Ep. 190 ”Life’s Metamorphosis” (Diary Entry 1:2 with Lita Edwards)

[00:00:00] Happy Tuesday, diary listeners! Okay, we're here today and this will be a two-part podcast series, Diary Entry with Lita Edwards. And we're calling this first piece, Life's Metamorphosis. So enjoy, diary listeners. I know you will. Lita is a really, really awesome lady.

[00:00:23] Welcome to the Apprenticeship Diaries where raw meats refine. Let's be real, we're still working on refines. What it took, what it takes and the stories that are made. Join us as we learn from professionals about how their stories begin. Awesome. Welcome Apprenticeship Diaries listeners, diary.

[00:00:56] I don't know why that word is always hard, it always slurs. Anyway, I'm here today and blessed today to be with Lita Edwards of Metamorphosis Inc. And she also is on IG as Boobs and Tattoos is like a big forefront of the shop mostly centered

[00:01:17] around mastectomies and scar cover-up. In fact, we were just, we just met at Paradise and you did a whole seminar about reviving people and covering up their scars and things like that. So instant kind of acknowledgement of the healing in Tattoos, which is cool.

[00:01:38] Thank you for being here. You're welcome. Yeah, it's a pleasure. I'm really excited. I am too. I'm glad we crossed paths up there. It was a really good show and we had a few opportunities to kind of chitty chat. It's pretty awesome. Yeah, you're a cool lady.

[00:01:57] And I have to mention this because it was just such a cool thing that I think listeners should know. Right on your shoulder is this mouse that he's just so evocative. But it was, it filled in a reference for me. It's Popo Gijo, right?

[00:02:16] Popo Gijo. Yes. Popo Gijo. And I've heard of it. But I've never seen this infamous character, not infamous, this classic nostalgic character. And now I have a reference. So I might have to like take a picture, a screenshot or something just to show him.

[00:02:33] That's fine. I can send you another one close up if you'd like. I would. I would. That'd be so cool. That way it fills it in for everyone else. So if they hear about this, they can reference it. But I just thought he was such a cute character

[00:02:45] just sitting on your shoulder. It's awesome. We'll give the listeners a visual so that when they see and listen, they can have that and look up on their own. But that was pretty cool.

[00:02:58] So how long have you been tattooing at this point? 14 years going on 15 years next spring. Right on. So you now was a was a streamline like start tattooing and then go because

[00:03:17] my I had two apprenticeships and I combine the years to 15. But it was like start in like 2004 and work to 2005 and then come back at 2009 10. So I had a I had like a gap of experience. But did you just come in at like around 2009-ish 2010?

[00:03:41] Yeah, it's very first tattooing. Yes, I did for the industry in itself always been in the tattooing of course. But yeah, I got I kind of got thrown in there. It's been a really interesting journey

[00:03:55] for me. But that's when I ultimately started tattooing. I was 32 when I chose to seriously get into the industry with it. Very cool. I am I came in around 29 seriously and I was told how late

[00:04:12] in the game I was. Yeah. I was like really kind of I was like, dude, I feel like this is for everybody at every age like hello. You know what? You know what? I love about it. The fact that

[00:04:24] I'm not hating the fact that I came into it older because for many, many years prior to that, I worked in so many artistic and design industries that really honed what I brought to the table as

[00:04:38] a tattoo artist versus not having that knowledge. You know, I'm educated in landscaping. I'm educated in CAD and programming and design and architecture and interior stuff, you know, like I've done that for years painting, stuff like that. So it's been a fun journey. I'm really glad that it

[00:04:55] happened later in life. Me as well. I think that there's a quite the ownership of who I am at that point too and what my boundaries are. I mean, of course, I found them through tattooing too.

[00:05:11] But I knew a lot of my boundaries professionally in when I entered tattooing. And I think that's good too because there's a lot of abuse that can happen when you come in young. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:22] Yeah. I just literally just ran through my mind. I didn't come into it as a sex object for the guys in the studio, you know, I personally came right out of the hills of Tennessee, not in a major

[00:05:36] city or anything. So it was we might have had two shops in town, you know, the picking of where you were going to go and what you were going to do were extremely thin. So you had to have

[00:05:45] that tough again and just put up with a lot of bullshit. Yeah. There was only two females in town and I was one of them. Wow. Wow. Yeah, that was I feel like that was my beginning as well.

[00:05:59] It was very male dominated. Getting less so in my second round of apprenticeship, but my first round was like in a biker shop in Kentucky. So very much so that picture. Yeah, you get it.

[00:06:12] You get it. Yeah. Totally. I mean, it was fun. I'm not going to deny the fact that it had its own character and upbringing. And even in that, I love the journey and the struggle

[00:06:21] that I had to go through just as a woman and being an independent artist and still a very male dominated industry is feels pretty powerful. Yeah. Well, I think that I don't know,

[00:06:38] just in general, I feel like a very dude lady myself. Like, I don't know. Like I I like, I like, I like fart jokes and I like, I like the things that guys like. Like I just

[00:06:50] think it's hilarious at times. You know, you do have to have a very diverse personality, I guess, and get along with the best of them. Always say. Yeah. I mean, if nothing else,

[00:07:03] just be like, Oh my God, and like not take it too seriously. Even if you don't like it, just be like, whatever, man. Like you can't take anything too seriously in a shop. Honestly,

[00:07:14] like I told my staff, I said, look, we are going to spend more time with each other than you do your own wife or husband. So we have to make this work if we have to call in a therapist type thing.

[00:07:25] And yeah, yeah, we do. Well, we all have a therapist. Yeah. Well, and for the work that you do too, I mean, you help other people bring back some joy and some empowerment in their

[00:07:37] life too. So that's, that's something that you've been able through your own journey. It sounds like be really able to gift to other people through that because, you know, they're kind of overwhelmed

[00:07:47] by the very visceral reality of how serious their life has gotten out of their, you know, out of their command and control. So to bring them back, you know, you do, you have to have

[00:07:57] some levity, you have to have some joy and invoke that light again and give hope. So that's good. Yeah, yeah, you do. And I think I'm going to circle back to the fact that,

[00:08:09] you know, getting into it later in life, you come with things that you can relate to them with you have experiences, you've done things out there that that that you can relate to them on a personal level, which is golden and building those relationships with your client.

