I love a bit of all of it. So it was, I wanted to base the shop off of education and diving deeper, and really getting to know yourself and accepting all sides of yourself, the light and the dark, because we're not always happy, and that's fine.
Maria: Is there anything that you wish you would have known before opening a tattoo studio, or any advice that you would have given 19-year-old apprentice you?
Brandie: So I think opening up the tattoo studio, I knew that I understood the tattoo industry, so there weren't any questions there. But I didn't really consider leaving. The last shops that I worked at were with older tattoo artists, I'd been in the industry for ten-plus years, and you come in, do your work, and leave. I wanted to take on a lot of newer artists that needed the guidance and needed the education. So I wish I would have kind of evaluated my weaknesses and strengths more, I did it softly, but I wish I'd gone a little bit deeper into it.
That first year was tough, I had a full shop, I thought the shop was doing great. It wasn't. I had every single tattoo artist leave me other than my apprentice, Althea.
Maria: Oh, wow.
Brandie: And it was because of my lack of leadership, my lack of communication skills, my lack of confidence. Luckily, I had hired Cole two weeks before that happened, our business manager, and for anybody watching this, as soon as she came in, it was pretty much just a fresh start, it worked out perfectly.
Maria: All right, so this is the last question I had typed out, your final sage advice. If someone is considering starting their own tattoo studio, or any creative business in general, what is your top piece of advice? Are there mindset shifts, practical steps you have to take, personal philosophies you start to adopt?
Brandie: Okay, so this actually helped me remember what I was going to say. I think the thing that I did do well at was asking for help, it's one of the hardest things.
Maria: Yeah, for sure.
Brandie: I'm not naturally good at it, but whenever I don't know something, I will seek out somebody that knows more. So if you're looking to get into the tattoo industry, a lot of apprentices will go through a teenage phase, they think that they know more and can do better than their mentors. I don't know why this happens, I went through it myself, so for the apprentices, watch out for that.
And then as a business owner, there's a lot of free resources that I use, I got a free business advisor. Whenever I started doing better, I was able to hook up with Cole and have Cole help me out, and that was well worth it. Now, I'm not good at email, so I delegate that out. If I am not good at something, I try not to tackle it, or I try to get educated in it.
Maria: I like that, that's not a route you hear very often. I feel like people always expect to brute force overcome things, and it takes a lot of self-reflection. I feel like I'm in that space right now, where I'm just like, oh, I don't have to do everything on my own, and I don't have to know how to do everything. So I don't have to put that weight on myself and take on burdens that are just unnecessary.
Brandie: Yeah, forget that, don't do it, build community.
Maria: Exactly, yes.
Brandie: Yes, and that's been great. Althea actually does my email. If I get over usually twelve emails, I will start crying, I start to get overwhelmed, oh my gosh, there's twelve emails I have to reply to. Now she does it though, because she enjoys it.
Maria: I love that. That'll definitely be some good advice for the neurodivergent crowd especially, because I totally get that, where like over a certain threshold in my inbox I'm like, I am two years behind on work at least, somehow.
Brandie: Yes, yeah.
Maria: So yeah, that was fun. Where can our audience find you, if they want to find Serenity Tattoo Studio online?
Brandie: Well, it's easy, you can either go to the website, which is serenitytattoostudio.com, or you can check us out on Instagram, which is just the @serenitytattoostudio, and we are located off north northwest Austin, Texas, off of Anderson.
