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Meet Apryl Triana of 27 Tattoo Studio in Downtown Phoenix

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Apryl Triana.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Apryl. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My name is Apryl Triana. I own and operate 27 Tattoo Studio in Downtown Phoenix with my husband Anthony. From a young age, I loved to draw. I started with drawing motorcycles and tracing and coloring tattoo designs from my mom’s biker magazines. I always thought it was cool how all of the bikers in the magazines were heavily tattooed and I think I knew at a very young age that I would look like that one day. I guess you could say that I didn’t waste time getting started- Getting my first tattoo at 12 years old of a cat face on my stomach.

After getting my first tattoo, My interest in tattoos and tattooing grew, so I started hanging out at the local tattoo shop with my mom while she would get tattooed. While I was in there I would draw designs from the walls and tell the owner of the shop how interested I was in tattooing. She took notice in my passion and told me that I was too young to learn tattooing at the time but offered to let me answer phones and clean a few days a week. After working and hanging in the shop for a couple of years, the owner offered me a tattoo apprenticeship at the age of 18. This is where my tattoo career began.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Since I have been tattooing for almost 19 years now, I have faced many changes and highs and lows in the industry. The hardest struggle, in the beginning, was that women in the tattoo industry weren’t always taken seriously. My mentor was female and we would often have men come in to the shop we worked at and refuse to get tattooed by us just because we were women. They would literally say things like “Where are the real tattooers at?! I’m not trusting a women to tattoo me!” That was a constant struggle in the beginning unfortunately but we just kept putting out quality tattoos and were eventually recognized as the best shop in town. Thankfully, For the most part now, customers are educating themselves before getting tattooed and picking artists based on their portfolios, not their genders.

27 Tattoo Studio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am fortunate to own and work at a tattoo shop filled with very talented artists who inspire me every day. Our shop is well known for having great customer service and reviews, being immaculately clean and also for having a very versatile set of artists that can help any client bring their idea to life with a custom tattoo. What sets us apart from other tattoo shops is that we are often told that the vibe in our tattoo shop is not like any other the client has been to. We are told that we have more of a welcoming “home” environment as opposed to some shops that can be intimidating to enter. We chose to fill the shop with lots of cool artwork, curiosities and a few flat screen TVs to create a fun, relaxing environment. While getting tattooed at our shop, you can sit back, look around and watch a movie if you want.

As a tattoo artist, I personally specialize in bold color work. I’m known for my bright colors, glitter, cartoon tattoos and designs that tend to make people smile.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
One thing my mentor always told me is to stay humble and never stop learning. I feel this is very important in succeeding in any career. If you think you know everything, how can you leave yourself open to learn and grow?

My proudest moment of my tattoo career so far has been being able to give back. I am fortunate enough to be able to give back to my community. Our shop and artists have held many different fundraisers or donated to local schools, Cancer research, LQBTQ communities, Animal shelters and Sanctuaries.

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