Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Keith Thompson.
Hi Brian, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Oh, that’s a big question. In a nutshell, I took a chance on an opportunity. I decided it was worth the risk because I wasn’t really happy in my corporate job. Every single person told me I was making a mistake, but I felt in my gut that I wasn’t so I took the chance. I leapt without looking. I invested $125,000 in two studios. I only wanted one of them but they came as a package. I didn’t know anything about the business I was getting into but I knew that I loved it. It was one of the hardest things that I’ve done. Now, I’m not going to lie and say there weren’t times that I felt I’d made a mistake. For years I felt that way. But I kept pressing on and I just kept believing in myself. As hard as it was, and I don’t know how to say this without sounding disingenuous, but the struggle almost made it worth it. It was like the more I struggled, the more it felt great when I achieved these small goals. It felt like I would struggle, struggle, and struggle, and then when I would reach the goal, I would just feel extraordinarily happy. I guess it was like an NFL football player making touchdowns. That was how it kind of felt to me. You wanted to make a touchdown and then you did it!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The hardest part of it was not having any friends that were business owners that I could really get advice from. I didn’t have anybody to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do—be careful over here, don’t do this, it can be tricky over there. Some of these situations I would get into were just because of my ignorance about the business I was in. One of the mistakes I made early on was signing a contract with this shady credit card company. And the only way I could get out of the contract was to call the company every day for months. Every day and complained. Multiple times a day, in fact. They finally said, “You know what, if you promise never to call again, we will tear up this contract.” And I was like, “Yeah, no problem! Bye!” And I never called them again. It was like the old saying goes, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” I also had times where all my employees would get together and quit on me because they decided they didn’t want to work for a non-tattoo artist. Because I wasn’t a tattoo artist, I was considered an outsider coming in, and it was very much frowned upon in the industry when I got into it. I’d also given up all my money to buy the place. I slept on the floor and lived out of the trunk of my car. But I’m telling you, some of those struggles are some of my fondest memories. A client the other day wanted to know how I became successful. I asked her if she had a few days to discuss. Because it’s not one thing. It’s a thousand things coming together and working perfectly. Like your car, there are so many different aspects that make it work well. It’s not just the engine or the transmission, the windshield, and the left tire, and the tailpipe. It’s everything. One thing breaks down and you’re no longer driving.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Body Electric Tattoo?
I’m a piecer and owner of Body Electric Tattoo in Los Angeles.
Any big plans?
For the first time in business, I feel like I’m in a fog because I don’t have a clear idea on which direction is the absolutely right direction to go. I feel things are moving and changing at such a record pace. The political uncertainty in this country. The polarization. The country basically pulling into two separate tribes, us and them. This is not going to be good for any business. If we don’t figure out as a country how to live together and accept one another’s differences, I don’t know what type of future we’re going to have in business. I’m 15 years in. I’m 50 years old and I love what I do. I love my studio, but I do feel a little anxious some days of the future and what it holds for all of us. My plans now: I’m going to be opening a private jewelry store within the store. I’ve expanded my piercing rooms. I have two side-by-side now that are very unique and interesting looking, and I put a lot of time into it. I’ve been building it out since 2017. People around me are like, “What’s taking so long?” and I’m like, “Dude, this is the way I do it.” It goes back to the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” I can’t just slap some plaster and paint on something and open it. It has to be right for me. And it’s getting really close. So that’s new. I also have plans to start branching out. I want to start going to New York more often. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world. That place, whenever I’m there, it just inspires me. I don’t know what it is about the energy. It’s electric. It pumps me up. When I get back from New York, I feel like I’ve done something. I just have this new passion and it just opens my mind. It’s an exciting city to be in. And hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to travel globally and do what I do. It’s a dream to be able to travel and meet people from all over the world in different hemispheres and work with them. That is a dream, and that’s something that I look forward to in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://bodyelectrictattoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodyelectrictattoo/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjd196lw4VFmsV29bnrnpg
- Other: https://www.briankeiththompson.com
Image Credits
Ray Kachatorian
