Meet Jayna Won | Tattooer & Co Owner of Angel Kisses LA

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

Hi Jayna, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When we started Angel Kisses, Sabrina and I wanted to create a safe space and community we wished we had when we started in the industry. We wanted to create a tattoo shop that was not just something that benefited us as owners but also nurtured our residents.

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 have been tattooing for 6 years now. I started as a hand poke artist and now offer both fine line machine work and hand poked tattoos. I am really looking forward to hosting international artists at my shop in the new year. Its always so amazing to form relationships with people in the industry from so far away.

I now co own a tattoo shop with my partner Sabrina Drescher. It was not easy to get to that point, we opened during the pandemic so it was a little discouraging at first but we happened upon a really wonderful space. I big challenge was figuring out how to run a business with no experience and we learned along the way with support from other artists in the community. Liz Kim of Jelly, Hannah Uribe, and Zara Solava (Opal Tattoo).
I’ve learned that as a shop owner it is all about the love and community, that running a shop that is not about competition but rather support can be more fruitful.
I want the world to know that Angel Kisses is a safe sanctuary and welcome to all!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting Los Angeles I would get them settled and then take them to dinner at Gra, we would get white pizzas and have some natural wine. During the days I would take them to the broad, take them thrift shopping in the valley, and to paradise cove beach in Malibu. On Saturday we would go to the farmers market in Silverlake, but if we miss that one we would go to the Sunday farmers market in Atwater Village. On the weekend we would go to whatever art show or event that was happening at 2 to 3 Fair in Venice. I would take them to see a movie at the brain dead theatre and on the final morning before the flight I would take them to Cicis in Tarzan’s to get matcha pancakes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out Liz Kim the tattooer and owner of Jelly LA a female owned tattoo shop in Koreatown. When we started Angel Kisses we were welcomed, encouraged, and mentored by Liz even though we didn’t know her. She just embraced us and invited us into a really loving community. Without Liz and Jelly LA, we wouldn’t we where we are now.

Website: https://angelkissesstudio.com/

Instagram: @jaynawon and @anglkissesstudio

Image Credits
credit to Tolago, and Victoria Moura who took these photos.