[00:08:28] Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, and you know, you can stand in those spaces. I know that it was the same for me and hair too. I do do apprenticeships and I did one really young and then I came back

[00:08:41] years later. I'm thick man, like I have to learn the hard way all the time. But I've, but I've, I just found a better command over the space after I'd lived a little bit. And

[00:08:54] you know, you can't really confront these biting issues that adults grapple from a point of youth. Honestly, it sounds it's a little intimidating sometimes unless you've really lived and I hadn't. So I had a much more command over my, you know, not to say the authority,

[00:09:14] but like I could I could hold my ground where I needed to in the profession and guide people in a good way. It was it intimidated me before. So I definitely understand that.

[00:09:29] Yeah, good. Yeah, no, when I was challenged that I had come in late and I had to, I had to catch up. I was like, man, I'm on my journey. It's cool. Whatever. I've always been a late bloomer. Yeah.

[00:09:42] It all makes sense though, you get a decade in, you turn around and look back. Yeah. Had to be that way. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Well, and what did that look like? So you decided

[00:09:56] that you wanted to get into tattooing. You said you'd been in it for a while, but like, how did you determine that? All right. Okay. So I have to backtrack. I've had a love of tattooing for since I was very young. I had

[00:10:13] a couple of stepbrothers. They were bikers always showing up with these amazing new tattoos, big, bold traditional pieces, daggers, roses, skulls, that kind of stuff. And I would just sit and stare at them for like hours because I was so obsessed with the fact that you

[00:10:28] could ink on skin. So fast forward turn 18, going to go get my first professional tattoo, had a couple of home maintenance by that time. And the man that again Tennessee, not many choices. So we would drive like an hour to this other town to go to the shop.

[00:10:47] Found the artist, did a great job, stayed with him for like four years, right? You go back, same guy, because same thing, or get same stuff. And I guess at that time, like I said, I was 18, 19 years old. He offered me an apprenticeship. And I really

[00:11:05] thought that was an amazing thing. And I was like, Oh my God, this is like it, you know, like that little light bulb went off inside. And he's like, Yeah, man, it'll be $800. I'm like, we're in the middle of the sticks. I'm 18 years old. Who's got $800? You know,

[00:11:18] I need beer money this weekend. And so I, I passed on it. I passed on it. And I actually took a break when I met somebody, you know, went and established a life different town,

[00:11:30] so on and so forth, moved out of the country was coming back didn't want to end it up back in a town I didn't want to be in. And got upset one day, had some grocery money,

[00:11:41] I'm like, look this, I'm just going to go get a tattoo. This is when I was 32 years old. I hated where I was in life, you know, nothing was going right. And I walk into the shop,

[00:11:50] different town, hadn't seen him in, I don't even know, is at least a decade or longer, right? I never stayed in communication. And I walked into the shop, and there sat my very first professional tattoo artist who offered me that apprenticeship. And I started a half sleeve

[00:12:08] with him. I was like, Oh my God, you know, like, I can't believe it's you. So we're catching up on the past. And ironically, he offered it to me a second time. And this was, you know,

[00:12:22] 14 years later. And the moment the moment the words left his lips, that voice spoke to me, I've only had kind of a voice speak to me on like three different occasions in my life. And

[00:12:34] this was one of those times and he said, opportunities like this don't come twice at a lifetime. Wow, I didn't have to question it, you know, and he's like, Yeah, man, I'd love to have you it's $5,000. I'm like, $800 the last time we talked about this,

[00:12:50] you know, and he said he literally like he's like inflation. All right. Well, still again, you know, as you use my grocery money, I didn't have any money at

[00:13:00] the time, but I had somebody in my life that I was telling this to and he said, You know what, I really want to see you make something of yourself. I'm going to give you this money.

[00:13:09] I don't expect it in return. Just promise me that you'll do a contract and you'll make it. And I said, Okay. And off we went. Now the apprenticeship sucked. You know, if you want to go into that, we can but that's to answer that question.

[00:13:26] Well, did you get a contract? I did. I made him sign a contract with me. I paid him in full $5,000 had to meet me at the bank had it notarized. I wrote the contract myself so that I could tie him in.

[00:13:42] We're in the middle of a country. What I didn't know, you know, a lot of changes took place with him over a decade. And he seemed cool when I was tattooing him and stuff, but I didn't know

[00:13:53] his personal life. So when I came into the apprenticeship, literally within the first week, he's a crackhead. And he has a big drug problem. You know, that shit goes. There was three other guys on the studio tattooing, they all three were apprentices. So he was flipping

[00:14:09] apprentices at $5,000 a pop. You know how that goes. And about nine, 10 months in, he'd have a reason to fire him and off they'd go. And it's a non-refonable fee. So he was out here just

[00:14:22] dealing. Well, I was under contract. I had nowhere else to go. And I heard that voice. You know, you can't take away the voice at the end of the day, you can't take away the voice.

[00:14:32] So I stuck with it. And I held him, I held him to his word and there was a lot of battles in there. He would, he came in one day and he's like, I know you want to tattoo, I need some money and

[00:14:45] ain't nobody going to be getting no work. And I'm just going to cut you back to one day away. Here's this piece of paper. You sign that has timelines on there. And nine months into my

[00:14:57] apprenticeship, he was closing the studio. And I remember me and the other guys, anything we learned at that time was we just fed off of each other. You know, he was completely against mags. This was

[00:15:08] when mags first hit the industry. Oh my God, to get them to switch over to mags. It's like, it just wasn't happening. I think he's still tattoos with a 14 round shader today. Oh my God, God help his clients. That's rough.

[00:15:25] It was, he was a really good technical artist. He's got field well, never scarred, his collar was solid. I mean, you couldn't beat the work. But so anyway, it was just up to us four apprentices.

