Meet Naira Kandaurova (artistic name NairaDots)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Naira Kandaurova (artistic name NairaDots) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Naira, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve been in tattoo industry for years… My husband Ilya Cascad is a world’s famous ornamental tattoo artist and I’ve been assisting him in his career since the very beginning..
We opened our first tattoo shop in 2017. That time we lived in Russia, in a southern city named Rostov-on-Don.
It was my husband’s idea.
To be honest I was terrified about working independently and starting our own business. I was on maternity leave,
But it worked out and I put all my efforts in helping my husband’s career as well as developing my own laser tattoo removal business.
Everything was going pretty smooth until 2020. March 2020 we’ve been in Las Vegas, NV with a business trip when the whole world got shut for a Covid-19 lockdown…
Our planes were cancelled that evening and our Airbnb was paid till the end of the month, so we made a decision to stay in Vegas and see where the epidemy goes…
We’ve spent 4 months in Las Vegas …yes it was stressful and unclear time…but it was the best time we ever spent together and the no doubt the best place in the world where we wanted to live!
Being already in our thirties, we closed our shop in Russia and started all over in USA.
We opened our second tattoo studio in 2022.
This time it was my idea. Las Vegas already gave us a lot of opportunities and I with all my love to this city I wanted to have our business here too 🙏
We made this place bigger and better then the previous one and put all our love in it. Every person who steps in Ornamental.ink Tattoo Studio remarks on the style and attention to every detail!

I didn’t proceed with laser tattoo removal business and in the age of 35 I took a tattoo machine in my hand first time and started tattooing.
Being and feeling a beginner when you already have a lot of knowledge and experience in other fields is very challenging but after 2 years of tattooing I have my own style and clientele. I also manage the shop and assist my husband in his work.
So that’s a bit of my story for you)

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
All aspects of my life: business, art and family are connected together. I’m one of the tattoo artists of the studio I owe, and my business partner and mentor in tattooing is my husband. I truly believe that the strongest side of our business, the distinctive aspect that sets us apart from others is that we make it all together with my husband Ilya. We always had a right division of responsibilities, could cover each others weak spots by taking that part of job from each other. I think that a well organised couple can literally work twice more efficient that a single person can.
It’s definitely not for everyone, but I’m happy it worked in my family.

As I told before, we put a lot of love and efforts in the shop we opened in Las Vegas.
Back to 2021-2022, when we thought over the concept of the future shop, we wanted to create something different from hundreds of existing walk in shops of Vegas, that don’t have their style or specialty and work to satisfy spontaneous requests of tourists visiting the city… We needed a custom tattoo studio, specialised on ornamental style, closed from walk ins and located away (but not far) from the centre of the city.
That’s exactly what we did! The shop’s name Ornamental.ink talks for itself and is related with a world famous community of ornamental tattoos named Ornamentalika.
Many years ago our close friend (and now a member of our tattoo collective) started a public dedicated to ornamental/geometric style and works of ornamental tattoo artists from all over the world and named it Ornamentalika! We took care of the public all these years and will proceed growing the community as much as can.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Don’t even have to imagine that! As soon as we moved to Las Vegas we understood that this city has it all! Our friends and family visit us all the time, so the best time ever happens pretty often😂😂😄 Las Vegas has everything: it’s the centre of world’s cuisine and entertainment with numerous shows, hotels, casinos, restaurants. At the same time, 15 minutes away from the centre you will find incredibly clean, quiet and safe residential areas with parks, kids playgrounds, water parks, etc. All city is surrounded by the mountains, so driving 40 minutes away from the casinos and craziness of Vegas will bring you to various hiking zones and trails.
So that activities we usually mix for our guests)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is definitely my partner in life, my best friend, father of my child, my mentor in tattooing, my husband ILYA CASCAD

Website: https://ornamentalika.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nairadots?igsh=cGY3YWN4Mjg2ejd2

Image Credits
Higor Almeida