The VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios with Matthew Landis

Danny Argote: Ink, Art, And Passion

• IMAGE Studios • Season 3 • Episode 20

Share episode

In this episode, Matthew welcomes Danny Argote, tattoo artist and founder of Ink and Art Collective at IMAGE Studios in Thornton, Colorado. Danny shares his artistic journey from tracing comic books to becoming a sought-after tattoo artist, including his work at San Diego Comic-Con. He sees parallels between tattooing and other creative fields, like hairdressing, and the duo agree on the importance of mastering the fundamentals before breaking the rules. Danny shared his gratitude for the supportive community at IMAGE Studios, which helped him transition smoothly to an independent tattoo artist while retaining 90% of his clientele.

Matthew and Danny talk about his business dynamics, particularly the partnership with his wife, who specializes in permanent makeup and tattoo removal. Together, they offer a broad range of services while ensuring clients have a positive, comfortable experience. He outlines his thorough consultation process, from discussing style and placement to preparing clients for their sessions. He believes in creating a welcoming environment where clients feel cared for and relaxed during the tattooing process.

Looking ahead, Danny shares his dream of opening a Community Arts Center to support independent artists and offer education. With a background in teaching and mentoring, he envisions a space where creativity thrives, and artists can collaborate. Throughout the episode, Danny’s passion for art, music, and giving back to the community shines through, inspiring listeners to pursue their own creative paths

Matthew Landis:

Music. Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios, the podcast exclusively designed for independent beauty, health and wellness professionals, brought to you by image studios, the luxury leader in the Salon Suite industry. I'm your host, industry expert and certified business coach, Matthew Landis. In each episode, we will bring you insightful interviews with solo entrepreneurs who have forged their own path to success, from stories of triumph to practical tips and strategies for growing your client base and building your brand. This is the place to thrive and take your Salon Suite business to the next level. All right, joining me on the podcast today is Danny Argote at Ink and Art Collective tattoo and gallery at IMAGE Studios in Thornton, Colorado. Welcome to the podcast. Danny.

Danny Argote:

Thank you for having us. I appreciate it.

Matthew Landis:

And now, did I get all of that correct?

Danny Argote:

One thing missing, we also do permanent makeup and removal. Now, awesome. Okay, certainly, just went with collective, because that's starting to become a really long list. Yeah, we're trying to offer a few different types of things, and we're now even going into printing soon, so that'll be fun. Printing.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, tell me about that.

Danny Argote:

When I started tattooing, I've been tattooed now for it'll be 15 years next month, when I began, I was about the only art medium I was working with, and I I went to school for art. I did a little bit of teaching elementary for a few but you're gonna have to and then that kind of moved into sort of commissioned art here and there, and I kind of gave. Went to the concept of doing a fan art, basically just trying to give a band at a show, a poster, an image, a painting, something, a just to see what happens. Maybe they hired me to do something. Maybe I get tickets for the next show. Maybe I just got a high five. It's a way of like, well, I listened to this album all day long. While I did this painting, I had to do this other drawing and all this other stuff got me through it. So here's a little something right back at so it's just about kind of feeding the energy back. So as I started tattooing now, I've kind of started doing fan art, or more repeated based and has had a lot of success, and I've actually been officially hired first a poster recently for San Diego Comic Con. Yeah. So I started doing my own prints for the fan art, because, frankly, it was getting too expensive to hire somebody else to do it, as I do, especially local shows. I promote the fact that I'm also a tattooer, if even I get two or three customers out of that pays for the print job. And, of course, the fun of just giving art out to people. And yeah, I just do it for free. I just put it out there just to see what happens. I call like a sort of a treat for the fans and resume to the bands.

Matthew Landis:

That is so cool. So you're just an all around artist?