[00:15:38] And I don't know, we did what we could do nine months then they decided they were finishing their apprenticeships. I still had three to go. They all left, they left me alone. He said I'm

[00:15:49] closing shop. And so I literally called the health inspector and I said, I want to have a private meeting with you. And so I went and I met with a health inspector and I said,

[00:16:00] this is what's going on in the studio. This is the contract that I signed and this is my obligation and he's not willing to own up to that. I'm not saying I'm beautiful, but I'm

[00:16:09] not ugly either. And the other places around wouldn't hire me because they said I was competition. You know, if a woman come in she's going to feel comfortable with the woman and if the guy comes

[00:16:20] in he's going to want the pretty girl, you know type thing. So you couldn't get work out there. Even we're in the middle of the country, people ain't got money and fight for it. We're good

[00:16:28] if you can pay rent that month. And so I just fought against it the whole way in the health inspector says, you know what? I've watched you for the last nine months. I know Larry personally,

[00:16:40] I've worked with him for years. I'm going to sign off on your license and I wish you well. So I finished my apprenticeship in nine months. I couldn't get a job anywhere. I even went up to

[00:16:50] Nashville, the big city. Nobody would hire me. You know, I'm just a kid out of the sticks. So I said fuck it. And I opened my own studio and the biggest growing location in town

[00:17:02] with the most income per capita. And I've never looked back, never missed a rent payment. Wow. I had determination. Yes, you did. Well, and you know, it's one of those things like

[00:17:17] when your life gets to a point where it's about as low as you ever want it to be. That's really only road is up. Yeah, nothing else going on. Why not fight for it? I had something

[00:17:32] to fight for it rather than that. I didn't have anything to fight for. And I heard the voice that I knew this was to be followed regardless. Come hell or high water, I was supposed to

[00:17:43] follow it. My dad. Right. So just a question in because in Maryland here there's no regulation. So it is described to me because there's a license, obviously in Tennessee. What was the status of that license? How did that have to work?

[00:18:05] So it's interesting because at the time and I don't know if it still is today, I've been gone for quite some time but at the time we were the highest regulated state for tattooing in the

[00:18:17] nation. Literally so when you started into a studio, you and your mentor literally had to go down and sign up with the direct health inspector and you got what said apprenticeship license. And you didn't get tattoo certification license until you completed that year and your mentor said,

[00:18:37] okay I'm releasing this person otherwise the health department wouldn't sign off on it and come the end of the year your apprenticeship license is now void. And you start all over again.

[00:18:48] So it was pretty regulated there when it came to that but Kentucky next door had zero laws. You could just go down pay 50 bucks at the courthouse and have a license. So a lot of people that

[00:19:00] didn't make it so much so in Tennessee would cross over to Kentucky because they could just go ahead and get it regardless. Work up there a few years and as long as you could show two

[00:19:09] to three years tax return you could come and just get your tattoo certification in Tennessee. You didn't have to go through the apprenticeship program. Wow now in the apprenticeship program did they just regularly stop into the shop or did you guys have to submit hours?

[00:19:30] Like was there an actual program? No okay. Now everything was left up to whoever you signed on for. You could get something you could get nothing it was everywhere across the board.

[00:19:44] The fact was is that person willing to say you've completed any year? Gotcha. So what did you learn beyond just how to shade with rounds? We actually learned with mags. You know everything was coils

[00:20:00] rotaries didn't exist at that time and it was so it was so weird. Thank God I had the three dudes in the shop with me you know because between the three of us and this is going back let me just say

[00:20:17] folks there was no Google you know what I mean we didn't have iPads we did everything by hand don't fuck the stencil up you don't want to do it twice. Conserve that paper? Yeah yeah

[00:20:30] yeah so and but that was I think made me a more sound artist today because I know all those tricks of trade. Absolutely one and and you can think ahead a little bit more than

[00:20:44] than your average you know person because there is that like you said you can't mess up so it makes you be sure of the movements that you're making when you make them. Yeah the guys fortunately

[00:20:58] had like other tattoo artist friends and stuff so they would go and get little tricks and bring him back and we'd all gather in a room and try it out and stuff so that's kind of how we

[00:21:07] learn. I fake it until you make it. Yeah I jumped and then just threw my wings on the way down as that Saiyan says. Yeah I mean that was that leap of faith and also that voice you know like just

[00:21:25] like amen get busy get busy get busy one way or the other. Yeah no I love it that's that's that's awesome. As far as the machines you did say coils do you remember your first machine?

[00:21:43] Yes I do it was passed on to me by him I still have it today I refuse to come off of it it was one of his personal ones that has his initials on it and it's kind of cool

[00:21:58] it wasn't really a name brand of anything because he liked drugs and so the equipment wasn't wasn't expensive but it got the job done you know and he literally within like the first

[00:22:14] month I had to break him down and put him back together and make him run and all that stuff and so I was able to take a crappy machine and kind of juice it up enough to get the job done.

[00:22:24] That's awesome that's really cool did you have to do any soldering or anything like that? He you know what he was getting out of it right at the tail end and that was something we really

[00:22:39] didn't cover it is knowledge I would love to have for sure but I think once I nine months in when I excuse me when I started my own studio it was just full steam that point forward.

[00:22:54] So going back and you gotta make money first. Yeah yeah yeah and it was I would work 12 and 14 hours a day excuse me when I own the owns you know when you're on your own shop you do what it takes

[00:23:07] to keep keep the doors open and I until the last person was done I wouldn't leave yeah because again I was determined to make it and there was not going to be a no anywhere.

[00:23:17] So part of your tattoo apprenticeship was like a full crash course in business ownership right away. Exactly bravo thank you that's really cool when we met at Paradise like you I was doing an interview

[00:23:34] and and you were on the panel and we were you know you were basically talking about what you look for in a person to guest spot and you know I was admitting how terrifying I am for like this

[00:23:50] and you know part of it is I have a very comfy position of a lot of options which is great it's a blessing but it also can lead to paralysis I think sometimes when you just

[00:24:02] have no choice you just make a choice and you just do it but it's I really admire that you know like I definitely want to guest spot for you now just to kind of see what you've created and crafted

[00:24:18] and and see what that first first shop like has involved into and I'm sure you have just a litany of things that you have learned. Yes yeah I'm still learning today I mean I'm not going to lie

[00:24:33] when I was at Paradise I'm teaching a course but I'm also taking a course. Oh absolutely I mean I think that that's the humility of you know just I think being a good person being good

[00:24:46] artist being everything you know like it just never thinking that you have the full picture you know you keep moving your chair around so that you can see something from all sides you know yeah very cool. So you opened the shop it was in a busy district

[00:25:07] you know this is going to go off of my normal asking just because this is definitely not a normal situation. What did that look like so now you you own a business what was kind of the

[00:25:23] I guess if you can break it down for me because there's a lot that goes into that you know you pick a location and you you know at this point you get to craft what wasn't afforded you so

[00:25:34] what did you want to create I guess when you went into this? I honestly I wanted to create a place for women because I was so shunned by the guys in the industry and I moved it to the big

[00:25:50] city so that you know options hopefully of both artists and clientele were much more diverse and then what we were given out in the sticks and I did everything I could in the beginning to

[00:26:08] Averton. I mean it's the journey was so divine and everything I had this idea that I wanted to create this place and it was I wanted to be you know one of the top studios in Nashville

[00:26:18] and stuff like that and when you first come in and you're like a nine month one year or two you're artist you think you fucking know it all and you don't know anything really.

