Belonging from an Asian country, Alisha (Yoo Jung Ha) Gory is a Korean female tattoo artist living in New York City. She came to America at 18 years of age to pursue freedom and go against the conformity she brought within her. Now she is running her own business of tattoos designing.
In Alisha’s interview, she told her story of what brought her to this specific career path. She got graduated with a BFA degree from the School of the Art Institue of Chicago. She always desired to pursue her career in a creative field. Furthermore, she felt as though she didn’t choose tattoo designing, but it chose her because it wasn’t her plan in the first place. She got into it by going to an art school run by tattoo artists, and they recommended that she could become a good tattoo artist.
Alisha also shared her funniest mistakes when she was starting her career: designing bad tattoos and being unaware of what she was doing. At times, she would be covered in sweat while drawing just a straightforward design.
Moreover, she told from her story that how she standout from the crowd in her career. According to her, it was unusual to become an Asian plus a female tattooer initially, especially when this field was in its emerging phase. Now with Instagram, people are connected worldwide; however, back in that days, it was more unusual, or even if these social media sites existed, they were not as popular. In addition, she was the very first Asian female tattoo artist to be featured on the cover of Inked magazine.
Alisha has also recommended a few but practical tips for her colleagues working in this industry to support them in thriving and not to burn out or weaken. She advised understanding that your body will get tired, so it’s essential to do some workout and take care of your health for longevity with tattooing.
In the achievement of any person’s success, there are some people who help and support the person in it. Alisha’s case was no exception, though. All of her close friends were tattoo artists and had been practicing it way longer than her. They all taught her, how to design a tattoo, gave her honest critiques, and supported her during her times of self-doubt.
Furthermore, Alisha’s success brought goodness to the world in a way that she with her team has currently build an online portal with one of the biggest influencers in the tattoo industry. They believe in not being the gatekeepers but giving back to the new and upcoming artists, so they don’t have to go through the abuse, mistreatment, and harsh tattoo apprenticeships as they had to.
Alisha also shares her favorite life lesson quote that is loving yourself. She states that if you can’t love yourself, how can you love anything else or have any boundaries or passion for becoming better?
In her interview, she told 5 things that she wished to know before she started her company.
- Do not dwell on things that you cannot control.
- Do not let others doubt or negatively affect your self-worth.
- Surround yourself with people who will only raise you higher.
- Research and be diligent before making any decisions.
- Trust yourself that you will succeed, and failure is a lesson to be better next time.
No doubt, Alisha is a person with significant influence. She wants to start animal rescue shelters, go around third world countries to rescue them, and bring them to America for their chance to live a better life. By this movement, she would get the most amount of good to the most amount of people.
To know more about Alisha Gory, a tattoo artist, start following her on Facebook and Instagram @alishagory.