Danny Argote:

Well, yeah, definitely. I mean, my main thing is tattooing. It's obviously my main income, but, yeah, a pretty well rounded interest, like the knowledge of like that. No artwork in general, composition, color theory, stuff like that. But the main, say, the main three things that I focus mostly on is, like, I started out tracing comic books, which was pretty like, I guess serendipitous, because the first official hire I had was for San Diego Comic Con, for a band, uh, Cody and Cambria, that are, that actually are a soundtrack to a comic series at the lead singer, right? So, like, Okay, that was pretty interesting for that to be the first official hire, pretty well. And then, you know, we got into tattooing and illustration. And I always love band art, seeing the big especially with vinyls coming back now, it's pretty cool. People appreciating it anew, again, an album cover, because it used to be when I was growing up, it was on a CD, so it was so tiny, just like it had to be very bold. It didn't, couldn't have much detail. Halftime. Was just a photo and name. And then the vinyl started coming back, and you started really appreciating the artwork again, because you're seeing all these big covers again, you're like, wow, how's it giant painting? Somebody really sat down and figured this out and then put it all through the booklet and put it through all the papers as a kid, that and comic books were always my biggest thing. So kind of rock band fan art just became sort of a natural evolution that,

Matthew Landis:

Wow, so many different avenues. You know, I think when it comes to vinyl and just art in general, people like having something to hold on to and something to look at. And I have a friend who's a painter, and he told me something once about paintings. He's like, you know, you write a book. I'm a writer. He's like, you write a book. People might read it once and put it away and never look at it again. But when you when you're an artist and you with visual art, it's something that people can appreciate forever and ever and ever, and it's this wonderful gift that you put out into the world. And in your case, whether it's on somebody's body or it's print art or something like that, it's this wonderful thing that people will have for the rest of their lives. And to talk about, which I think is so cool.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, I love it my Honestly, my favorite part is the kiddos. At the time, there's parents there. They got young kids. You got a couple of kids. They're not going to even try to get in that merch line, because between the $50 shirt and the$100 poster, and I understand Ben's gotta make the money. I'm not even no judgment, so it's cool. I always print a little stack of extra, like mini prints, just so like, if the kid. It rips it up. So what? You know, I mean, but they get a little some souvenir their first show, or stuff like that, which maybe the parents couldn't afford that night, and that made a big difference for them. Like that was super cool. You light up over it. It's awesome. Parents light up almost twice as much. It's actually great. But yeah, that's the best for me, like that. I mean, obviously, if I get to see the band and stuff like that, and they get to sign it or get a photo something. Yeah, that's always really fun. I've gotten pretty lucky in that department, but honestly, just seeing like fans get really excited, or seeing them come back around, come get a tattoo, I mean, go over the show and we'll show we're going to next. And just like kind of music and art has always gone hand in hand, and I seem to find a really amazing clientele slash fan base there. So that's a little sweet spot for me, and I'm really enjoying the ride so far.

Matthew Landis:

I love it. You're you are like a creative machine, like your output must be insane.

Unknown:

Blame it on the ADD probably.

Matthew Landis:

I love it. I think it's so great.

Danny Argote:

I think I've always like gotten visuals to me when I listen to a song, it's like, listen to the lyrics, and then I'm somehow trying to come up with some way that that would be like if this wasn't written. Now, how would it be visualized? How would someone come to that same understanding it's in a sentence through an image? And that's always been a practice for me, because I've always like what they would call writer's block, or creative block. And they're like, What do I draw? So listen to a song, and I'd be like, Wow, that's a weird lyric. How'd I Hmm, what would that look like? And then, boom, I got something to drop. It's always been my Thank you. Back to news. I'm like, Cool. That always broke it right out. I'm like, just, let me just listen to a song, come up with the weirdest lyric and see if I can easter egg that in there, and then obviously in tattoo. And there's so many people that want to combine ideas and stuff like that, all that just really married each other nicely.

Matthew Landis:

You mentioned you ADD. How did you find this, like as a kid? You said you started tracing comic books.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, yeah. So the first memory I had drawing was tracing Batman comic books, probably around 767, years old, and my dad took some of my sketches. They were horrible, but he actually mailed them to DC Comics, unbeknownst to me. Is like, I had no idea. Couple weeks later, I had a letter in the mail from DC Comics, which I was like, What is this about? And I opened it up into the letterhead from the executive editor of Batman, Batman series I was collecting at the time, and so basically, I mean, it was very cut and dry. It was, I'm not taking any praise away from him. That was awesome. It was amazing. It's very cut, right? Hey, man, don't send originals. Go take some art classes. Draw from life. You can trace all day. But if you don't understand the the skeleton of stuff, like how you know what the rules are, then you can't break them. Make something really unique. And I always thought that with me, which was fantastic advice for any young artist. That's incredible advice, like, gotta learn the rules before you learn how to break them. That's why things look weird. But right?

