Is Personality the New Tattoo Marketing? The Viral Breakthrough of Beaver Duck

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:07:18 Rick Maloney I was just getting into trouble and I went to jail. And then I got out of jail, went to rehab, got sober, and then got an apprenticeship in 2021. 00:00:07:19 - 00:00:09:21 Austin Spencer So it sounds like tattooing, like, helped you out a lot 00:00:09:22 - 00:00:15:16 Rick Maloney for me getting sober. It allowed me to take tattooing seriously and kind of give it 100%. 00:00:15:18 - 00:00:16:22 Austin Spencer Yeah. That's awesome. 00:00:17:01 - 00:00:25:21 Austin Spencer Today in the podcast, Rick Maloney, better known as Beaver Duck, traditional tattoo artist, internet personality, and tattoo her out of Beach Boulevard tattoo in Anaheim, California. 00:00:25:22 - 00:00:34:16 Rick Maloney When I started doing my social media stuff, I kind of just put my personality on there. I've always been very sarcastic. I like the roast people and I don't like, talk or hate nobody. 00:00:34:17 - 00:00:39:01 Rick Maloney Most of the time if I'm roasting somebody, I kind of probably I like you a little bit.

00:00:39:02 - 00:00:53:00 Austin Spencer Anything you can do that brings community together in a fun, positive format is fun, dude. We talk about turning tattooing into a real career. How putting your unfiltered personality turns attention into genuine connection, and how that helps build recognizable brands and community around 00:00:53:00 - 00:00:53:16 Austin Spencer tattooing. 00:00:53:18 - 00:00:57:20 Austin Spencer I'm Austin Spencer, and this is Support Your Local Tattooer. 00:00:57:22 - 00:01:12:21 Austin Spencer What's happening? Everybody, this is Austin from Support Your Local Tattooer. We're chillin in the warehouse today up here in Maverick's Pleco. The man, the one and only beaver ducks in the house. He is an accomplished tattoo school owner. Very, very talented Ted talker. 00:01:12:23 - 00:01:15:06 Rick Maloney Entrepreneur, entrepreneur. Yeah. 00:01:15:08 - 00:01:18:12 Austin Spencer And a basically a slayer of social media. I think. 00:01:18:13 - 00:01:19:05 Rick Maloney About to start. 00:01:19:05 - 00:01:26:05 Rick Maloney My own online mentorship program pretty soon. Yeah, I'm going to start teaching people how to, you know, do whatever. Yeah. The thing they want. I'll tell them how to do it.

00:01:26:06 - 00:01:27:17 Austin Spencer Yeah. Sanding rocks. 00:01:27:17 - 00:01:28:02 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:01:28:06 - 00:01:36:01 Rick Maloney Whatever you want to do. Like just, you know, it'll be like all kinds of things, you know? Okay. Eat clean. I'll tell you how to shoot peptides if you want. Or. Yeah, you know. 00:01:36:05 - 00:01:38:15 Austin Spencer You're gonna have to tell me, like, what the fuck up peptide is. 00:01:38:16 - 00:01:40:22 Rick Maloney Yeah, I'm not really sure. I don't think anybody really knows. 00:01:40:23 - 00:01:41:16 Austin Spencer I don't think so. 00:01:41:17 - 00:01:42:11 Rick Maloney Yeah, but it really knows. 00:01:42:12 - 00:01:42:21 Austin Spencer I do. 00:01:42:21 - 00:01:43:18 Rick Maloney Have some guessing. 00:01:43:18 - 00:01:52:17 Austin Spencer Some rich guy friends that are like, oh, yeah, I'm more fucking pumped. Yeah. Peptides. Is it a fucking steroid? I don't even know already. Nobody knows. I thought it was like some boner shit.

00:01:52:18 - 00:01:53:19 Rick Maloney Yeah. A little well, it could be. 00:01:53:20 - 00:01:54:21 Austin Spencer Could be. 00:01:54:23 - 00:01:55:21 Rick Maloney That could be it. 00:01:55:22 - 00:01:59:19 Austin Spencer Nothing worse than having a boner all day long while you're tattooing. Yeah, that's, you know. 00:01:59:20 - 00:02:03:06 Rick Maloney It's it's fun. More fun when the client has the boner. Yeah. 00:02:03:08 - 00:02:04:02 Austin Spencer Oh, my God. 00:02:04:04 - 00:02:04:13 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:02:04:14 - 00:02:06:19 Austin Spencer I can't say I've ever had a client get a boner on me. 00:02:06:20 - 00:02:07:08 Rick Maloney I've seen it. 00:02:07:09 - 00:02:07:18 Austin Spencer Yeah.

00:02:07:18 - 00:02:08:09 Rick Maloney I've seen it. 00:02:08:10 - 00:02:24:18 Austin Spencer I had a girl fart. Not me personally, I heard. Oh, I saw one from across the road. Oh, really? In the shop. Like in the shop. Boner in the shop owner. Damn. Okay. Yeah, yeah, we have a little private kind of areas there, but, yeah, I know I don't get to, like, the boner. Yeah, I know this one. 00:02:24:19 - 00:02:42:05 Austin Spencer We had a client come in one time with a whole stack of eight by ten photos of her butthole. Nice. And she wanted a tattoo done around it and wanted her husband to watch, so that was all. Feel lucky. I watched him cringe through the the tattoo. That's a thing, dude. It is a thing. It is a thing. 00:02:42:07 - 00:02:58:21 Austin Spencer Lucky you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think it ever actually got got fully, fully accomplished the B whole. Yeah. She just wanted to show the butthole. Yeah. Yeah. There's a rage bait. There's a lot of that to like in tattoo shops in Vegas. Like in the casinos. They'll put you in the glass box, like, right on, on the floor. 00:02:58:23 - 00:03:16:12 Austin Spencer And I've heard, like, endless stories of just that same type of thing. The women just want to be, like, either naked and then the guy watch from outside the window even. Yeah, they just want to show it off. Yeah, there's some weird fucking people out there. I like it, though. It does happen. The weirder the better. That's the one thing I like about tattooing is walk of life, dude.

