Meet Susannah Griggs | Tattooist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Susannah Griggs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Susannah, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I think I’m still working on this.
I went back to tattooing when my daughter was a year old and found you can rarely be good at everything at one time. It’s hard to balance running a business, being a parent and finding time for yourself. It’s important to give yourself some grace. I’ve found things that work better for me over the years. Whereas I used to answer every single email within five minutes of receiving it, I now give myself grace periods and don’t feel pressed to answer the same day. I would work every single day, now I take entire days off where I don’t allow myself to think about work. I use a lot of pre written auto responses for questions I am frequently asked. Some people find this off putting because it’s less personal but any place I can save a few minutes is more time directed toward being with my family. I make a lot of posts gently reminding clients that I have a lot going on outside of work and appreciate their patience. People don’t realize how much goes into tattooing, that I do the emails, designing, tattooing, admin duties and that many times I’m getting home from tattooing only to go straight into designing projects for the following days and emailing responses to potential clients. This job bleeds into every other aspect of your life so it’s been a challenge finding the balance.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been tattooing for 17 years and specialize in color floral. My path into tattooing wasn’t linear, but I’ve been around the craft since I was 18 years old. The thing I’m recently most proud of is having my tattoo work displayed in an exhibit at the Flint Institute of Arts. It has always been a lifelong dream of mine to have work displayed in a serious art museum. It’s even better it’s tattooing since tattooing has not been considered a serious form of art until the last 15 or so years.
Tattooing definitely was not easy, I spent many years full of self doubt, crying sometimes, stressed over my work. But I’d never want to do anything else. When you nail a tattoo, it’s the best feeling. When your client texts you that they have been staring in the mirror all day because they love their tattoo so much, the hard work is more than worth it. You form bonds with clients and many of them become friends and even like family.
Lessons learned? Don’t go half way. If you are only going half way in this craft, you’ll never make it. You have to put everything into it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh man! I’m not terribly exciting to be honest. Some of my best days are visiting Cantoro’s in Plymouth to buy some fancy Italian groceries and grab lunch and then head over to Telly’s, this amazing plant nursery in Troy that specializes in houseplants.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mentor Caryl Cunningham

Website: https://Susannahgriggsart.com

Instagram: Susannahgriggstattoo