[00:26:27] You barely have a few toes in the water at that point but I didn't have a choice like I said so I literally had to do it I didn't have a choice but to do it so I did it and I just wanted to

[00:26:42] create an environment that was feminine it was beautiful it was edgy I have women artists I pitched to the community and I had female artists you know showcase their artwork in there

[00:26:58] and stuff like that so I sort of went that direction with it I was sort of all over the place and trying to figure out what would work and you know I was a piercer so we had piercing too

[00:27:10] and all that stuff but the vision was it was minimal at that point I think first and foremost my goal was to have a place where women felt comfortable. Right yeah I got sung the same

[00:27:22] rhetoric when when I was around guys and I already had I was already tattooing and all of that stuff this big just just observance of my sex uh that was odd to me because earlier always you know

[00:27:38] you get like you said women want to be touched by you men want to be touched by you it's like you have this edge and I I I never was cognizant of those things like you know when people ask me

[00:27:51] the question what does it feel like to be a female tattoo artist I'm like I don't know man I don't know I don't know what it what it is to be a male tattoo artist and uh I can tell you one thing

[00:28:02] if I could leave leave my boobs and vagina at home I would you know they don't really serve me in that place to be honest with you they just you know I have to pee constantly and you know like

[00:28:14] I don't like that and my boobs are sometimes in people's hands without me understanding you know the the the ergonome I'm just trying to get to what I need to so for me it was always like

[00:28:25] I didn't like that that was even brought into the space because for me and I think like you was like I just I just wanted to do the profession like I just wanted to do good art do good service

[00:28:39] and I like that that was something that you were trying to create and definitely from a very integral space um how did uh how was that received in your area beautifully I'll bet beautifully I

[00:28:55] those men kind of damned themselves didn't they you know what I mean I'm not opposed to men like I had nothing but men to input into my into my brain and give me their knowledge or words of

[00:29:08] advice or whatever and some of the greatest I don't even know what the word is sayings that have stuck with me through the years you know as an artist came from men but it was just I think a lot of

[00:29:22] my problems with it is is it was with the clients they would come in flirt with the clients make clients feel uncomfortable you know you couldn't they couldn't do a nipple piercing

[00:29:33] that they needed help type thing I mean it was just it was constant like that so I really wanted to get away from that and when I did what I did in Tennessee and in Nashville I launched it

[00:29:44] and advertise it as an all-female studio and it took off I mean there was nothing like that that existed at the time I've been interviewed by three major television production companies

[00:29:58] and um they always wanted to do a show but we never had enough drama in the shop and they even did they came in and interviewed everybody in the studio to get a feel for the stuff and they just came

[00:30:08] back said you don't have enough drama and I said if it takes drama to put me on television I you know which was not something I was even looking for it's that they were looking

[00:30:17] in contact with me I said I'm not going to do it for you I won't ruin the integrity of my team or the creativity that goes on around here because that is first and foremost the importance

[00:30:28] and people just started flocking to me from the day I open I I don't know if most people do this join the chamber of commerce you know have the grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony and stuff

[00:30:40] I have 50 75 people in my studio I you know who any of these people were like uh but you know you put that face on and you act and I remember

[00:30:50] I was looking at my friend at that time and I was like this is my very first day opening a shop I'm nine months as an artist I have no fucking clue what I'm doing I can barely tattoo script right

[00:31:02] and I look at her and I'm like oh my god I don't know what to do now and uh she's like your tattoo that was it so somebody walked up and said hey I want to I want to get your first

[00:31:15] tattoo and it was a set of lips on his wrist and I love it yeah I know right that's awesome that's great I usually ask what your first tattoo is but I kind of like that um you know

[00:31:30] you can tell me what your first is but that that one's an integral one because that's the first tattoo you did in your shop hey diary listeners well tis the season and I got just a

[00:31:43] few friends that I want to shout out before we get on with the rest of our podcast first is something that took a reemergence I actually did this huge like hot ones kind of competition

[00:31:55] kind of style thing with friends of mine recorded the whole thing never posted it it required me doing some video editing and I gotta be honest with you guys that's a lot for me right now so

[00:32:09] I didn't do it and I feel bad because uh within it was shouting out a really great company it's Tennessee Hot S sauces and it's a Tennessee Hot Sauce company it's a great company they're

[00:32:22] they sell amazing hot sauce in fact Rico's been trying to have a lot of hot wing nights and he's just loving these hot sauces quite frankly we had some leftover from when we did

[00:32:35] this competition or this night at our at our house and uh lately he's been digging back into them he's like man these are good they're so good so they're handcrafted hot sauces and from what I

[00:32:48] understand they also have good beef jerky as well um you can find them at T as in Thomas T and hot sauce co.com and order some hot sauces today so if you know a really you know

[00:33:04] fervent hot sauce fan or somebody that you know that just likes that little extra flavor with everything this would be a great gift for them for this holiday season and and you know little

[00:33:17] known fact is that you'll be you'll be helping a smaller company um somebody that you know this is their their side hustle and a passion these are all very very fine tune uh hot sauces that

[00:33:32] is very integral you know I get I think artisanal is what they call it so anyway uh go get your Tennessee Hot Sauce you will not regret it and I think it'll make an awesome gift thanks

[00:33:44] diary listeners okay next on the list is my good friend Tara she's actually been featured on the podcast her name is Tara K Bell but her our Instagram is Tara Kendall creation so definitely

[00:34:01] follow her there and what you'll find there is an awesome link to her Etsy shop she is selling fantastic creations on Etsy she has a line of shirts I believe she's selling all different

[00:34:14] kinds of things notebooks bags I just got one of her um bags that she sold that that she's selling there I'm sorry diary listeners this is all over the place but uh go uh shop her inventory she's

[00:34:28] got fantastic things with her artwork on it I bought the bag that had her orchids on it and and she's got a flavor for everybody but you know it's very uh what would I describe it as

[00:34:40] well first of all I know that her artwork is super integral she takes hours and hours and hours she does all of this artwork by hand uh she I mean it's it's it's impressive guys because