Matthew Landis:

That's so great. I learned that in hairdressing, totally different art form, but I really had to learn the rules of hairdressing, and I spent a lot of time going to training that I didn't that I wasn't being made to go to, but I wanted the training so that I could learn the structure of hair, so that I could then break it apart and understand why things work the way that they do.

Danny Argote:

And frankly, honestly, hairdressers and tattooers have a lot more in common than you think. You have clientele that have certain expectations. They have references from other people that, frankly, don't look anything like them, or another structure and this and that and the other. And we have to walk them through things, they have concepts that are wildly beyond maybe their budget, or understanding of how many sessions it would take, or how much work it would take, or, you know, what you're forfeiting and not for you know, like it's, it's a lot, but the only difference is permanence between us, that that could still be a couple of years. For you guys, we're dealing with very similar questions on daily basis. Yeah, honestly, like, what I love about we love that in the studios in general, it's just like the vibe in here is like everyone here is working their own hustle, at their own pace. They're making their own money. They're doing, they're handling it. No one here is out to get anybody. Everyone's here. I have so many people walk late. Look, I walk ladies over to their studio. So who are you looking for? What time is your appointment? I got you. Let's go walk over. They walk them over to me all the time. That's hundreds of dollars of business. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's genuine friendship there. I mean, like everybody here is just trying to it's one, yeah, rising tide saves all boats. Yeah, lifts all boats.

Matthew Landis:

I'm guessing that every time that you escort one of these other clients through the space as well, they're like, Oh, I've always wanted a tattoo or what would you do? It's sort of like I was talking to one of my other guests, Julee George, on the podcast, and she was saying, you know, when you tell people that you do hair, their face lights up. And I would imagine that when you tell people that you're a tattoo artist, that is such an entryway for some really interesting conversations, because I have a few tattoos, and people that I know that don't have any, they all secretly want one.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, we had tried to avoid mentioning to anyone that I'm a tattooer when we're at a bar where people might be slightly intoxicated. Yeah, it's turned up tenfold.

Matthew Landis:

You're going to be held hostage for the rest.

Danny Argote:

I'm also like, Here you go. Gotta go bye. I'll wait around for it get old me. Here's my card. Here's a free art they're already happy with that. Bye and I get out and go. Otherwise it's going to be a 30 minute conversation about a sleeve. They're never going to get a concert with you. I'm not going to remember much tomorrow either.

Matthew Landis:

And 30 minutes of your time is also worth a lot of money.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, especially, look, especially when I'm off the block, when I'm off the clock, I'll give everybody two minutes, yeah, two minutes of my time. What's up? Here's my info. Nice to meet you. Here's what I do. I am not working right now, but here's my information. I'd love to chat with you. Book an appointment.

Matthew Landis:

All right, how did you take this passion and interest in art and turn it into a business. Well,

Danny Argote:

I started tattooing out of a shop 15 years ago. I started my apprenticeship, and yeah, the tattoo concept and shops have evolved quite drastically over the last 15 years, but normally and pretty standardly, it was much like hair aggressors. They work, they do their apprenticeship. They're asked to do a certain amount of years kind of work off the apprenticeship, maybe at a commission or booth ran usually around a 10 year mark is when you start looking about going independent, because you built up enough for clientele. And the rule of thumb is, are you willing to lose two thirds of your clientele? Would you be able to pay the bills?

Matthew Landis:

And how was that transition for you?

Danny Argote:

It was good. A lot of what image provides made it a lot better than it should have been. So that way that that really was a game changer. What you guys do and provide, for example, the ability to get keys, Quick, get open, get set up. You're ready to rock. Particularly for a tattooer, you know, the hardest part of going independent is you have to find a location that's zoned for tattooing, which sometimes, sometimes can be really tough with because they still treat us like pawn shops and liquor stores and strip clubs and stuff like that. We're still in that zoning style. And then there's you have to get plumbing. You have to have a hand sink. And then recently, you'd also have to have a sterile room. But recently, almost everything in tattooing has gone disposable, so it doesn't require sterilization. Gotten rid of pretty much every all need for a sterilization room and autoclave all that jazz. Everything now is just disposable one time use, and we just have to worry about sharps containers and getting those properly destroyed. So that changed game up, and then just just knowing we came in, set it up. We got the keys within a few days at the health department. Three days later, we were open a week. It took a week. I was open in a week. I retained 90% of my customers.

