 So I did not get an apprenticeship. I'm actually self taught. So before I started tattooing There was actually nothing that connected me to the tattoo industry. My family did not have any tattoos My friends didn't have any tattoos. I was not interested in tattoos and I never seen how a tattoo was done Back then what I used to do is I had a small parking spot at this slimy where I was airbrushing t-shirts airbrushing sweaters hats But there was this one night where I was watching the annual world of death competition I finished watching the competition and on the related videos on YouTube I saw this one guy tattooing a rose. I clicked on it because I was interested in seeing how a tattoo was done Five minutes later I was so intrigued that I went on eBay and I bought a tattoo kit for $60. I got it the next day and I was excited I opened up that suitcase and there was four machines with tattoo ink, needles, metal tubes I immediately called my best friend's cousin. I told him, hey, do you want a tattoo? He shows up. He says I want my mom's name right here Then I grabbed this pen. I free-handed his mom's name on his chest and I went to town I took a picture of the tattoo and then I went on Facebook I posted it and all my friends started just messaging me. Hey, I want to get a tattoo from you And I started tattooing my friends for fun. I wasn't charging anything But then I started hearing from different people that I should get an apprenticeship So I started looking all over the city for in different shops trying to look for an apprenticeship I got rejected in every single one But there was this one shop that I still remember until today And I was prepared. I had my drawings. I had my pictures of my airbrushing work Then the owner turns back, calls everybody They look at my portfolio. They start cracking up. They start laughing It's not one of those it's funny kind of laugh. It was like evil kind of laugh The owner gets serious. He looks at me and tells me, you better get up. I got to this shop This is so disrespectful. How dare you compare airbrushing to tattoos and he kicked me out So I went home and I was like, you know, that's not going to stop me. I'm just going to hustle So in the morning I had a part-time job at an Italian restaurant Right after that I would call up my friends to get tattoos so I could keep practicing And in the evening I would do some airbrushing work that I was working on for clients And on the weekends I was at the SWATME airbrushing And that was my weekly routine. So I was breathing, eating, living art, you know Because I wanted to get as much knowledge as fast as I could Five months later after practicing and practicing, a friend told me Hey, there's a shop that I go to that sells tattoo machines to anybody Because usually tattoo stores, tattoo supply stores, they only sell two shops So I go to the register with my supplies and the owner asked me Hey, so how long have you been tattooing? I low-key panicked a little bit and I immediately lied And I said, I've been tattooing for a year and a half The owner looks at my work and he's like, oh Ty, you have good work Are you looking for a place to work? I don't remember exactly what I said but it was along the lines of, you know I like the vibe here so I would definitely love to work here The owner asked me, when can you move in? And I was like, today! But I ended up moving the next day I was just so excited, I was just happy, you know, that I got the opportunity And that was my ticket into the industry and the rest is history