[00:34:54] if she doesn't get it right she scraps the whole thing and redes it so you know that you're getting really really high quality of artwork from somebody who takes what they do very uh seriously

[00:35:08] and with a lot of care and she has some holiday features specials if you're kind of more of the witchy holistic I don't know uh spiritual kind of person she's got you covered but there's a

[00:35:21] lot of really beautiful seasonal things right now I think a big one would be her reindeer that she has featured that's gorgeous and she also has a beautiful mistletoe star that if you

[00:35:32] really like to show how much you love this holiday I think it's best if you can adored it wear it have a shirt but also a beautiful thing is supporting a local artist who is out there she's

[00:35:46] she's blessing the world with her craft she's enacting the gifts that she's been given and when I tell you that she puts so much love into these things I cannot I cannot say that enough so

[00:35:57] go to Tara Kendall creations it's the same thing on Etsy if you were to look her up there but go shop or inventory and know that you're giving back to somebody who's a little person

[00:36:09] and who would really appreciate some love thank you and I and know Tara that I love you happy holidays everyone all right last shout out for the day so coming up after Lita's

[00:36:24] podcast which is awesome I actually just interviewed a friend that I've had for a very long time actually Byron Brooks he's a comedian in the local Maryland area and I wanted to have everybody

[00:36:39] go and start following him the more you follow him the more he gets seen by booking agencies and things like that you can find him on IG at Byron Brooks that's BROKS comedy please go give him some love he'll be performing in North Carolina this new year so

[00:37:01] keep cheering him on the more people that follow him and plus who doesn't need a good laugh I mean this time of year I think it's really hard for us to all hold on to our sanity and

[00:37:12] remember that life is ridiculous but that's why you gotta laugh thank you diary listeners back to our podcast that's pretty cool yeah I don't even know the first one I did it was a pot leaf on my

[00:37:34] mentor's arm and he made me do it lineless in soft gray shade with the pot leaf in negative space as if this is my first tattoo ever that's hard I know oh my god

[00:37:47] saying you threw it me it was great how'd you do uh I think it was kind of half ass really I don't know he kept yelling at me it's too dark you're getting it too dark like I don't even know what

[00:38:03] I'm doing man how long did it take like because this first like two hours yeah they take forever and it was like you know this big probably like an inch by inch

[00:38:16] dude they take forever I remember John coming into my my room being like dude are you still doing this and I was like it was like six hours for what should have been a two hour tattoo

[00:38:27] and I was like I'm not using anything bigger than 14 shader don't forget that well and for that kind of shooting oh my god oh my god yeah that's rough man that's rough um

[00:38:44] was the lips better they were actually they weren't as nerve-wracking oh I don't know I have to say they were both pretty nerve-wracking it was a first in a first for real so yeah absolutely

[00:38:55] absolutely when I what did the lips did they have color oh of course they were red or pink or whatever color they wanted so that's awesome I love it I love that that's so cool so um how many

[00:39:09] artists did you have right away or did it just start out with you and then like how did that look there was two of us and um yeah she was with me for a hot minute and then she ended up stealing

[00:39:22] and then that had to go to the waist to hide but I had several artists kind of come and go during that time but what I quickly found out is it's not easy to staff a studio at all

[00:39:37] when that's part of my fear yes so now I'm working in a town that's you know 95 male and uh I think I'm going to hire all these artists and guess what no man really

[00:39:51] wanted to work for me yeah yeah so in the few women that I I did have um you know a majority of them kind of got intimidated or something I I did have some good ones I'm not going to lie everybody's

[00:40:05] just kind of on their own personal journey but um yeah I rocked that for a while and uh I listened to the wind and then the wind blew and then did something else yeah I do find that that um

[00:40:19] has been my experience too is like uh and you know I don't I don't even like to default to it because I'd like to think that you know to to the whole like people want to be touched more and

[00:40:32] served more by women than men I do feel like in terms of leadership at least that I found that there's I've encountered a lot of intimidation and lack of wanting to listen by both women

[00:40:45] and men and it's it's I feel it's it's kind of a hindrance too so um I know there's a book that I read Cheryl Stamborn I believe or Stamb might be brutalizing but uh it's uh um stand up is it stand

[00:41:09] up or um Cheryl Stamborn Stamborn and it's uh oh I might have to cut this out because and and repaste it in but I'll have to look up the actual name but uh it's a it's a book about how

[00:41:23] she worked as a lead in Facebook and um and uh she uh basically you know just encouraging women to embrace certain parts of themselves even within that space and she said that working there

[00:41:42] they were actually pretty accepting of her even even you know going through motherhood and things like that and dealing with what that actually yields in a lot of ways so um but that's not

[00:41:56] I always felt hindered to have children um from my experience so I decided not to that was something that just just in pursuing my passion so much I chose not to um it didn't it didn't feel like it was uh very accessible for both avenues honestly

[00:42:18] I have to agree yeah yeah I never had children thank god yeah I can honestly say that for myself too I think I'm a much better person and a much better

[00:42:30] um gift to the world the way that I took it I don't think it would have been as good otherwise yeah me either plus it takes so much away from trying to focus on a career that is really

[00:42:45] a lifestyle it's not it's not an eight to five job you either live it breathe it sleep in and shit it or you shouldn't be in it yeah personally because it it really takes that much um and that's the

[00:42:57] beauty of it I think most anybody that does it we're doing it because it's our passion so it's not a job we're willing to do that you know I think anybody that gets in it and thinks it's going

[00:43:07] to be easy and they could just work a few hours a day and make a bunch of money and that's they're sadly now working in construction and at Walmart but yeah for real well and and the um you know to

[00:43:24] the to the kid point I mean I honestly I honestly too the part of that too is I I haven't really picked partners that really helped uplift me and there might be some credit in my

[00:43:36] personal journey is to I do find that I am masculine people quite a bit and I don't mean to but I'm not an easy person to lead yeah I'm not a blind follower so

[00:43:52] that's why I don't think I don't think a lot of women probably in this industry is because it does take the bottles you know we didn't get here by uh to follow in the leader right one like you

[00:44:06] said the passion so much of it you know art has been my first sanctuary you know like that that's like a place I go to atone and and I feel like there's a jealousy for that too how much we

[00:44:21] sacrifice to that um and I think that that kind of gets in the way sometimes when you have a partner who you know at least for me has been you know uh wanting me to focus more on

[00:44:39] I guess the relationship and for me it's like well the relationship should help booster what we want and what I want is more of this so if you take away that you're taking