Matthew Landis:

So how are things going there? Right? Great. We stayed. We actually got a second unit. We started with a single just for myself and my wife, and a couple months later, my former apprentice, who's now in his almost fourth year of tattooing, he was leaving the same job I was, so he set up a double unit up in the front so they can get a little more foot traffic and visibility. I have one of more the single rooms in the back for a little more privacy for some clients who'd rather just have clothes and stuff, you know, yeah, well, Stacey Valez, our owner there in Thornton, she speaks very highly of you.

Danny Argote:

She's been fantastic and incredibly supportive, man. I'm very grateful for you know,

Matthew Landis:

She's one of our owners, and all all of our owners are really great, but she really loves the people that are part of that location and so, so you work with your wife, correct? And how is that? Great! It really is. I'm always, like, amazed that there's stereotypes against it. Like, I mean, we're not in the same room. That might be a little much in the same room all day, and then go home to get I get that that's a little, you know, when you need your me time, I get that bouncing out. That's okay, but she's got her own room up there. She's got her own world and schedule. She's helping me out on my schedule. And yeah, it's great. Yeah. I mean, most days I'm here pretty much myself, you know? I mean, she's kind of either the other room or she kind of run around doing little stuff in between and basically managing so I don't lose myself. Basically make sure that I'm always going in the right direction. She's like, are you doing this? Yeah, okay, yeah, you're right. Okay, yep, hope, yep, correct, yep, you're absolutely right. I just need her because, I mean, I think life is cheaper than the level of assistant I would need. So I think it's so important to have a partner or work with people that sort of balance out our skill sets, right? She honestly, she is the first How do you divide up the work? Do you do the tattooing and do person I called partner. you also do permanent makeup?

Danny Argote:

I just do tattooing. My wife does permanent makeup as well as, say. Lean removal. It's not laser, totally different. It involves, and I probably still get yelled at for possibly getting this wrong, but I will try to be very broad stroke about it, basically tattooing a saline solution and removing ink through the process of osmosis. You ever seen like cucumber, they put salt on all the water laser, something you're breaking apart cells enough so your lymph nodes underneath can take them in, run them through your bloodstream, kidneys and liver, process and dispose right? Well, we don't have long term data on doing a lot of it at once. Like over a lifetime, hasn't really shown issues, if not, we've noticed by now with heavily tattooed people, but remove, like letting a lot of it break apart at once, that could be daunting. It's just a lot of things we're not 100% sure about. This way, we're just literally pulling out the horn object. As your body recognizes the depths with the saline solution, it's pulling the ink out and and it's a lot easier on the skin. It heals a lot faster. It's not giant boils and blisters, it's just a tattoo, and that way it allows you to lighten it, to cover it up, or remove it entirely. So it gives you the options there as well. We use numbing agent prior because it's saving solution. Obviously, salt on the wound, not the greatest feeling, but we numb it up so you don't feel it, so in less pain, less sessions. I honestly, I barely believed in it at first, but I've had a couple of examples that have come back, and I've just been amazed at how much it was able to take away.

Matthew Landis:

That's socool. I've never heard of that before. That is, sounds really, really cool.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, we're trying to make it more like, I don't want to say experience, but more like a genuine service. You know, a lot of times it feels like it's kind of a turn and burn style. You know, I don't want tattoos emulate Waffle House. I want you to feel like you had, you know, like a generally good time, and knew you were cared for. You know, is something that's permanent on your body. The worst story you could ever last reminder you want on your body is a story about a tattooer who's just mean or rude or indifferent or just didn't care, just wasn't in on, you know, like, that's, that's terrible, and it's on your it's going to remind you every time you look at that, that's, that's not great. So you have to bear that responsibility with each client, if you can. You gotta be honest enough to be like, Alright, let's get you rescheduled or something, or get yourself in a better mood.

Matthew Landis:

So tell me for our listeners, like, what is the process of finding the right tattoo and going through making the appointment and getting everything set up? How does that work?

