Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelo Berardy.
Angelo, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The whole idea of booking for tattoo artists came when I was trying to get in contact with my tattoo artist to finish my arm sleeve. I realized how busy he was and thought about what his days might look like. From tattooing anywhere between 5-10 hours a day, designing, drawing, texting/calling clients to confirm appointments, speaking to potential clients, pricing, collecting deposits, organizing schedules, etc. All in a timely manner.
There was definitely a gap I could fill, in terms of helping with their sales side of the business, as I saw the same concepts I did day in and day out at my full-time tech sales job, where I could apply the same skill set and help someone tremendously. I decided to run a booking business to help artists free up their time from doing the communication/sales side of things so they could focus on their passion, art/tattooing. This allowed them to focus fully on their craft and be able to double down on their designs to push the envelope of the Polynesian tribal tattoo scene.
We, Lala Ellsworth (my tattoo artist) and myself ran a proof of concept to see how things would work and if it made sense, and we found success fast as we were able to communicate quickly to clients and establish a workflow to funnel all clients in and set them on schedule as efficient as possible. Something that helped develop the approach was the fact that I am also a consumer and client of getting tattoos. So, I could just ask myself: How would I want the process to look like? What would make me feel confident and comfortable with booking a tattoo with this particular artist?
After a successful launch, we were able to prove the concept and find other artists that were interested in having a booking manager. An artist that I attribute a lot of the success of this launch was another artist who helped me along the way via calls, meetings, interviews, etc. Zay Dela Pena, my second artist that I took on to book for. He helped me understand the problems, challenges, and understanding the current status quo of things. I was then able to put my twist on things and expand on where I thought I could help.
Since starting in April 2019, I’ve been able to build an Instagram profile with up to 50k+ followers where the page serves as a tattoo inspiration page and helps funnel the clients to book with the artists. On Instagram, I am able to answer all the questions and concerns people may have and convert them into paying customers.
Most artists are now booked out 6 months out, with 33% of my artists booking out a year in advance at this point. I am currently booking for 12 tattoo artists.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing is really a smooth road haha the whole thing is a learning process. Essentially this was like a role that has been around but not really established and there was no existing blueprint to be successful from other examples that I’ve personally seen. I feel like we could be seen as people who may have helped pioneer and establish a real role or like a real job position. It’s been fun but a lot of adjusting and pivoting.
The biggest struggle I have had to deal with is overcoming the whole COVID-19 pandemic. Tattooing isn’t something that is done virtually. So we needed to adjust many times depending on what state lawmakers were saying was appropriate and what wasn’t.
That led me to shift our calendars, working with others who had previously booked appointments, reschedules, cancels, etc. It was a big headache but ultimately flights were rearranged, dates were swapped around and we were able to stay on track with our schedules and accommodate all the clientele.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I help tattoo artists stay organized and focused on their work while I handle the sales and business side of things. This allows the artists to live a normal life balancing work with their personal lives. I help with communication towards the inbound clients and answer any of the questions that come through. Essentially from lead to close of the sale is what I help with for tattoo artists. I make sure I run everything by the artist because I am representing them and I make sure we are implementing best practices for the artist as well when dealing with clientele.
We have a successful Instagram page that has over 50k followers, where people can browse different pieces done by different artists that I represent and can inquire more info about them. I represent artists from Utah, Washington, California (San Jose). Las Vegas, New York, and Los Angeles.
I love that what I do helps these artists grow, gain more exposure, efficiently grow their business, and opens up time for them to spend with family or however they want to use their time outside of tattooing.
What sets us apart from others is that the “team” we have are filled with hungry, humble, and passionate artists who are all trying to push their talents to the next level and they have all worked hard to be booked out 6+ months with clientele flying in from all over the world.
We also have helped a lot of people discover these amazing artists by our social media presence, educating clientele on investing in these permanent investments, and doing it right the first time.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Our city and community is tattoo friendly and the support from the locals here have been amazing. I love that for us small business owners and tattoo artists, our city found a way for us to survive during the hard times. Excited for what’s to come and to continue to provide the best experience for all clientele who want to get tattooed.
Contact Info:
- Email: Akbtattoobooking@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akb_future/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Akb-Future-2659351027470083/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOd6yIdmYlmTsjKa7U1tQ5w
Image Credits
Zay Dela Pena, Lala Ellsworth, Vili Ngata, and Angelo Berardy