00:03:16:14 - 00:03:22:01 Austin Spencer All walks of life. Yeah. And you get to learn how to communicate with all different types of people. But yeah. 00:03:22:02 - 00:03:22:15 Rick Maloney It is fun. 00:03:22:16 - 00:03:40:10 Austin Spencer Hey, quick pause before we keep going. If you tattoo, you already know how much smoother the day goes when your tattoo supplies does what it's supposed to do. No second guessing your cartridges, no pulling your focus away from what's in front of you. That's the whole idea behind Maverick's supply. Go. It's tattoo gear, cartridges and shop essentials from people who actually understand what artists need day to day. 00:03:40:10 - 00:03:58:12 Austin Spencer So if you like the idea of opening the drawer and knowing you're good to go, scan the QR code on the screen, hit the link in the show notes, and if you pick something up, use code SYLT for 10% off. All right, back to the show. So shit, you haven't, like, correct me if I'm wrong, but you haven't been in an into tattooing for a whole lot or like where? 00:03:58:13 - 00:04:00:19 Austin Spencer So I mean, I start I.

00:04:00:21 - 00:04:23:09 Rick Maloney Started tattooing technically like ten years ago. Okay. I don't always count. It depends on who I'm talking to. Yeah, I'm talking to a client. I say ten years. I'm talking to her, I say five. I started tattooing 2016. I bought a tattoo machine off eBay, you know, started scratching on my friends, on my. So I did a lot of tattoos on myself. 00:04:23:15 - 00:04:42:22 Rick Maloney I tattooed for about, I think like four years as a scratcher. Yeah. And then there was a year where I didn't really tattoo. I was just getting into trouble, and I went to jail. And then I got out of jail. I went to rehab, got sober, and then got an apprenticeship in 2021. So I've really only been in a shop professionally tattooing since 2021. 00:04:43:00 - 00:04:55:11 Rick Maloney So I kind of, you know, only count that time, I guess, as like tattooing as a career, you know. So yes. But it's still even ten years is not like if you think about ten, you're like, oh, ten years. That's still 2016. 00:04:55:13 - 00:04:55:22 Austin Spencer No, I. 00:04:55:22 - 00:04:59:03 Rick Maloney Know that's not even. Yeah, yeah. You know, a long time.

00:04:59:05 - 00:05:05:23 Austin Spencer I mean, just so fucking sounds like tattoo and like, helped you out a lot. It did. Yeah. Did you get you in a, like, a good community and shit? 00:05:06:03 - 00:05:22:09 Rick Maloney Well, I mean, in the beginning, it didn't. When I really think about tattooing, it's always it's always kind of been a part of my life, you know? Ever since I was like a kid, I remember, being, you know, maybe like 6 or 7 years old and, my dad getting tattooed, and he would come home, and. You know what I mean? 00:05:22:09 - 00:05:36:12 Rick Maloney Back then was like the 90s, you know, and he would come home with, like, these color. He was getting like a sleeve, you know, these colorful tattoos. And I was like, always really, like, interested in it, you know, like, whoa. Like, I can't wait till I get older and I can get tattoos, you know what I mean? So it's always been something I was interested in. 00:05:36:18 - 00:05:52:16 Rick Maloney And then, you know, as a teenager, I always, like, had ideas like, oh, I want to get this tattooed. And I was in a punk rock and punk rock album. Covers were always like, I was like, that would be a cool tattoo. So I was always interested in it. And then I started getting tattooed at 18, my next door neighbor tattooed in the garage. 00:05:52:18 - 00:05:57:07 Rick Maloney So I started getting tattooed immediately. 18th birthday bones started getting tattooed, got my last name across my back.

00:05:57:08 - 00:05:57:15 Austin Spencer Of course. 00:05:57:16 - 00:06:14:23 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah. You know, and, started hanging out in the garage, and I really just liked hanging out in the garage with the older guys. Yeah. Drinking beers, smoking weed, getting tattooed. They didn't hurt yet. Really? You know what I mean? Like, so I kind of just liked the vibe of getting tattooed, you know, you walk into the. 00:06:15:00 - 00:06:27:11 Rick Maloney You walk in the garage, and he had it full set up like a shop. It was like. It was like, kind of like this in the garage, you know what I mean? Super cool. Like, smelled like a tattoo shop, you know, and like. Yeah, you know, there's always people hanging out. Like, it was always like a crowd. So it was like, really fun, you know? 00:06:27:12 - 00:06:46:15 Rick Maloney And I just enjoyed that environment. And then eventually that dude started working in a shop. So then he tattooed me in a shop a few times, and then I was like, oh man. And even like, would give me flashbacks of, like when I was a, you know, like in middle school, my, my mom and my stepdad were getting tattooed at, trigger Happy Tattoo in La Habra. 00:06:46:19 - 00:07:01:00 Rick Maloney Okay. So my stepdad, he built, like, Ahmet, he's a welder. So he built, like, armrests and, like, beds for the guy. He traded him for a back piece. Yeah. So they would take us with them, you know? I mean, we'd be in the shop and always remember, like, hearing the buzzing of the coil machines and the piercer with all these fucking weird piercings on their face.

00:07:01:02 - 00:07:02:17 Rick Maloney Like, I was just kind of like. 00:07:02:19 - 00:07:03:04 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:07:03:09 - 00:07:18:20 Rick Maloney I've always just been interested in it, you know? So that's I think that that's why, like when I started tattooing, I didn't know that it was going to be. I didn't know that I was going in the direction that I where I'm in now, you know. But immediately when I got into a shop, I was like, this is this is what I have to do. 00:07:19:01 - 00:07:22:03 Rick Maloney You know, it just felt like, right. 00:07:22:05 - 00:07:29:02 Austin Spencer Like the was there a decent amount of structure at that shop or something that kind of just helped you, like, stay the fuck out of trouble and like, have good people around you and. 00:07:29:04 - 00:07:32:05 Rick Maloney Yes and no. Yeah. There's a there's a little bit of both. 00:07:32:06 - 00:07:33:15 Austin Spencer Right. 00:07:33:17 - 00:07:55:01 Rick Maloney I'd been sober for about a year, before that, you know, I always would, you know, like drugs, all that stuff, you know? And, so I sober for about a year. I had some job that I absolutely hated. And I quit that job to do the apprenticeship. My mentor was, like, 14 years sober. So that was, you know, a good influence.

00:07:55:03 - 00:08:08:22 Rick Maloney My other mentor was, like, sober. Is she just kind of, like, smoked weed, you know, whatever. But she's just kind of like a dope been or whatever, you know, but didn't really smoke weed at the shop or anything like that. So those were my two main, main mentors. And then everyone else in the shop kind of partied. 00:08:09:02 - 00:08:09:15 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:08:09:19 - 00:08:22:11 Rick Maloney So there were days where, like, I would come and open up the shop, so I would, I would show up at like 1130. I would, I had keys, I'd open up the shop and usually I had opened the shop in the shop was a wreck like there was. 00:08:22:11 - 00:08:23:06 Austin Spencer Just last night. 00:08:23:06 - 00:08:30:05 Rick Maloney Yeah. Like no one broke down the station, like, you know what I mean? It was just like. Like, what the hell happened? You know. 00:08:30:06 - 00:08:31:02 Austin Spencer And, like.

