Meet Emily Rodriguez | Artist & Friend

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

Hi Emily, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I don’t think I ever thought about it like I was “starting a business”. It never felt like a business venture or an extra source of income. It felt more like building community and creating a space to be independent artists with my friends. It still feels that way. A lot of tattoo shops in LA are designed to make maximum profit off each artist. And the spirit of artistry and community goes out the door when money is put first. I wanted to create something that felt like more of a collective, not a business operation. That’s how Nine Lives was born.

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.
My connection with art starts with music. I grew up in the LA punk & alternative scene, and I would try to draw album art, portraits of band members, traditional tattoo designs based off lyrics, etc. I’ve wanted to be a tattoo artist since I was 14. I did the college thing and got my bachelor’s by the time I was 20, and while everyone around me was preparing their resumes and applying for internships I was messing around with a tattoo machine in my dorm. Tattooing was just always my calling, and I was gonna get there no matter what. Getting thr0ugh my apprenticeship was so much harder than my bachelors. There’s no structure, lesson plans, or grades. Your success is all up to you and how much you want to learn. To be able to put your ego aside to admit you don’t know what you’re doing is hard, but necessary to grow. I learned to just put my head down and do the work without the validation. I struggle a lot with ADHD and it can be hard for me to follow through on projects. It feels like I have a constant to do list running through my head. Sometimes it feels like a superpower and other times it feels like my biggest OP. I try to just follow what my brain tells me, its gotten me here so far!

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.
Oh this is the hardest question! I guess I’ll just list my favorite spots:
-Cafe Calle in South Central
-There’s always a show in LA. My favorite music venues are The Regent, The Echo, and The Palladium
– Catch a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse
– Koreatown is so slept on. It has some of the best food and bars in LA and its more safe/walkable than other parts of the city
-I go to Long Beach at least once a month, being by the coast is so calming to me

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Too many too count so I’ll try to keep it short:
-Shoutout to my loving boyfriend Rafael for supporting me in everything I do. We’ve been together since before I even started my tattoo apprenticeship, so he’s seen me go through so much growth and change, and has been by my side the whole way <3
-Shoutout to my friends Michael Manarino & Milla Isabella, I’ve been tattooing alongside them for my entire career, and they started Nine Lives with me. Michael especially has been pouring his heart and soul into the shop and I wouldn’t have been able to manage everything without him. He plays such an important role in the shop it can’t be overstated how much he work he does on a day to day basis. Nine Lives wouldn’t exist without him.
-My mentor, Julio Martinez, for teaching me to tattoo.
-Mentor & Friend, Marcelo Diaz Viana Neto, for teaching me so much about community and collective spaces
-All of my clients who choose to get tattooed by me when there are so many tattoo artist in LA to pick from, and they’re all very supportive of the shop as a whole, not just me

Website: https://emilystattoos.com

Instagram: @emilystattoos

Twitter: @emilystattoos