Danny Argote:

I mean, general advice. One, there's two things that an artist wants to know off the bat, subject and style. What it is you want? I want an owl. I want a plane. I want a rose. Okay? Style would be I want it really old school, sailor, Jerry, traditional looking. I want it more watercolor style. I want a very fine line, you know, all these little adjectives basically, just to basically give me an idea of what kind of style you want, and then your placement and size, because that's going to dictate how much detail can go into those areas and heal well over, over long term. Yeah. So it's a matter of figuring those factors out, and that really helps out. Way our shop runs through it is, if it's something you if you have a directive like, this is exactly what I want, that's easy too. This is what I want. Is where I want it. Obviously you're well aware you looked at a Google search image, so did everyone else you bound up up into somebody with it. That's not a concern. Tattoo. If you're unaware of that, I'll give you a quick advisement. That's simple. I mean, I'll give you all the pros and cons. Any decision you make my my job isn't a judge decision make, it to educate you so you make the best one possible for what you feel is right? So to me, it's like, more details. Give me better I can price you, give you time, give you ideas, give you concepts. But usually, if it's like pretty, like, open in the air, I set up a free consultation. The same thing goes for my wife. I'm doing removal or permanent makeup, and it's usually 30 minutes, sometimes even longer, sit down discuss. It's a 30 minute conversation to sit down and discuss your options, what you're looking to get done, come in the room, get acquainted, meet us, make sure we're not weird. I get it sometimes it's nice to walk in first and just walk around a little bit and chat with us and get to know us a little bit and kind of back and forth with us before you make the decision to sit down for hours with us and that's hurt you?

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, because it is painful.

Danny Argote:

Sowe always set those up because that, I think that also makes it easier for the client. You know, they're a little more adjusted. They're not having to figure all this out last minute. They figured it out as a consultation. They know what they're in for. They focus more on just getting through the tattoo as comfortably as possible. What they need to bring, bringing a friend, stuff like that. We usually provide little sugary somethings, because I can't treat everybody like they're getting sugar cracked if they're not feeling up to it. Keep them loaded on water calories. Make sure they eat prior stuff like that. Give them all that information prior, so that way they can come in as prepared as possible. But. It's like, the more it feels like, the more questions you answer, the less nervous they come in.

Matthew Landis:

That's so great. And you know, I think when people find the right tattoo artist, they're going to stick with you for ever. I'm sure the people that you've been working on for years are incredibly loyal.

Danny Argote:

Thankfully, yeah, do solid work and just be, be as a cordial and friendly as possible. Be respectful like you know, it's not that hard. Your reputation goes a very long way, especially in this industry. It's unfortunate people take advantage or people and I get it, we repeat ourselves a lot. So do hairdressers. They got a smile on their face every day, and they're wonderful. So there's no reason I get to be grumpy. Explain how the finger tattoo will look like a year from now, five times a day. But it's the job, and if they still want it, I'll do it, but I want them to be educated. So they'll walk around going, Danny, mess this up. They go, Danny told me this was a bad idea, and I'm gonna go back to him for my sleeve, because he cares. Sometimes that's all people want just to care.

Matthew Landis:

What would you say your superpower is?

Unknown:

I'm good at putting things together. You know, like making things that I'm good at making furniture you would never think match somehow work out I'll make a pattern where there isn't one if I need to. It doesn't apply to a lot of things, but what it does apply to, it does seem to give me an edge on that could be, whether it be tattoo designs, concepts, compositions, I would set up a room, how I set up my station, how it's set up my closet.

Matthew Landis:

That's probably where a lot of that, bringing that ADD back into the conversation, where that's probably helpful, right? Because you pay intense attention to details. There's just so many details.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, it can be daunting, but it's also, like, wildly gratifying when, when you you achieve it technically and officially, and she feel good about, you know, she's like, oh, hold that off. That happened. That worked. Okay. I always tell people, every tattooer is nervous about tattooing. Some of us are better at hiding.

Matthew Landis:

That is like doing hair, because, you know, I tell people it is terrifying. It's especially terrifying in the beginning, but we are terrified pretty much every day, and it just becomes a part of us, like we're not even aware that we're terrified.

Danny Argote:

They're baseline wild anxiety is pretty much our baseline.

Matthew Landis:

Exactly. Let me ask you some other questions. How do you ride the bumps on the road to success? Or, first of all, let me ask you, how do you define how would you define success? What does that mean to you? Success?