00:08:31:04 - 00:08:43:09 Rick Maloney So I go in there and I clean up, you know, and there be, like, whiskey bottles out and, like, you know, we'd roaches in the ashtray or whatever. And, like, that's just kind of how it was, you know what I mean? And, but that's part of tattooing, you know, that's just kind. 00:08:43:09 - 00:08:44:13 Austin Spencer Of everything. 00:08:44:15 - 00:08:59:03 Rick Maloney You're not going to get away from that, you know? And like, it was cool to have, you know, some of some of those like, sober influences, but then also to see, like the other side of it, you know what I mean? Because it's going to it was kind of going to test me like, either I'm gonna be able to like, stay sober in this environment or I'm not. 00:08:59:05 - 00:09:05:20 Rick Maloney And most of the guys I know that, like, try to be sober and tattoo and can't stay sober usually fucks up their tattoo career. 00:09:05:23 - 00:09:06:21 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah.

00:09:06:21 - 00:09:20:03 Rick Maloney You know, like, it's either some people can do it or they can't. You know, it's hard to juggle. Like, I don't know, for me, getting sober was it allowed me to take tattooing seriously and kind of give it 100%. Yeah. 00:09:20:04 - 00:09:20:21 Austin Spencer You know. 00:09:20:23 - 00:09:23:21 Rick Maloney And that's not for everybody. That's just for me personally, you know? Yeah. 00:09:24:03 - 00:09:40:20 Austin Spencer I never really grew up in a sober environment to my people party to, you know, and but, like, it's it definitely. I learned how from my dad. I was like, you could you can fucking party all you want, but you better get up and get to fucking work on time. That was like the number one rule in, like, our household. 00:09:40:21 - 00:09:41:05 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:09:41:06 - 00:09:53:12 Rick Maloney If you can do it, there's nothing wrong with it. Like, I tell people all the time, like I, you know, have, like, I talked to guys about sobriety and stuff and they hit me up and I'm like, bro, if you're going to work, you're paying your bills and you're not miserable. Didn't maybe you don't need to be sober, I don't know.

00:09:53:14 - 00:09:57:12 Rick Maloney But like, if you absolutely can't control your own life or you might want to. 00:09:57:14 - 00:10:03:13 Austin Spencer Your second guessing it at any point in time and your actions, or if they're based on like getting a little too lubed up or whatever. 00:10:03:14 - 00:10:16:15 Rick Maloney Because I've seen guys that tried to party and tattoo and it's like, you know, their clients show up an hour before they get there, like your appointment was at 12 and you don't show up till two, don't even have your design ready. Doesn't that you know what I mean? And then show up. You're like, hey, I'm here. I'm gonna take a quick smoke. 00:10:16:21 - 00:10:30:11 Rick Maloney Like you're already like, you know what I mean? Like, people are gonna get sick of that shit, you know? But, like, if you can maintain it, like, I, I have a, you know, a couple guys at our shop that, you know, drink, smoke weed or whatever, but, like, they do it, like later on in the day or whatever, you know what I'm saying? 00:10:30:11 - 00:10:31:16 Rick Maloney Like, responsibly, like they don't.

00:10:31:17 - 00:10:31:23 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:10:31:23 - 00:10:32:08 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:10:32:10 - 00:10:35:23 Austin Spencer You know, your work is done. You can play a little bit and just don't play too much on fuck up. 00:10:36:00 - 00:10:38:02 Rick Maloney It can handle it. You know. Some guys can't handle it. 00:10:38:03 - 00:10:50:14 Austin Spencer Yeah. I was always a little too good at it. I felt I never luckily got any deeper than, like, just, you know, some fucking weed and alcohol, but I could show up to work, and it was weird. Yeah, I wish I. 00:10:50:16 - 00:10:51:21 Rick Maloney Yeah, I could do it. 00:10:51:22 - 00:11:04:22 Austin Spencer No no no no. Yeah. It's definitely something I've always been like. Oh, maybe you chill on that a little bit. Yeah. For sure. I don't really drink too much hard alcohol or anything these days. And that's what would always push me over the edge. Next thing you know, I got no pants on. I'm jumping on the fucking counter now.

00:11:05:02 - 00:11:06:04 Austin Spencer Burger. You know. 00:11:06:06 - 00:11:06:19 Rick Maloney Good time. 00:11:06:19 - 00:11:38:06 Austin Spencer I have done that. But but, you know, one thing I really enjoy about you and what I wanted to sit down and talk with you about, too, is like, I feel like you were. You're really good at finding this, like, fine line of talking shit on the internet and doing it in a really fun, kind of, like, oddly respectful way, you know, and I personally, I think we were talking about earlier is I just like I like being around people that are comfortable enough to fucking roast you and comfortable enough to poke the finger, call out your faults, and you having a little bit of a thicker you gotta. 00:11:38:07 - 00:11:46:10 Austin Spencer Like tattooing taught me how to have a thick skin, so I feel like that's like a just a fucking skill you've got, dude. And it's inspiring in a weird way. 00:11:46:14 - 00:12:03:23 Rick Maloney Well, I mean, it kind of is like. So I look at tattooing. Tattooing is a trade. It's an art form, but it's a trade, you know? And I am a tradesman. That's what I've always been. I before I was tattooing, I, you know, I did construction, I started off doing drywall, you know, eventually learned, you know, pretty much how to do everything.