[00:44:53] away my soul I'm not me yeah yeah yeah that's how it is yeah when that happens you gotta go yeah yeah exactly and that's kind of what happened I think too though you know I've I've had

[00:45:14] the beautiful opportunity of helping to raise so many children and now my tattoo children are really like my children you know I have I have three and um I put everything into them you know that's really I can't give them anymore um and they're all phenomenal artists they're

[00:45:39] they're really come a long way in a very quick time and uh I'm very proud of that I'm glad that you're not having not having one personal kid at home to have to focus on really frees us up I think

[00:45:52] to focus on so many children whether it's in the industry or not there's so much more we have to offer I feel uh to other kids like that so I have many children none of them that I had to birth

[00:46:05] thank god yeah I agree with you I totally agree with you um it's kind of one of the reasons why I started this podcast was because um you know I only have one apprentice that was successful

[00:46:19] but uh like you I do I do think that there's part of that journey that was very um um it's not the whole thing a very call to motherhood and things like that and just kind of looking at it

[00:46:32] from that kind of perspective and I and I agree I think that that's been kind of my my window into something that I did I chose on the birthing part of it to kind of you know uh go into this

[00:46:46] space and I also found that like people like you and people like me I had so many mentors outside of my parents that really helped you know push me through that I wanted you know this is a

[00:46:58] kind of an homage to them in certain ways of just being that person you know like that in between person that kind of helps you bring bring you back and steer you and give you little things

[00:47:09] that maybe don't come or that you don't even listen to from your family you know yeah yeah I do have my wife is reminding me okay I do have a yes we have a I have a step son she has a son

[00:47:23] oh yeah yes but I do have a step son I came in when he was 16 so I got all of his experimental ears you know oh lovely he's actually he's a really good boy uh I can't explain at all he's a good

[00:47:37] kid oh I'm glad I'm glad yeah that was a that was a I've never dated anybody that had a kid and that's something that I haven't experienced um I'm open to it but I'm very opinionated so I don't

[00:47:48] know if they'd be able to do it you know what if they're not they're not that's not that's not going to be the right relationship for you that's the way to take that I'd have to agree I'd have to

[00:48:01] that's awesome yeah and I I um so you have apprenticed three people and given them you're all uh what what are some things that you know because all parents uh whether you've

[00:48:17] birthed them or your step parent all parents try to give better than what they got so what were some things that you made sure to do uh as in define that a little bit more like

[00:48:33] did the contract thing lead into your teaching them did you charge them for an apprenticeship how did how did you receive them and how did that look okay all right how they how they got into it

[00:48:43] with me I did actually I mean that was the way I was brought in um two years into my career I'm still a baby had my business you know a year and three months at this point

[00:48:56] and of course I mean I had a great studio it was thriving I was making money and paying the bills but I wasn't learning you know I didn't really have anybody better than me sitting there

[00:49:08] I didn't have anybody in a lot of people in town to go and learn from and that's when I came across Paradise tattoo gathering uh it was in a magazine back when print was in and uh it was in a

[00:49:20] magazine and I saw it and it was just like I have to go to this I didn't know there was this education conference you know and so I went and I was so in love because I learned so much

[00:49:31] from that I finally had a place to really learn and and I remember Teresa Sharp being on the women's panel that time and having so much to say with her apprenticeship I heard her story and stuff and it

[00:49:44] was just so inspiring and everything um so coming back around to your question with with my apprentices and stuff I took all of that into consideration in how I came into it and what

[00:49:55] I learned from other artists so I have made them do the apprenticeship duties now they're not scribbling toils with a toothbrush and I don't make them excuse me do things earn their way so to

[00:50:07] speak you know the things what I want them to do in earning their way is pretty much always pertaining to tattooing in itself you know um but so I charge him I started out when I started with

[00:50:20] my first one it was five thousand dollars and uh my next one all three of them have been five thousand now they're I'll go up probably to 75 from I don't know I don't not really even in the

[00:50:32] market to take on another apprentice at this point because I'm getting ready to become a tattoo grandmother my first apprentice is taking her first apprentice it's a girl we're so excited that's so awesome that's so awesome yes and it's amazing and part of her apprenticeship

[00:50:51] will be a photo shoot with all of us holding our new baby so that'll be fun for some things like that you know oh man that's awesome that they have to suffer out but um so yeah I took them at five

[00:51:04] thousand they had no idea on doing a contract or anything and I'm like we're gonna put this under contract because I feel like there's this mindset that if you feel it's legit it's

[00:51:14] legit it's not just out here vocal in the air or anything can change tomorrow I honestly wanted them to know that I was committed to them enough to sign the contract wasn't really about

[00:51:24] them being committed to me it was about me being committed to them uh so that was one thing that I did with them and uh it just started I mean I did the same thing I guess and so I make them

[00:51:37] start on the front end you know you don't really tattoo until you're like six months in you've got to prove yourself on paper you got to learn the whole scheduling aspect and stuff

[00:51:47] tattooing is the last part of the job that's the fun part you got all the bullshit up to that point to deal with and we learned that first yeah so yeah I agree but I do charge them I only I make them do

[00:52:03] they have to I give them a project I guess a task a drawing challenge and they have to come back with this with this drawing you know and show me that they can they can do this talent and

[00:52:15] interrogate them quite a bit when they um when they come to you asking for an apprenticeship has it has it looked a whole bunch of different ways or have you um have had did it come about

[00:52:30] the same way as it happened with you where they came in for a tattoo and uh and you you know how did that go because I went hunting for an apprenticeship you know I went door to

[00:52:43] door and like had a portfolio and wanted to you know show it and all that good stuff so it's so it's so funny because all three are unique in their own story okay and how they came in so my first

[00:52:55] one her mother was a client and I'm tattooing her one day and she's she's telling me about her daughter and I worked this was before I opened the studio I worked for another shop

[00:53:05] I'd been there for years and uh she starts telling me her daughter is an artist and wants to be a tattoo artist and you know your tattoo and so I mean every mother's daughter

[00:53:14] is an artist this summer and what's you know and type stuff and uh she's like what would it take to get an apprenticeship and I said well I was at that point in my life I really needed help

[00:53:26] you know I'm running I at that time I was you know three two to three months consistent in advance for years and uh was like I really need some help I'm tired of spinning my wheels

[00:53:38] and up until that point I was able to commit 23 hours of my day to my career and uh right about that time I think it was or just before I met whom is now my wife and for the first time