Danny Argote:

I think at this point, man, I'm only a year in, so I feel like I'm being a little overzealous. But right now, it's setting up passive income, something that I can be paid for, that I've already done, whether it be prior designs, prior artwork, stuff like that, that I can slowly turn people onto the fan art. Becoming officially hired art would also be good and not, frankly, is going to be, ideally, my retirement plan, my back and my shoulders can't tattoo forever, and I'm already 40, so, so it's, it's things like that, where, you know, sick day when I'm the only one who can tattoo like, I mean, I have my other tattooer, but in terms of income bringing home, I'm the only one that can in that department. So if I'm sick, if I'm hurt, something happens that could be detrimental. We have things in place to help and support that system, but same time, last thing you want to do is drain those, those reservoirs. So to speak. It's about setting up passive income that can at least cover our costs. If we could set up a way that our artwork or peril, or whatever we have set up, or side side commissions and stuff like that, can at least cover our cost of operating. Then the tattooing can just be profit. I could be a little more selective about the work I want to do and be a little less tougher on my own schedule.

Matthew Landis:

Now, is there a website or somewhere that our listeners can go to check out your work?

Unknown:

Um, so Vagaro.com/inkandartcolorado, I believe should work. Or you can check us out on our Instagram. It's @inkartcolorado.

Matthew Landis:

we want to support you and make sure that

Danny Argote:

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Matthew Landis:

Let me kind of step out of the business for a second. And. Us to ask you, what other parts of your life bring you the most joy and happiness? you have that passive income. And I, I'm I've looked at some

Danny Argote:

Live music, concerts have always been my of your art, I've looked at your Instagram. It's really cool. So jam, for lack of a better term, that was always my little escape I definitely want to dive a little bit deeper into all of of reality. Just, you know, I have a little social anxiety. I that, because I'm just so fascinated. You have such an interesting story, especially that, you know, relation to well, I would say I just have a I have a good social battery, music and other art forms, and bringing it all together into but it runs out quick. I can hang with a bunch of people, but these really unique, you know, places and spaces, I think, is I can't do it long. But at a concert or like a movie theater, really admirable. every person is there focused on one something else, not me. I'm not it's not just bouncing all over the wall, so to speak. The eyes are all going in one direction. We're all just here for the same reason, love the same thing. Really want to enjoy it. I find that is such an ultimate calmer for me in such a giant place, because people will be like, how do you have social anxiety about going to a restaurant? But you were just at the foo fighter show with 50,000 people. I'm like, because 50,000 people were staring at one guy. That guy was having anxiety, not me.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, restaurants a much more intimate space than a 50,000 person concert. People are looking in every direction. Energy is being thrown in every direction, and it's a show. Ideally, all the energy is going right to that stage. So you're just observing that almost a little outside of it, or partaking and giving that said energy. But yeah, when you're somewhere else, bounce off the walls that that's where I'm like, I'm good. That's where it's too much. It's too it's, I don't know. It's not harmonized either. There's also music playing at the others. You know, when you watch a movie or show, there's a main thing that's louder than everyone else. So you know, you can always tap into that. Unfortunately, at a bar, it's usually bad karaoke music, when a concert's like this, or a movie, it's this collective experience, right? That's bringing everybody sort of together for this common purpose and enjoyment. It kind of forces the harmony we wish we all had. I really leave it up to the client. You know, every every client handles things a little differently. So the way I have it set up here, I have a projector with all the streaming services and stuff on there. So I hand them the remote. I'm like, you can throw on music, throw on podcast, throwing stand up, throwing a movie, whatever. I usually advise that they put something on it. They're kind of used to. And what I mean by that is, if you try to put a new movie on, and I stab you, you're gonna forget what the plot is within two seconds. And then it's kind of useless to see a bunch of things going on that you have nothing, no idea about. So I always have like, what's the thing you study that you put on in the background when you're studying, when you're cleaning the house, when you're taking a nap, you know? But just what's your background jam is just music? Is it an episode of The Office and Parks and Rec, or one of those, you know, what's what? What kind of puts you in that trying to chill, that move, because that's really the mode you want to be in. Like, you know, I always tell people, like getting a tattoo, you usually have a fight or flight response when you get when you're having pain. It's rare that you give this third option, but most people don't realize that, if you've ever taken a nap with a backache, that was the third option. You're saying, I'm gonna sleep despite this pain. I'm gonna relax despite this pain. You're not gonna fall asleep by tensing up and screaming and being mad and shaken some of that. You're gonna do it by going to sucks. This sucks this. Relax because it still sucks my backwards. But I'm getting there. I'm getting there, and that's, that's the mode you want to be in. So what's the stuff you put on in that background when you're in that mode? That's what you want. Or some people prefer holding a conversation. And I always tell people, You're there for a long time, and it is painful to be of a good experience. I rell people all the time, tattoos are like passport stamps. You can look at that stamp and know exactly what day it was, how you were feeling, who you were with or weren't with, what was going on in your life, who the tattooer was, and how they were to you. That's all immediate recollection. When you look at that tattoo. You do not want to be a negative aspect of that. That's a terrible thing to be. I heard this great quote once, and I'm going to mangle this, I know, but it was somebody asked this younger woman with a lot of tattoos, how she was going to feel about those tattoos when she was old. And she said, I'm going to look at them, and I'm going to know that I had a youth well spent.