00:12:04:00 - 00:12:15:18 Rick Maloney Like, you know, I can frame I could do a little bit of electrical, I can do a little bit of everything, you know, so, like learning how to do those trades, you're gonna meet some assholes. 00:12:15:18 - 00:12:18:09 Austin Spencer Some wild people, while old school. 00:12:18:11 - 00:12:48:04 Rick Maloney Dudes that are like, they're gonna roast you. If you do something stupid, they're gonna make you feel like a fucking idiot. Yeah, like, that's just kind of how the construction vibe is. And, you know, and I think it goes back to, like, you know, if you're going to apprentice, you know, as a plumber or an electrician or whatever it is you're going to learn how to do, they're not going to waste their time teaching somebody that's not gonna stick around, because they're going to invest a lot of time in teaching you how to do something, and eventually you're either going to work for them or you're going to become some kind of valuable asset 00:12:48:04 - 00:13:07:09 Rick Maloney to them. You know? And if you're a pussy, they want to figure that out quick and get you the fuck out of that job. And they want to find somebody that's really going to work hard and put in the effort and be worth the time and effort that's put into teaching somebody. And tattooing is not different. You know, when you're teaching somebody how to do this, I mean, you're giving someone the golden ticket to life. 00:13:07:11 - 00:13:22:05 Rick Maloney This is one of the greatest jobs ever. Like, you can travel and work and meet cool people and do whatever the fuck you want. Make your own schedule. You know, that comes with a lot of responsibility, of course, but it's the one of the coolest things you can do. And if someone's going to teach it to you, it's you.

00:13:22:07 - 00:13:50:01 Rick Maloney It has to be somebody that's going to absorb the knowledge and do it respectfully and successfully, you know, and work hard and become, you know, like somebody, somebody you could be proud of, like, hey, I taught that person, you know? And, so when I did construction, you know, I met some old school mother, I mean, I, I worked for this guy, old dude from, like, Brooklyn, you know, and he had, like, this demolition company back in, like, the 70s, and he was just an ass. 00:13:50:02 - 00:14:08:05 Rick Maloney And everyone hated him. I loved him, I loved this guy. He would just say the most out of pocket shit. And people would get pissed, and I would laugh and he would tell me he would like, like being asked to me, and I laugh and then we'd laugh. Yeah. And then he'd be cool, and then I'd roast him back a little bit and he'd laugh and be like, you fucking cock sucker like. 00:14:08:05 - 00:14:21:22 Rick Maloney And then we'd roast each other and then. You know what I mean? He was always cool, and he would always, like, hook me up and give me the cool job and, like, kind of, you know, me, you know, like, if I'm a little bit late and I give a fuck, like, hey, stay late or whatever, like, he was super cool to me, but everyone else got treated like shit because they were so sensitive and pussies. 00:14:21:23 - 00:14:32:20 Rick Maloney He didn't like him, you know? And it's like, that's kind of the same thing with, like, tattooing. Like, if you come in here and you're sensitive and somebody says something that you don't like and you get offended by it, you're going to be hard to work with. Nobody wants to work with somebody like that. 00:14:32:20 - 00:14:39:14 Austin Spencer The worst dude, it's you're just starting. You're making fucking problems out of nothing, right? And and then to work around.

00:14:39:15 - 00:14:59:00 Rick Maloney It's a bunch of people sometimes. Not that nobody's working. You're all sitting there drawing flash or sitting on, you know what I mean? We're all kind of just kicking it. And if those people don't get along and can't have a good time, it's gonna make that environment super dull and boring or tense. And then when the clients catch onto that, they feel that when they come into the shop, there's a vibe. 00:14:59:06 - 00:15:12:20 Rick Maloney And if the vibes off, they don't want to come and spend their money there and get tattooed. If somebody's beefing it, somebody talk, you know what I'm saying? So like, everyone has to get along and like, so when I started my apprenticeship, like I, I fucking sailed through it because I could, I could take the shit. 00:15:12:21 - 00:15:13:07 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:15:13:12 - 00:15:14:15 Rick Maloney I didn't bother me, you know, and. 00:15:14:16 - 00:15:15:14 Austin Spencer I. 00:15:15:15 - 00:15:35:16 Rick Maloney Like, you know, we would have a good time and I never took shit personally. And like, when I did my start doing my social media stuff, I kind of just put my personality on there, you know, and like, that's just kind of how I. I've always been very sarcastic. I like to roast people and like, and I don't like, talk shit or hate nobody, you know, like, most of the time if I'm roasting somebody, I kind of probably.

00:15:35:16 - 00:15:36:12 Rick Maloney I like you a little bit. 00:15:36:13 - 00:15:37:00 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:15:37:03 - 00:15:45:20 Rick Maloney There's something about you that I think is silly enough to make fun of, but I kind of like you a little bit. And if I don't roast you, that means I really hate you. 00:15:45:20 - 00:15:49:01 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because then you're gonna say things you probably shouldn't be. 00:15:49:03 - 00:15:54:15 Rick Maloney A handful of guys that I really hate. And I can't really lightly roast because I just want to talk shit cause I don't like them. 00:15:54:15 - 00:15:54:23 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:15:54:23 - 00:15:59:16 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah, there's a couple of guys that I won't touch because I fucking don't like them, you know what. 00:15:59:16 - 00:16:20:05 Austin Spencer I mean, I love it. Yeah, I mean, I work, so I came from the kitchen industry there in the restaurant. So it was like the kitchen industry was very similar. So you. Yeah, you had to fucking just take it. And I was always the busboy, the young guy, you know, so I, I when I got into tattooing and I started my apprenticeship and everything, the hazing and everything was just, I don't know, I was just partying part of the game.

00:16:20:06 - 00:16:49:21 Austin Spencer I fucking wanted to tattoo more than anything. And I wasn't going to let anybody stop me. So I just keep my mouth shut when I needed to. And then I learned how to, like, razz motherfuckers back, dude. And then those dudes always, like, had a lot of respect for me because I had I did, for some reason have the talent of being able to talk enough shit the right way and then not like, get fucking my ass kicked or whatever, you know, because like, the shops that I grew up in was like, like, dude, I've watched a fucking client and a tattoo her get into a fistfight in the fucking in the in the lobby. 00:16:49:22 - 00:17:00:04 Austin Spencer You know, I've watched it all the big gangs take over and the fucking stolen merch and the drugs and the dirty cops. So you had to, like, really learn when to be able to talk and when to shut the. 00:17:00:04 - 00:17:02:10 Rick Maloney Fuck up. Yeah. Read the room to. You're talking to. 00:17:02:11 - 00:17:15:09 Austin Spencer Yeah. And that's the internet to really, you know, like, I don't know, I'm just like, I'm learning how to kind of like, voice my opinion a little more. And it's I don't really have strong opinions. I don't give a fuck, but I guess just voice like, I don't know, just talk about shit. 00:17:15:10 - 00:17:34:03 Rick Maloney Like I'm pretty neutral, like, really about everything, you know what I mean? Because there's a lot of, like, you know, subjects in tattooing right now that are like, you know, some people are very strongly opinionated about one side or the other, like tattoo school or like, you know how to, you know, tattoo mentorships and like, you know, scratchers and people just, you know, buying the, the tools and using them at home.