[00:53:58] literally in my career I didn't want to be in the studio and so it was really hanging up on things that I was getting done so when she said that I was looking at her and I was like okay I

[00:54:08] really need some help you know if she's an artist tell her to come see me we'll figure it out from there so she called me like a month later she was so slipped you know I've forgotten about it I was like whatever and uh so we met

[00:54:25] we met that day uh she didn't have much of a portfolio and I was like well I'm gonna give you a drawing challenge I didn't have any other options I wasn't gonna advertise it you know

[00:54:34] yeah and I kind of ride on that if it's if it's to be it will be anytime I've ever needed someone or hired someone I've never until here recently I think after we opened the shop uh I didn't run

[00:54:46] any ads or nothing I just people are led to me when they're supposed to be there I've honestly believed that so it's very little effort on my part and I just keep my ears and my eyes open

[00:54:57] and when you know you know when you're there yeah so she met with me did the drawing challenge I said come up here I was working in a shop we had eight artists going in there and I was like

[00:55:07] you got to come in like any other artist would be here even though I'm your mentor yeah I still have you know obligations in a studio to abide by just the same

[00:55:18] um unless the maybe close to a year I was coming on the outs with that studio because the mastectomy in the scar side of my career was really really taken off and it was one huge

[00:55:31] open studio and a lot of things started going to the wayside I started losing the ability to control my environment when it came to what I was doing and so it was just a in the end it was just a matter

[00:55:45] of I just outgrown it was time and when it was time it was time and I had her she opened the shop with me she's still with me it's coming up on six years and uh yeah that's awesome

[00:55:57] yeah and then my next when Kaiser uh he came in I didn't need anybody at the time I actually had another apprentice and I had to let him go um for making too many serious mistakes and

[00:56:11] not even thinking that that was wrong God bless Kaiser for coming man yeah well well I had that guy and then and then Kaiser showed up like I don't have room for you to

[00:56:26] know whatever whatever he goes on um lo and behold I had to let this guy go all of a sudden one day he calls me up on the phone he says hey I'm not really happy with the shop can I come talk to you

[00:56:39] I'm like sure and he was nine months into his apprenticeship over there been nine months since I seen him or talked to him um and he came in and and we just uh kicked it off that day I

[00:56:50] said yeah sure you know I'll give you a chance he was still an apprentice I said you come on over and so he did well they took on another apprentice at the same time um and she was still there but they

[00:57:01] fired her like a week later because they were so close you know they were like brothers you have apprentices are brother sisters they'll forever be together through their careers and um

[00:57:13] so I took him on great amazing decision he's still with me today it's coming up on three years we started all over with his apprenticeship because they didn't teach him anything and um

[00:57:26] a couple weeks later they fired her and he's like oh my friend you know she's not you know this this and this and I have another sister shop that had been friends of mine very dear friends of mine

[00:57:38] for quite some time and so we we ping off each other a lot and and so I called him up and I said hey I know you guys got a position I got her an apprenticeship over there so that worked out pretty

[00:57:50] well and now we're like all one big happy family and that's how he came about then iris came down from Oklahoma to pay five thousand dollars to go to a 14-week tattoo school and then she came

[00:58:04] to me wanting a job and um one of the things with her I wasn't I'm at the point like I'm not even going to talk to anybody new you're going to pass through my staff first right and

[00:58:17] my wife and everything before I'm even going to sit down with you I just learned not and I mean my time is so valuable and what we do is it when we get to this level you know you just don't have

[00:58:27] time to be wasting the things that may or may not you know I want the for sure when it comes to me or I don't want to be a part of it at all and so they were in the interview with my third

[00:58:38] one and she she came in and she said later you know I think you just my wife she's like I really think you should come out here meet this girl I'm telling you you got to come meet this girl

[00:58:46] so I went out sure enough she wanted me over and uh she just had all the right things to say even center is like where you've been reading what are you even doing because you're literally

[00:58:56] sitting here with all the right things to say where did that come from and um she's just a go get her has a lot of drive big personality and so I said you're going to go through this whole

[00:59:07] process like the others I mean you got to do a weekend if everybody likes you you'll come back for a couple weeks if we like you at that and you'll come back for a two month trial

[00:59:16] hopefully you won't leave at the end of that two month trial but that leaves me an out if I don't like you I still have one more chance to get ready yeah and uh I really base it on

[00:59:25] the team the team has to commit anything anyway try and shorten it up a little bit that that's how she came in and uh I charged her five thousand dollars and made her start all over

[00:59:36] again yeah good that's very good yeah because it's kind of a new commitment and um I will say that go ahead I'm sorry you got to me you have to come in to the industry that way you have to have

[00:59:50] some sort of commitment to it I think if you come in and you don't pay an apprenticeship fee you don't have any value to what you're receiving yep yeah I um so part of the the

[01:00:02] seminars that I did at at Paradise was a freebie on uh how to be a good apprenticeship prospect and um I I kind of you know gave some tips but at the end one of the questions I got was from a guy who

[01:00:20] is out in Portland and uh they have tattoo schools out there and he said you know they're they're kind of churning them out quite a bit and it's very saturated and he said you know these

[01:00:31] people are paying for education and then it's really hard for them to get work and they don't really know what they should know too and um so I think that it's it's kind of good to do that

[01:00:46] because with the seriousness of this profession it's it's much like I would equivocate it in a lot of ways to parts of the medical profession where you have to do practicals and you

[01:00:58] have to like you know there's levels to your education um and I think that that that gives it a nice level is like okay well you you paid for like this foundational education now you have to do

[01:01:11] you know this level of it and if you finish that portion of it then you can come in and and be full ranking artists you know here um but I think that gives it away what I told him was

[01:01:23] um you know in their their atmosphere and it sounds like in in that atmosphere too in Tennessee where you have a tattoo school um it would be nice if um I said you know the government's

[01:01:36] already involved bureaucracy is already involved in in that so for me it would be really nice if they offered shop owners like a stipend to take on artists um you know they come out of these

[01:01:50] schools as prospects from them you know above somebody off the street perhaps you know like reward you guys for you know taking on their students and I don't know if you have anything

[01:02:00] to add about that but that was the only thing I could offer him I I do have something to add so I'm not in Tennessee anymore I'm in Florida right and down here we have the issue of the schools

