Loyalty

[2847fabs]

Hi fellow companions,
I have apprenticed in Australia for over 2 years and under a famous australian tattooist that happened to be a ex-bikie. during this time i've been working 6 days long shifts doing pretty much everything and for $0 until i started tattooing real customers. So in the last 6 months i started turning some money over for the shop and doing good enough for the boss to let me in charge of bigger jobs so he could enjoy a long christmas holyday. In the mean time my work got better and my reputation grew past the shop, leading me to a better opportunity. last week i told the boss of this offer and he pretty much threatened me that i owed him everything that i am now and that before him i was nothing. See i think otherwise since i also graduated (Bachelor of Science) at the same time as apprenticing and got offered pretty good jobs in this field and which i declined to help him out. but thats not all, i also did more than what most of other apprentice ever did for him with nothing else in exchange than an opportunity to tattoo. he also think that he teached me all of what i know of tattooing and doesn t know that i've been educated by heaps of tattoo books and instructional dvds (Guy Aitchison, Joshua Carlton, Brandon Bond ....) as well. so what you guys think? have i done something wrong?
appreciate yor answers
Thanks, Fabs

[BRANDON BOND]

push foreward always - dont second guess yourself ever - just keep pushing till you win or you die.

its working for me!

hahahahaa

[resonanteye]

don't think it's wrong necessarily, but you gotta pay your dues someday. You only been working professionally for six months? Wait a year then go. Try to do a guest spot at that other place in the meantime, travel a bit but keep your teacher as home base maybe. How would he feel if you went and did guest spots? Those have always taught me a hell of a lot.

Of course if working conditions are just intolerable, or you really hafta go, at least go far enough that you won't be his direct competition. That's just the civil way to behave. Ethics my friend. But go if ya gotta go.

also ever try to talk to him about all the stuff you've been learning? Man I'd cry if someone I taught didn't share back with me the stuff that they learned that I didn't know. Try talking with him, maybe sit and watch a dvd with him, maybe he wants to progress too, and you can ease the transition by sharing the other stuff you have learned, give some back, you know?

You have to keep trying to get better, and do what it takes. Just try to be ethical while you do that, I know it's a rough balance but it can be done.

[noah313]

I was kinda in the same situation you are. I went through a ton of crap and got treated like crap. Not just your normal paying your dues situation. I did everything for that shop, it almost ruined my marriage. When I started tattooing there and finally was making money. My boss and mentor told me I had to give him 50% and pay a 1/3 of the bills and supplies. I'm talking all supplies and all bills. I paid a 1/3 of the rent, water, internet, electric, advertising, phone, needles, gloves, ink, paper towels, etc, etc.. I didn't know any better, and I was still being treated like a dog. I finally got fed up and I left. I had really no options but to open my own shop. I was married and there were no shops even close that were half way worth a damn. So I opened a shop where I was living which was 50 miles away from the shop I started at. I tell you all that to tell you this, I wish I could have continued in that shop for longer because I found out that I didn't know crap. I made a lot of mistakes. I was on my own in a small po-dunk town. But I have grown and learned from my mistakes and still have my shop now a bigger nicer one than before. But make sure to explore your options, good luck.

[resonanteye]

Originally Posted by noah313

it almost ruined my marriage. .

This is one of those things...while you are learning at least, the work has to be top priority, and that causes a lot of trouble for people, especially people who have kids or wives or "important" stuff to do besides learn everything they can about tattooing. Really common, this.

[2847fabs]

Thanks heaps guys,
I tried to tell him before i left that i didn t want to burn bridges and the idea of doing gest post does sound good but he didn t want that and said that he would make me pay some how even with my blood if he had to. anyways, i started today in the new join that is 1 hour away from the other shop but next to 28 other shops. the competition is quite interesting some charge extraordinary prices for very ordinary tattoos just because the best tattooists charge even more, but do 'represent'. So today my new boss showed me around n it felt strange coz things went under my conditions this time. in the end i still think about doing something nice for him.
see youz in HELL
Fabs

[mrchen]

It sounds like you did everything right, your old boss is just hurt to lose you

[jerseyjaywymbs]

the regular appreticeship around my way is 5 or 5, meaning $5,000 or 5 years of your ass. you have to pay to play with these boys. break the deal, and it's usually broken fingers and loss of equipment. thankfully the biker scene has quieted down a bit, but it's not entirely gone. i always give credit in some public form to the guys who have showed me the way and never disrespect any of them. i appreciate each and every guy who helped me out along the way. i'm not where i wanna be yet, so i keep pushing myself, but i do realize i wouldn't be where i am today if it wasn't for their help. props to all who helped me advance.

[BRANDON BOND]

everybody comes in differently but how you come in is what determines where your journey begins and how much work it takes to get where your going - I feel like a fortune cookie today.

[inkmunky]

buddha brandon says...

just put on 200 lbs and begin all your replies like that from now on