00:17:34:03 - 00:17:52:03 Rick Maloney And there's all kinds of things and like, realistically, like, does any of that affect me? No, none of that affects my job. None of that affects my daily life. None of that affects my bills. None. None of that affects my relationships. It doesn't know, you know, I mean, it's going to take money out of my pocket. So I really don't like, you know, I could see points on both sides of everything. 00:17:52:04 - 00:17:54:00 Rick Maloney I'm kind of like that way with politics, too. 00:17:54:04 - 00:17:54:13 Austin Spencer I don't. 00:17:54:13 - 00:17:59:12 Rick Maloney Really see one side or the other as right or wrong. I kind of take a little bit of both and go, that's kind of what I agree with, that. 00:17:59:14 - 00:18:10:03 Austin Spencer People struggle with that so hard. It's so hard for people to stand on their own and just be completely okay with like, nah, man, I really don't have a strong opinion and they just have morals. Yeah. Yeah right. Don't be a fucking dick.

00:18:10:05 - 00:18:17:05 Rick Maloney Just because that guy said it's right doesn't mean I believe him. I kind of feel like that could be fucked up. So I'm gonna think it's fucked up, you know? 00:18:17:07 - 00:18:32:04 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah. My dad and I opened up a shop, like, pretty early on, like, we, you know, you're. No, you're not supposed to do that, you know? But, like, in the position that I was in with the drugs in one shop and the gangs and the other, I just fucking. I was like, dad, we need to, like, I just taught him how to tattoo, like, right. 00:18:32:04 - 00:18:47:08 Austin Spencer As I was learning how to tattoo. So we kind of jumped in and opened up our shop like three years into the game, you know, which was a big no no. And I kind of had some people piss me off like, or get pissed off at me because of it, but whatever. Like, did you open up your shop pretty early on? 00:18:47:09 - 00:18:48:14 Rick Maloney Like fucking way soon. 00:18:48:15 - 00:18:48:23 Austin Spencer Yeah.

00:18:49:00 - 00:18:50:02 Rick Maloney Well, it was an accident. 00:18:50:05 - 00:18:50:19 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:18:50:20 - 00:19:13:13 Rick Maloney So I did my apprenticeship for a year, and then I committed to a year working for the guy. Right. And I and all the guys that I had worked with in that shop had all left in that year. Like everybody that I knew and, like, had really come to like, really like look up to and respect. They all left the shop, some of them on good terms, some of them on bad terms, you know, but I stayed, I kept my year. 00:19:13:13 - 00:19:29:18 Rick Maloney I was like, I committed to a year. I'm going to stay. I'm not going to bounce. My mentor left like my both of my mentors left. So like, everybody was gone and I was just in the shop work in in. The guy that owned the shop was super cool, super rad. Dude. I still were still great friends, like, you know, but it was just weird. 00:19:29:19 - 00:19:44:16 Rick Maloney I was like, fuck, dude, the whole shops gone, you know? And then some new people started getting hired and it was just kind of, you know, and, so more like towards the end of my year commitment, you know what I mean? We came across this, so all the guys that left had like, kind of some of them went to private studio.

00:19:44:16 - 00:19:57:09 Rick Maloney They all kind of stayed in communication, and they found a shop that was for sale, and they're like, we're going to buy a tattoo shop, and then we're going to all split the rent. And they asked me if I wanted to join, and I struggled with the decision. I'm like, I don't know if I'm ready to leave the shop. 00:19:57:13 - 00:20:12:16 Rick Maloney Yeah. I don't know if like, you know, if that's gonna work out good for me. Like, how is the shop with walk ins? I don't have a whole lot of clients yet, you know, and it was just kind of a big decision for a very scariest decision, you know, because then it was like, what was splitting the rent too? 00:20:12:20 - 00:20:35:03 Rick Maloney So now it wasn't I wasn't on commission no more. Whereas like commission worked out for me because if I didn't make no money to pay nothing, but if I did make a lot of money, I paid a lot. So it was kind of like almost like, well, shit, it's a gamble, you know? But I just decided to do it because it was all these guys that I was like, man, maybe working with all these guys or I'm gonna be at the shop with only these couple of guys and then some other people that I don't really know or care about, you know what I mean? 00:20:35:03 - 00:20:45:09 Rick Maloney So I was like, but there's all these guys, so there's a hard decision to make. And I was like, you know what? Fuck it. If it doesn't work out, I can go back because I didn't leave on like, bad terms or anything. I just told the guy I was like, hey, is this cool? And he's like, you know what? 00:20:45:09 - 00:21:01:04 Rick Maloney You do whatever you got to do for you, man, I'm not mad, you know? And if you and if you ever need a spot, you know, you can always come back. And I was like, well, then I'm gonna roll the dice. So we got the shop. There was like six of us. We all split the rent and slowly one guy got slow, had to leave.

00:21:01:05 - 00:21:16:19 Rick Maloney Another guy got slow, had to go tattoo at home. One guy decided he wanted to get a private studio. He left. One guy couldn't get along with everybody. Had to leave so slowly. Like everybody kind of just started to leave. And then it was just now it's just me and Big Happy. We just owned the shop. 00:21:16:20 - 00:21:17:09 Austin Spencer Oh, okay. 00:21:17:09 - 00:21:34:08 Rick Maloney Cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we've just been kind of, you know, trying to make it work. Yeah. So far it's worked out. Yeah. You know, like, we didn't set out to become shop owners. Yeah, we just set out to just kind of have a spot to tattoo and not have to pay a bunch of money and just kind of do our appointments and. 00:21:34:09 - 00:21:35:05 Rick Maloney Yeah, go home. 00:21:35:10 - 00:21:39:19 Austin Spencer Well, it sounds like you and him have a good relationship to. And that's better to have one partner than six two, six.

00:21:39:22 - 00:21:41:03 Rick Maloney Is hard because very it. 00:21:41:03 - 00:21:47:16 Austin Spencer Was very a partnership as a marriage. Dude. It's you. You and him like have to work through shit at times and help each other out when you're down and. 00:21:47:17 - 00:21:53:09 Rick Maloney Yeah, and out of all those guys, me and him are always fun. We were always the ones that were on the same page. 00:21:53:11 - 00:21:54:01 Austin Spencer That's good. 00:21:54:02 - 00:22:08:13 Rick Maloney The other guys kind of were too, but it seemed like that they weren't really interested in building something, you know what I mean? There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, because to be honest with you, I wasn't interested in that in the beginning either. No, I know, I just wanted to do my tattoos and go home and not have a boss that was attracted to me. 00:22:08:14 - 00:22:11:10 Austin Spencer And now it's kind of become an essential survival skill that.