[01:02:11] popping up and there's one literally just right up the street um I know the guy personally and it's such a show operation um with how they're doing it he's not even a licensed artist you know

[01:02:23] he was just where he started tattoo school I don't know anything about it yeah I was like me opening my first shop why not you know yeah and um but but he opened this and when he first started

[01:02:38] doing it in his first few rounds I know the numbers were um the first one he did 14 weeks he had 12 students $5,000 a piece wow that's a mouth on that that's a wow that's a lot of money

[01:02:55] and not a lot of time and his educators are just artists he's just hiring in off the street that need a job and that's like one of his incentives oh you come work for me and I'll make you this

[01:03:05] educator and get you involved in my tattoo school so he's snowballing the other artists that are coming in so they're literally and I know because I've got one of my studio right now

[01:03:14] because she had all the high-ords to say they convinced me and another thing too with my apprentices my apprenticeships there are two years I don't do one year apprenticeships it's two years right um

[01:03:25] but yeah that's that's what they're doing here and there's another one that's popped up and somehow somehow I don't know how they're getting it state approved like they're the state is like okay

[01:03:36] with this if you want to come work for me you got to do at least a year apprenticeship but if you want to go to the school for 14 weeks and pay the same amount

[01:03:44] 14 weeks versus two years we have so many kids that are taking the you know the fast wagon to try to get where they want to be this rock star you know tattoo artist and I get every 40 every

[01:03:56] three months I have a flood of artists contacting my studio trying to want I want the job you know and uh it's just very it's very disheartening but one of the things that I've noticed so our local

[01:04:10] suppliers kingpin tattoo supply is a big one lucky statue supply is another one instead they won't sell to them at all if that's where they've come out of like they've walked down you're not real artists

[01:04:21] you know you're not going to buy our product so you're seeing them on amazon and ebay you know getting all their stuff that they need but um I think on that note one thing that I'm starting

[01:04:31] to do or want to start to do is offer extended courses like I don't want you working in my shop with a 14 you know with a 14 week certification but uh I love that

[01:04:50] babe babe refreshment you want to say anything stop it she's in there again right now so um that's awesome you didn't get to meet her no I didn't get to meet my wife you want to pop in

[01:05:04] real quick yeah let her see your beautiful face I know hello nice to meet you I mean you're part of the crew as far as I'm concerned she she she said you're part of the crew as far as she's

[01:05:18] concerned I've got you on my earbuds so she can't hear what you're saying oh but anyway that's my sweetheart oh I love it yes she says she's the sick figure god so side note on that I come out to paradise set up the booth space and everything right

[01:05:38] see it's the brains of the operation um gotta have them so we've created this whole thing with her her motto is uh freaking lines start to finish she didn't know how to fucking tattoo and she only tattoos with a coil machine

[01:05:55] and she has to be drinking the whole time it's really a fun ordeal you would have to come in on that but it's an experience I mean I can work 80 hours on a sleeve and and they'll get a stick

[01:06:09] figure and like that so much more than this means that to you know yeah it is it's the dumbest ones that make everyone happy it's true it's very very true it's hilarious I love that thank you

[01:06:24] it's a good balance to the studio with what we do because we do deal with a lot of emotion out of the shop and she comes in like a fireball and the next thing I know people are leaving with stick

[01:06:35] figure tattoos that's a beautiful thing it's a nod to the empowerment too because whenever people meet you as an artist they're like oh I can't draw a stick figure and and she's like

[01:06:45] yes you can yes you can because I do and that's what I do and I permanently affix them to people yeah yeah now she'll draw it put the stencil on it may not look like that when it's done but um

[01:07:01] yeah they still look like a stick at the end of the day that was the point like we it's successful all the way around and that's the thing right like you know part of the the thing that in in all of this that people don't realize is that

[01:07:18] whatever we do in any art that you look at and you admire you you go wow you know they're so amazing well it was just little efforts consistently that that did that you know

[01:07:32] and if you will that to happen on a consistent level you can um so I I you know when people say things like oh I couldn't even draw a stick figure I'd be like you wouldn't be amazed what you

[01:07:46] can do actually yeah you definitely can draw a stick figure yeah now it's the I can't even draw straight line that I'm like dude who the hell can draw a straight line like that's hard

[01:08:01] yeah yeah you're actually let's talk about that that's that's a hard one like that is one of the greatest features of using the iPad right and you know in in Tattoo Land at least with coils the

[01:08:19] a nice thing that you know just for our audience's sake you know one of the things it's kind of like a good blade you know you want the tang and the blade to weigh the same and that that gives you

[01:08:29] the stability in the cut um if you you know if you're wielding a blade or things like that same thing with a tattoo machine if it's a coil you want the the front end to match the back end

[01:08:38] and that pressure downwards really helps you kind of pull that straight line so it's a lot different than doing with a pen and on a freaking iPad too it's ridiculous because if you don't get

[01:08:50] matte screen like covers and stuff things so slick that you can't like you get like every wiggle every wiggle show yeah it's ridiculous yeah okay diary listeners that's the end of this week

[01:09:08] I want you guys to know it's pretty difficult to find a good place to cut these diary entries up because the whole conversation is great so I really implore you guys to come back next week for

[01:09:24] part two Lita is such an awesome lady very rare and her experience is just incredible and what I really like about her time is that you know she's very understanding of the regulations she has multiple states that she can actually speak from because she's worked in multiple states

[01:09:48] and um she's just a wealth of knowledge and like she and I uh kind of admitted to each other by the end we could we could have kept talking like for hours after it was just such a fun

[01:10:00] conversation she's a really beautiful lady and uh I hope that you guys will take the time in between now and then to follow her wherever you can she's artist Lita on IG and she also has a

[01:10:15] page specifically for her work in uh scarf you know scar recovery boobs underscore and under store tattoos boobs and tattoos so make sure to follow her wherever you can she does amazing work is a beautiful human as always diary listeners thank you Lita thank you so much

[01:10:39] and uh this happens to be for for those who celebrate the first day of Hanukkah so happy Hanukkah for all of you that practice for all of us I'm wishing everyone a very happy holiday season

[01:10:53] bless you all and uh we hope to see you and hear you we'll hear you be with you be with you next week bye thanks for listening you can find the apprenticeship diaries on twitter facebook

[01:11:12] and instagram our ig is the underscore apprenticeship underscore diaries if you would like to offer constructive criticism or an interview drop us an email at the apprenticeship diaries at gmail.com we look forward to hearing from our listeners