Plans are in the works to develop a new life path. I've recently gotten married to a beautiful young Mexican woman who stole my heart the minute she walked in my door. I was in a bad place emotionally and financially sinking as well. But she saw me for who I was anyway. We got married just a few months after we met and have done nothing but talk about our plans leading us to a common goal. That goal is to switch career paths and both have jobs we can keep under the same business roof.
The trend of the tattoo industry to elevate itself to a common household element has me wanting out. I love tattooing and won't quit, but the industry it's turned into is a shameful sell out like many industries. The bigger the demand for something, the more people with money get involved and turn it into an everyday commodity. Well that commodity has worn itself a little thin on my ice since I started tattooing in 1991. I feel that survival from tattooing alone is not enough.
In turn, I've decided to split my future company into several parts and pack those parts into a neat little package. Not just because any of the parts are cool, or vital, or necessary, but because my brain will not stop wandering into things that interest me.
Tattooing was a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes hellish at best. Sometimes a comfortable stable way to make a living. I could go home every night with a pocket full of cash and pay a few bills and eat. And sometimes in the earlier years, it dragged me into some loathsome places I hope to never see again. Drugs, the people that came with doing drugs, drinking and loose women.
It's time to light a fire under my ass again. 25 years of doing the same thing has proven to stagnate me a little and I've plateaued.
Choppers have fascinated me now for the past 15 years or so, ever since they were popularized on tv with the Biker Build-Off shows. I didn't care that they were popular though. Some of the bikes were just beautiful, and I wanted one! Not content to just buy a Harley Davidson, I flew right into trying to build one. Now, 13 years after my first few attempts, I've built 2 of my own bikes and serviced many Harleys, made parts and collected tools to make more bikes.
Harley Davidson Technician and chopper builder and fabricator sounds like its in my future. I'm currently looking to enrol in an apprenticeship program. Photography has also interested me.
I've been dabbling in photography for almost a year now in serious effort and have learned a lot. Many photographers and models have come out to help me learn about camera gear, how to shoot and what to look for in models and how to capture just about anything and anyone in the lens. I've also been able to put my photoshop and editing skills to use and learn to manipulate better images that can be used for anything. Mostly for my own selfish interests of advertising my company.
So, the bigger plan from all I have learned is; To build a studio/garage kind of environment, where tattooing, piercing, chopper fabrication, Harley Davidson repair and servicing, photography, maybe even a music recording studio. Sounds ridiculous, right?!
I'm hoping not. All of these things have interested me in life and it would be awesome to put it all under one roof. Of course, I'm not planning on doing all of this alone. Nor am I planning on making a living from parts of it. But choppers, Harleys, tattoos, piercing and photography all together will not only keep me busy, but pay the bills as well. I've got help from my new and very supportive wife and a few like minded and interested friends. I'm after the bigger prize than the one I'm living with now and hoping to get it.
It'll take a while for all this to come together yet, but I'm not stopping until my best effort is put forth and I've exhausted every resource to try. Even if it breaks me and puts me deep in debt. I've hit rock bottom several times before, after a steady climb to a successful start in a new business or life path, so I'm no stranger to 'hurt'.
'Iron Blood Customs', will house all of my interests together. The new business cards will say it all. I'm working my ass off literally to make this happen. My wife and I plan on starting a family together in a couple years, once this business takes its giant leap of faith into fruition.
I'm currently waiting on funds and looking into possible 'investors'. Iron Blood Customs will be a family business with great iconic people working for it.
We hope to document much of the work and capture it in a future biography with the help of students and professional archivists. My wife and I feel this is a necessary step to make our lives complete and want to share it with all the right people up close, and all the public who find interest in what we're doing through social media and through need for our services.
I will continue to post new sets as models who are interested become available. There aren`t many SG girls in my area and I don`t typically shoot SG style sets, but will work on them more over time. I`ve posted several sets of previous models and really want to master this style of shooting. If anyone is ever on Vancouver Island and wants to shoot with me, please let me know.
You can find me in several places, including;
rodrigod:
TRUE Model Magazine....is this mag still available? This piece you wrote above is very inspirational, because I think that there are many men who have come to this point on their path in life and instead of saying "fuckit...lets so this," they get scared and stay on the safe simple path. I am curious on how you have progressed since writing this almost 2 years ago.