00:22:11:13 - 00:22:14:10 Rick Maloney Now we're building a brand. Yeah. 00:22:14:12 - 00:22:17:01 Austin Spencer Yeah, you are good. And that's what you should be thinking about it. 00:22:17:05 - 00:22:32:20 Rick Maloney Yeah. And it's so now it's kind of like, okay, so now we have responsibilities. And the cool thing about, you know, me and be happy is that, you know, we don't ever like disagree really on anything. It's always kind of like, hey, should we do this? And we both already know that's something we should do. 00:22:32:21 - 00:22:33:05 Austin Spencer He's just. 00:22:33:05 - 00:22:33:13 Rick Maloney A nice. 00:22:33:14 - 00:22:34:20 Austin Spencer Just put it out. 00:22:34:21 - 00:22:50:16 Rick Maloney There verbally. Yeah, let's do that. Or if I have an idea, I'm like, run it. Yeah. It's always just kind of like. And then it either works out or it doesn't and nobody's upset. We just fucking make decisions and it either works or doesn't work out, you know? And it's so it's kind of cool. The hardest part is really finding people.

00:22:50:16 - 00:22:59:02 Rick Maloney We've got a pretty strong team now. Took us a while to get here, but we've got a pretty solid team now. But that's been the hardest part is hiring. You don't know who you're working with until you work with. 00:22:59:02 - 00:23:00:02 Austin Spencer Them 1,000%. 00:23:00:03 - 00:23:00:15 Rick Maloney Yeah, that's. 00:23:00:15 - 00:23:05:20 Austin Spencer The hard. They can show you all the shiny shit on the outside in the second they're in there and they're showing up fucking late. The first week. 00:23:05:21 - 00:23:13:03 Rick Maloney You do an interview and they seem like this is the guy. This is the guy. Yeah. And you find out on day two. This is not the guy. 00:23:13:05 - 00:23:19:15 Austin Spencer I fired somebody the same day I hired them there. Same day. Dude. I was like, oh, it's the worst. It's bad. 00:23:19:17 - 00:23:25:01 Rick Maloney It's bad. And my, my floor is. I hold on to people way longer than I should. Me too, because I'm like.

00:23:25:01 - 00:23:27:13 Austin Spencer I'm like. Maybe give the benefit of the day. Yeah. 00:23:27:15 - 00:23:31:00 Rick Maloney You know, let's let's give this guy to six months, you know what I mean? Like. 00:23:31:01 - 00:23:35:02 Austin Spencer He's still doing the weirdest thing. You're like, yeah, like, pretty sure it had this over here, and now it's not here. 00:23:35:04 - 00:23:37:03 Rick Maloney Better. It'll get better. Trust me, it's fine. 00:23:37:04 - 00:23:54:22 Austin Spencer No, I know, and my team also knows that about me. And so they do know that if I do make a tough decision, like it's because I've given them so many fucking chances, dude, like, I'm going to be nice to you once. I'm gonna be nice to you twice. I'm gonna fucking. I'm gonna let you push me around a little, and then I'm going to be like, well, like, we're gonna talk. 00:23:54:23 - 00:23:56:13 Austin Spencer And then if you do it again, fucking done.

00:23:56:14 - 00:23:59:20 Rick Maloney Like, when the. The thing that sucks to is I've also had to fire people that I like. 00:24:00:02 - 00:24:02:06 Austin Spencer It's that's the hardest part, dude. 00:24:02:08 - 00:24:06:15 Rick Maloney I'm like, I've had to be like, hey, look, it's not you. It's like, totally not you. 00:24:06:16 - 00:24:07:18 Austin Spencer It's just the whole. 00:24:07:19 - 00:24:23:19 Rick Maloney Thing in a business. Yeah. Now. And like, I hate to think about it that way, but I have to think about it that way. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because it's like, you're cool, you get along whatever, you know? But it's just not. It's not working for the shop. And, you know, like, I had a conversation with the guy, he's an older tattoo. 00:24:23:19 - 00:24:41:20 Rick Maloney He's got a bunch of shops, you know, and, I, I call him once in a while, and I'm like, hey, bro, like, I need some advice, you know? And he's always cool. He's always cool. Like, yeah, do whatever, you know. And one thing he told me, he was like, you know, when you're making decisions, do you think about what's best for them or do you think about what's best for you, or do you think about what's best for the shop?

00:24:41:22 - 00:24:56:14 Rick Maloney And I was like, fuck, that was like a pivotal point. And I'm like, I don't ever really consider I either consider me or them. So I let people make decisions based on whatever is best for you. But I never considered the shop. And then the shop suffers because when the shop's affected, that means everybody's affected, you know what I mean? 00:24:56:14 - 00:25:00:06 Rick Maloney So, like, I have to make decisions based on, like, the good of everybody. 00:25:00:07 - 00:25:16:23 Austin Spencer Yeah. Not based on your personal ego to get in the way. Like, the more you let your ego get in the way, the more you're just gonna fuck your own life up to it. So you gotta just fucking zip it sometimes. Take some shit, be nice and get through it. And no matter what, no. Like you're going to be the bad guy like. 00:25:17:00 - 00:25:29:11 Austin Spencer And you have no control over that. Like, so if you gotta let them go, you gotta let them go. I literally just talking about it yesterday, I was like, oh, I miss so-and-so. I had to let him go. Motherfucker would not step it up. He never, ever would try. And I'm like, I'd be, bro. You need to try. 00:25:29:12 - 00:25:42:12 Austin Spencer Like, I know you got it in you I know it, I know it, know it. And then just TikTok and all fucking day or whatever, you know? And I'm just like, dude, we're here. Like, this is a job. Like, I know so many people get into it because I think they think it's going to be fucking like cakewalk, and it's fucking not, dude.

