Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenzie Campbell.
Hi Kenzie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Early, TX. In school, I was definitely one of the more outlandish types, wearing an array of colors and just never fitting in with anyone else. I’d loved art since the moment I could hold a pencil and could never stop doodling or drawing. Despite the art classes not being a focus of the school compared to the academics and sports programs, I adored my art teacher and originally planned to follow her path. I first went on to get my Associate of Art at Weatherford College and then transferred to Tarleton State University, where I decided to keep going for a teaching degree so I could teach high school art. The program at Tarleton truly tested my drive and will to be creative. In my last year, I had a serious mental break that landed me in the hospital, and when I got better, I decided to get a tattoo to commemorate my rise from the low point I’d hit and that’s how I met my to-be mentor. He’d ask to see what I had been working on in school and soon after offered me an apprenticeship. It was terrifying to tell my parents that I had decided to drop out of the teaching program and switch to art entirely, and even harder to tell my conservative father that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. Thankfully, it all seemed to go well; my parents both came around to the idea and started cheering me on as soon as they saw how happy I was.
I ended up graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Art and finishing out my apprenticeship. Upon finishing the apprenticeship, I decided to move to Fort Worth. I had long dreamed of living in a bigger city and finally felt it was my time to take the leap.
I moved as quickly as I could out of Stephenville, taking the first spot in a shop that I was offered. Unfortunately, the shop I’d first went to turned out not being a great place to work and I had quite a few bad experiences. While being at that shop wasn’t the best for my mentality, I learned a lot about myself and the tattoo industry.
At first, I was scared to move on and try out a different shop, but after a year there, I finally got to my feet and left to find better. And I did. I found a place only a week later that I am still currently at. I am now part of a crew that genuinely feels like a little family, we all look out for one another, and everyone helps everyone. I’m almost a year into being with this shop and can honestly say it’s the best place I’ve ever worked. I have grown a lot within my journey, but I feel like this past year has helped grow me the most as an artist in this field, surrounded by like-minded individuals who lift me up rather than tear me down.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road throughout my career. Being a female in this industry is hard work, no one takes you seriously. I’ve been treated as less than just because of how I look and dress, I’ve been called names, talked down on, touched inappropriately, and held to standards that others, in the shops, have not.
Tattoo shops have had a long history of not being the safest places, and I’ve definitely had encounters where I fear over my safety. A big struggle of mine at a past shop was feeling unsafe where I was located, and sometimes I’d be left at the shop alone, which was even more terrifying. It made it hard to focus on tattooing when I was also worried about what might come walking through the door.
Something that a lot of artists also struggle with is Imposter syndrome, something that I experience almost daily. I don’t feel like I’m good enough, and it’s hard to sit and scroll on my socials, seeing everyone doing amazingly good work. I compare myself to others way too often and judge myself way too harshly. There is always someone better than you in this industry, and somedays it’s hard to realize I’m STILL growing.
Many artists won’t talk about the fluctuation of income, which is definitely a true struggle for me. Throughout the years I’ve been in the industry, winters have always been slow, especially during the holidays. People have other purchases that take importance over tattoos, which is more than reasonable, but it leaves us falling back onto savings from the busier times of the year. I’m still learning how to control my income haha.
The last thing I want to touch on is the simple fear of fucking up. There are a lot of rules and regulations on being a tattoo artist, things that will easily get you fired or even hurt. I have to be so careful and conscious of every move I make within the shop and during the tattoo process so that I don’t hurt anyone else or myself. It’s a lot of training and memorizing behind the scenes that many people probably don’t think about. Every time I touch a needle to someone’s skin, I’m taking a risk for them and for myself, and that can be a hard thing to think about.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a tattoo artist! I absolutely adore my job, and I can’t see myself doing anything else. Above all other styles, I LOVE doing fine line and floral work. I love the simplicity and daintyness of these two styles, though I often do blackwork as well. Many people think that the simpler the tattoo is the easiest, but that’s usually not the case at all! Think about drawing a perfectly straight line… think about doing it with a marker, then think about doing it with a fine point pen… It’s NOT easy! Now, think bout doing it on a moving, breathing creature! It takes a lot of practice, patience, and discipline to achieve these crisp tiny lines on a living canvas, and I love the focus it takes to achieve them.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I’m not sure how much I believe in luck. The harder I work, the more good ‘luck’ that seems to follow. However, I think that there are times when I get lucky that my spot in rotation leads to a cool client coming in with an awesome idea for a tattoo. In those times I do see luck having a part to play because I get to rock out an interesting tattoo that may have gone to someone else if I hadn’t come into the shop when I did. I also think there may have been some ‘bad’ luck that had me leaving my previous shops, however it quickly turned into good luck when I found my current one and getting me into a position that I truly love. But was this all just a path I was destined to follow? I think we all end up right where we need to be eventually, lucky or not.
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