Why I'm Writing a TATTOO BIZ Book - “Beyond the Chair”

(Spilling The Tattoo Tea... by Erika Armstrong)

coming soon

I’m Erika Armstrong.With over 25 years tattooing, custom-painting hot rods, and airbrushing anything that stands still long enough.

I’ve owned shops, worked in shops, guest-spotted, and I’ve watched more talented artists burn out or walk away broken than I can count.After every single one of those conversations, the same sentence always came up: “If I had known what it was really like… I wouldn’t be in this mess. I feel broken, washed up, and honestly not even sure what I’ve done with my life. I dedicated everything to an industry so fucking volatile it chews you up and spits you out. I wish someone had taught me the business side. I wish I’d been warned.”And to be honest — I feel the same.So I stopped waiting for “someone” to step up. I stopped waiting for the industry to suddenly become supportive. I decided to do it myself.

I started writing this book because I couldn’t find tattoo artists who had the full professional package — the same way any other trade expects its people to show up. Back in 2015, while running my own shop, I built structured training systems and interview processes so new artists actually learned customer care, professionalism, and how to run a real career — not just how to put ink in skin. I kept most of those artists, and a couple are still working successfully today.Now let’s talk about the absolute shitstorm that followed simply because I tried to raise standards.It didn’t matter that I was paying people to train properly inside my own studio.

It didn’t matter that I was trying to give new artists a legitimate career path instead of the usual sink-or-swim bullshit. The rock trolls still came out swinging — keyboard warriors, bitter artists, and even some industry “representatives” who should have known better. And now, as the same voices crawl out of their caves again, every attack only proves why this book is needed more than ever.

Let’s be crystal clear: I poured my own money, time, blood, sweat and soul into that shop. I built a real training system that set people up for life — something most shops never bother to do. Yet a handful of loud, mediocre voices with sub-par portfolios decided they got to judge my competence and tear it down in public. Some of my own team even listened to them — people too weak to carve their own path, happy to throw stones at the one person actually trying to lift the industry up.

This is still a marginal, male-dominated trade, and the tall-poppy syndrome has to stop. If someone is running their business, paying staff, and raising standards — stay the hell out of it.

That’s exactly why I wrote this book: so the next generation learns the right way, from someone who’s actually done it — not from the cheap seats.Business Beyond the Chair isn’t another hype-filled promise.

It’s the book I desperately wish 22-year-old me had:

• before I signed my first 70/30 contract (guess who got the 70, not meeeee!)

• before I worked for “exposure” and gave away designs for free

• before I watched the shop owner pocket six figures while I lived on toast and baked beans, praying the power wouldn’t get cut

• before I got tangled in an industry ecosystem riddled with affiliates and criminal ties I wanted no part of

• before I opened my own studio and learned the hard way — through bruises, heartbreak, and massive financial losses — that passion alone doesn’t pay rent, insurance, or super.

  
  

In 2025, thousands of artists are still trapped in the same broken, outdated business models while the cost of living has tripled. This book teaches you how to charge what you’re worth (and that it’s more than okay to do it). It teaches you that not everyone in this industry is your friend. If I’d had this back then, everything would have been different.Now it’s here for you.I’m in this for the long haul, committed to passing everything forward. I hope I can help you reach my level — and even surpass me — with a more fortunate experience than the trauma I carry.

Inside the book you’ll find the actual numbers and hard truths:

• What it really costs to run a chair and a business in 2025

• How much you should be taking home (and why you’re probably not)

• How to price your time so you’re not subsidising the shop

• How to open your own shop in 60–90 days without going bankrupt

• Contracts, boundaries, and how to fire a client without burning the industry down

• The legal red flags that can shut you down tomorrow

• The mental-health tools that keep you from becoming another statistic

No fluff. No gatekeeping. No “pay your dues” nonsense.Just the raw, unfiltered business education that should have been mandatory the day any of us picked up a machine. Because talent is common. Survival isn’t.

If you’re tired of guessing, tired of being undervalued, or tired of watching good artists disappear because nobody taught them how money actually works…

If you want to get into the industry but feel scared…

If your dream feels out of reach or is starting to feel more like a nightmare…Then this book will be for you.

– Erika

Still in the chair.

Still fighting.

Still passing it forward.