00:25:42:12 - 00:26:01:10 Austin Spencer And right now, two more than ever, you know, it's like it's the hardest game that I've ever seen. And it's you gotta all work together, especially in the shop environment, to help each other out, get people, get butts in the seats, man. All we're doing is if you're not doing it and you're not doing it like we could, like we just gotta help each other out. 00:26:01:11 - 00:26:10:07 Austin Spencer And I don't know, was doing the social media and stuff more of like a necessity. Kind of like you were in there. The shop, like the last couple years were kind of slow and. No, no. 00:26:10:12 - 00:26:29:10 Rick Maloney So it was kind of like it happened on accident at a time I didn't expect. It had been always something that I was trying to do. Yeah. So like when I first started tattooing in the shop, my mentor told me he's I'll make him make an Instagram with just your tattoo. I, you know, I have my personal Instagram and he's like, make it, make a separate Instagram with just your art. 00:26:29:15 - 00:26:30:22 Austin Spencer Like your drawings. 00:26:31:00 - 00:26:45:07 Rick Maloney This is you know, when I was an apprentice, he's I'll just post your drawings every day and then eventually your tattoos and he's like and then just make videos of you tattooing and post them and just like silly stuff. And he's like, just make little skits. That's what everyone's doing. Yeah. And I was like, okay. But I wasn't consistent with it.

00:26:45:07 - 00:26:57:09 Rick Maloney So I'd make a video, it would bomb and I'd be like, I'm not doing that. Yeah. And then I'd make a video and it would do great. And then I'm like, oh my God, this is it. And then I'd make a video the next day and it would bomb. So I'd stop for a little while and I was just very inconsistent with it. 00:26:57:09 - 00:27:17:10 Rick Maloney It was like I wasn't seeing results right away, so I wouldn't do it, you know? And then there was a short period where I made it. I was like, okay, every day this week I'm going to make make a video. And I would just do like voiceover, easy stuff, copy somebody just do something. And I was just going to post every day, you know, and I posted every day for that week and they all kind of hit. 00:27:17:12 - 00:27:31:07 Rick Maloney And then I was and then I was like, okay, well I had no more ideas. Fuck yeah. So then I stopped again. Oh, shit. And then I picked it up and then I started posting again. And then they bombed and I'm like, fuck, dude, I blew it. Yeah. And then one day I was in, I was in my I was in my car and I was like, just scrolling. 00:27:31:07 - 00:27:43:08 Rick Maloney And I would see like all these people that were posting videos of bad tattoos and they're talking. Just talking shit. Yeah. Look at this fucked up tattoo. This guy sucks. What a idiot. You know? And I'm just like, that was kind of boring, content to me. 00:27:43:09 - 00:27:45:11 Austin Spencer Well, and kind of ugly. It's just. It's just.

00:27:45:13 - 00:27:57:17 Rick Maloney In bad taste, you know what I mean? Like, obviously that's a bad tattoo. We don't need you to point that out for sure. You know what I mean? Like, it's not like anybody. Like anybody knows that's a bad tattoo. You don't need to be a tattoo her to know that, you know? And, I just thought it would be really funny. 00:27:57:17 - 00:28:04:21 Rick Maloney And I was like, well, what if I, like, make a video where, like, I just, like, compliment this, this obviously not tattoo and I like. 00:28:04:22 - 00:28:05:08 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:28:05:11 - 00:28:23:14 Rick Maloney Kind of like sarcastically like, say it's this style or it represents this and like because I see so many people that are doing their own tattoos, you know, like I'm the best tattoo in fucking Kansas. I'm the you know what I mean? Like like I'm the best. Look at this is the best line work in the city. I charge five grand. 00:28:23:18 - 00:28:27:00 Rick Maloney Fucking idiot. Like or whatever. I'm just like, that's also boring content to me.

00:28:27:01 - 00:28:27:04 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:28:27:05 - 00:28:39:13 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah. And, you know, or like, people would post, you know, some mandala and be like, this mandala means circle of life. And I'm like, who gets a fuck, dude? Like, who cares what that fucking shit? Like nobody gives a fuck, you know? Yeah. 00:28:39:14 - 00:28:40:05 Austin Spencer So I. 00:28:40:07 - 00:28:55:09 Rick Maloney Want to take a little bit of all those things that I think is silly, and I'm gonna just kind of do it sarcastically. So I made a video in. It fucking blew up. I did one video in it, like I didn't expect it to, and it blew up and I was like, that's the button. Yeah. So I just started making videos like that every single day. 00:28:55:09 - 00:29:13:17 Rick Maloney I would do a video just like that, just recreate that same one. And they fucking just kept going viral every single day. So for like, I mean, up. And I was like almost a little over a year ago and I've just been consistently five days a week. I post a video, I sometimes take the weekends off just because it's hard to really do every single.

00:29:13:17 - 00:29:14:07 Rick Maloney It's a lot of work. 00:29:14:07 - 00:29:25:21 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah. No, I know I, I find myself like sitting in the living room while my kids are playing and asking me questions and I'm over. They're like, hold on, hold on. I'm like, fuck, I don't like that at all. But like, if you I think I heard you say, yeah, like like like you just said. But he treated like a fucking job. 00:29:25:22 - 00:29:42:07 Austin Spencer And then you'll see results. Just like going to the fucking jam or doing anything else. If you're not consistent with it, you're not going to see it. And then you sound like like, I don't know, you've kind of you've obviously found your voice, but you didn't find your voice through social media by not fucking trying everything that you knew how to try. 00:29:42:08 - 00:29:49:08 Rick Maloney Yeah. Well, and then people also don't see like the couple of years before that where I failed. Yeah, a bunch of times and nobody. 00:29:49:08 - 00:29:49:14 Austin Spencer Come.

00:29:49:14 - 00:30:10:12 Rick Maloney On board. Yeah. And it just kind of happened on accident. But it's like work for anybody who's, you know, wanting to do it or whatever. But like once you find a button like that, that you, you, you post something and it works for you and it's like, just keep doing that, recreate that in every different way possible and just and be authentic. 00:30:10:14 - 00:30:28:17 Rick Maloney Because if you're acting, I feel like it's going to be harder to keep the show on. Fuck yeah, you know what I mean? So it's like if people are going, if you're going way out of who you really are, then you can never break character. And you know what I'm saying? So like, don't, don't go too far and outrageous, but like stay authentic as fuck and just keep doing that. 00:30:28:18 - 00:30:44:21 Rick Maloney Yeah. You know, and and you could do anything like whatever it is, like people say, oh, you know, you shouldn't have to do content for tattoo anymore. Yeah, you shouldn't, but you do. So sorry about your luck. But like, that's part of the job now. You cannot do it. You can you you know. But but like any part of tattooing that you choose not to do is going to affect you. 00:30:44:21 - 00:31:01:18 Rick Maloney If you want to choose not to create flash or anything, that's also going to affect you. Yeah. You know, if you choose not to do color, that's also going to affect you. You you know what I'm saying. So it's all kind of part of tattooing now whether you want it it's part of every business, no matter what you do. 00:31:01:19 - 00:31:15:10 Rick Maloney If you don't want to do social media in your, you know, you know, your, your fitness program that's going to affect you, who's going to know that you're even doing it? You have to, you know, so it's like it's kind of part of the job now.