Danny Argote:

People were like, well, how's it gonna look when you're 80? How much? How's everything gonna look when you're 80, look terrible. So what, you know, like, I the only thing I would tell people is, like, Don't go crazy super young, unless you're willing to invest in touching them up over time or getting stuff that's a little bolder and brighter, almost like traditional style, you know, more old school stuff, because then you can sort of clean that up over time. And, you know, like, super, you know, you don't want things to blob up once you get into the blob zone. That's why you have a lot of kids who are like kids in their 30s, but yeah, in their 30s that have all the blackout legs because they just got a bunch of stuff on the routine. Yeah, be patient. It's good to think about it. There's permanence to it. I always tell people, if you want to get something. Put a reminder of it on your fridge, stare at it for six months.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, I have tattoos of tributes to my dogs and one to my grandmother, because my reasoning is that I'm never not going to love my dogs and I'm never not going to love my grandmother.

Danny Argote:

Yeah, that's the rule three. I always say it's your parents, your kids, and dearly departed, because if your parents and your kids piss you off, tough. They're your parents, and your kids, the dearly party can't piss you off because they're dearly departed.

Matthew Landis:

Amen.

Danny Argote:

The rule of three, those are three. Those are good. Anything on now I say, Hey, that's a bit of a dice roll. But do what you want to do.

Matthew Landis:

Last question, what are you looking forward to in the future?

Danny Argote:

Continuing working in tattooing, ideally, getting some more hires. I'd like to take the tattooing to some kind of level, where I'm started tattooing a couple of members of bands recently, and I'm hoping that that can build up on that, because I would like that to be kind of gateway to funding a Community Arts Center with, like, a gallery shop, and that would be like an independent thing down the line. But, I mean, even the concept of image is cool, like, basically that with a courtyard and a few less boots, basically, be it.

Matthew Landis:

What a great idea.

Danny Argote:

And there's some to that matter. So like, kids can get into, like, printing, painting, drawing, digital drawing, just something to do. And, I mean, it's a be a good pool for apprentices. It'd be a good spot for more like, I'm thinking, like, think of a YMCA, but for the brain, you got one for the physical mental, the creative mind, stuff like that. I'd really love to do something like that down the line with the fan art and stuff like that. If that gets big enough where I can actually even be tattooing bands and stuff like that. It could be a promotional thing on both ends, you know, and doing something like that.

Matthew Landis:

That's incredible, and I think that you would be so good at that. You seem like you'd be such a great mentor. Did I hear you say that you worked in education? Yeah, I was a elementary after school art teacher and PE teacher.

Danny Argote:

The kids are fantastic.

Matthew Landis:

All right. Danny, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to sit down with me and talk about your business and take care.

Danny Argote:

Thank you as well. Bye. Have a good one, man.

Matthew Landis:

Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of The VIP Suite. I'm Matthew Landis, and I hope you found the insights and inspiration shared today truly valuable for your journey as a Salon Suite entrepreneur and independent beauty health or wellness professional, don't forget to follow us on Instagram@imagestudios360 and if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to the VIP Suite on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an opportunity to connect with our vibrant community and to discover more incredible stories and strategies. We love hearing from our listeners. If you have any questions, topics, suggestions, or want to share your own success story, feel free to reach out to me at matthew@imagestudios360.com and remember listener, you are the heartbeat of the beauty, health and wellness industry, your dedication and passion make the world a better place one client at a time, we'll be back with more engaging and inspiring conversations in our next episode. Until then, take care. Stay inspired and continue to create your own VIP Suite. For more information about becoming a part of the IMAGE Studios luxury Salon Suite community, visit our website at imagestudios360.com.