Hosts Julie Slater and Jason Friday chat with 27 year-old tattoo artist Kiki Filigree from Newport Beach, CA. She recently did Julie and Jason's tattoos in memory of their dog, Rayla. See videos of the tattoos on instagram @cuzihavetopodcast. They chat about their tattoo aftercare product EKO created by Kiki's boyfriend Hunter who is also a tattoo artist. Kiki is heading into her third year of tattooing after her apprenticeship (in 2018) with a tattoo artist friend...her lifelong dream as a child was to do art as a career...always having a pencil and paper in front of her drawing...she thought she would get into animation but ended up in the tattoo world...Kiki has a four year degree in marketing which was going to lead into a career in graphic design...she realized she didn't want someone else controlling her art...she enjoys bringing her clients' visions to life through her tattoo work...Kiki worked in an office for a minute and realized it wasn't for her...she got her first tattoo at 18...but now she is getting it removed...and how she learned a lot since then....how painful tattoo removal is but that it's good for her to know about it so she can tell clients about it...how some people "black out" their old tattoos instead of removing them...how the black out style of tattooing has become more popular...how tattoos have become more common with people...

Julie talks about how one of her first tattoo artists wasn't really a good drawer/artist...some tattoo artists can simply copy a picture you bring in, although Kiki does not like to take a picture and copy it - she wants to reimagine it in her own way...how some shops have "flash" pictures you can just choose from...a tattoo Kiki did from a picture/drawing someone's kid drew and Kiki reimagined it - a gorgeous flower tattoo...how the people around Kiki growing up felt about her artistic dreams for the future...how she heard the term "starving artist" a lot from people...how people felt about her heading into the tattoo world....the shift in the tattoo world with women...how hard it was for women in the past...the support of other women in the industry and men who support women...Kiki's views on reality TV shows...Jason talks about an older tattoo woman he remembers who was an incredible artist - Devil Doll Tattoo on Ventura Blvd in Studio City (no longer around)...how Kiki was just starting out as a tattoo artist when COVID hit and tattoo shops were closed down...the struggles of keeping her dream alive...the frustration of how restaurants got to stay open during COVID lockdown but not tattoo shops...the cleanliness of a tattoo shop...how nice Kiki's tattoo shop is (cool vibe)...how Kiki handles "terrible" tattoo ideas from clients (she says no idea is "terrible" but maybe some are "unrealistic")...her longest tattoo - 10-11 hours...how she handles clients who are not aware of the tattoo world and experience of how it works...Kiki and her boyfriend (Cloudcaptortattoo - anime and water color) are traveling and guest tattooing in other cities/states - heading to San Antonio, parts of Florida, Denver, and then Knoxville for a tattoo convention...Kiki has many tattoos all over but has been holding one of her forearms open so that she saves some room for the right tattoo...

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE...FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KIKI...the best/worst fad tattoo she remembers...she names a band that changed her life...name something good about Lancaster (where she's from) and Newport Beach, CA (where she lives now)...name a favorite food item that brings her joy...how the idea of her art living on people's bodies forever affects her work...

Follow @cuzihavetopodcast on Instagram for all the latest news.  We'd love to hear from you - email us at [email protected].  Find other episodes or leave us a voice message for the show on the anchor website. Thanks for tuning in! Keep on living those dreams, friends, CUZ YOU HAVE TO!! - jULIE AND jASON