00:31:15:12 - 00:31:25:12 Austin Spencer And or figure out how to document you not doing it right. It sounds so dumb, but like if you were going to be open about like, I'm not doing social media, ironically, you need to share on social media why you're not doing. 00:31:25:12 - 00:31:28:04 Rick Maloney It every day. Post about how much you fucking hate social media, how much. 00:31:28:04 - 00:31:29:04 Austin Spencer You believe. 00:31:29:05 - 00:31:31:18 Rick Maloney It shouldn't be part of tattooing being asshole. Yeah, people will follow you. 00:31:31:19 - 00:31:32:02 Austin Spencer So. 00:31:32:03 - 00:31:34:06 Rick Maloney They will. They will love that. You know. 00:31:34:08 - 00:31:35:06 Austin Spencer It's super funny. 00:31:35:07 - 00:31:49:17 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah. There's like one guy that I follow and it's always like him and his his chair, like, next to his box. And he's just like, kind of having a crash out every day. Just like to tell you about these fucking tattoos, man. You guys are fucking idiots, you know? And it works for him.

00:31:49:17 - 00:31:50:09 Austin Spencer It does it. 00:31:50:09 - 00:32:01:03 Rick Maloney It's like totally. Because everyone can relate. Like, yeah, dude, that sucks. Like, we love that, you know what I mean? And like, yeah, you know, it's you come across that shit and you're like, that works for that guy. Yeah. You know. 00:32:01:04 - 00:32:16:06 Austin Spencer Yeah, I just I just simply started asking questions to tattoos the other day. Just just ask a question. And then all of a sudden it, like, started working for me. I'm like, oh shit. Like 115 comments, 130 comments and just asking a question and being authentic. And just like, what do you. 00:32:16:08 - 00:32:30:01 Rick Maloney Yeah, you want to you want to give them something to either share or comment on. Yeah. You know what I mean. So if you don't have like something that's like kind of creating a conversation somehow it's not going to carry. Yeah. You know and like that's I love that. It's a great idea. 00:32:30:02 - 00:32:33:11 Austin Spencer It works great for me too because I don't have to be the bad guy either. Right? You know, I.

00:32:33:11 - 00:32:34:11 Rick Maloney Can you can let them all be that. 00:32:34:14 - 00:32:53:07 Austin Spencer Yeah. I or just like, you know, you see, like the kind of like. And I really see a lot of really great tattoos from all over the world to. It is really weird how your your content. You think, I don't know, you're just talking to the fucking phone, which feels super weird at first. And then once you get a little more comfortable with it, you start making it and then you're like, oh dang, dude from Poland. 00:32:53:07 - 00:33:01:03 Austin Spencer This tattoo where wrote me and said he's like, stoked on my content I'm making. I'm like, that feels fucking good, you know? And then that is what should push you forward. You know? 00:33:01:05 - 00:33:06:21 Rick Maloney That really hit me when I was doing those fake tattoo diplomas. Yes, I was sending those all over the world. 00:33:06:22 - 00:33:09:00 Austin Spencer See? That's tight dude. Like that's.

00:33:09:02 - 00:33:25:01 Rick Maloney Where dude, I was, like, getting Germany, Netherlands, like, all kind. I was like, whoa, dude. Like, that's what it was super cool to be mailing shit like that, you know what I mean? Like, I was like, wow, these guys. And then they would like, put it up in their station and take a picture and tag me in it like it was. 00:33:25:02 - 00:33:29:00 Austin Spencer It's funny, because I did this morning, I was like, oh, I wonder if he's gonna bring me a diploma. Oh. 00:33:29:02 - 00:33:29:18 Rick Maloney I'll mail you one. 00:33:29:22 - 00:33:30:01 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:33:30:01 - 00:33:31:00 Rick Maloney Yeah, I fucking forgot. 00:33:31:01 - 00:33:32:18 Austin Spencer I don't know why. I was like in the shower. I was. 00:33:32:18 - 00:33:33:15 Rick Maloney Like, yeah, I always. 00:33:33:15 - 00:33:49:11 Austin Spencer Forget like those pictures and I like to. Anything you can do that brings community together in a fucking fun, positive format is fun, dude. And now you got people popping in your shop when they're in in the Huntington Beach area, right? You like they're coming up to your shop and want to just say hi. That fucking that feels cool, man.

00:33:49:12 - 00:34:05:23 Rick Maloney Yeah. People from all over the place should pop in. Yeah, and it's right, you know? But the thing about the tattoo school diplomas is that's actually, like, probably as value as a real one. Like, if somebody wants you in a shop and says, I have a beaver dog tattoo, school like that carries more weight than if you were to be like, I actually graduated tattoos with that. 00:34:06:00 - 00:34:11:05 Rick Maloney Fucking laughed out of the building. But if you have that, they'll be like, yeah, this guy might actually be able to tattoo. Yeah, you know. 00:34:11:06 - 00:34:31:11 Austin Spencer I love it, I love it. That's awesome. Yeah. Dang. That's cool man. Yeah, I'm stoked that's all working out for you. But fucking do you have any like I just I struggle watching like, older tattoos. Be so fucking stubborn against this shit. And I also am watching. So a lot of old tattoos, like get into it, play with it, talk to the camera and and it's fucking working like I like that. 00:34:31:11 - 00:34:32:10 Austin Spencer Fuck that guy. 00:34:32:12 - 00:34:33:00 Rick Maloney Fuck that guy.

00:34:33:01 - 00:34:41:15 Austin Spencer He's good. He's great. I like it. You could tell he like his genuinely. Yeah. Like in love with what he's sharing. He's cool. And then I love like, the tagline and everything. 00:34:41:16 - 00:34:49:06 Rick Maloney Because he's so right. He's like the most what does he say? Like the highest compliment you can give somebody like, fuck that guy. Yeah, because it's true. 00:34:49:08 - 00:34:50:01 Austin Spencer It's so true. 00:34:50:06 - 00:34:52:15 Rick Maloney Like old tattoo. Fuck that guy. You love him? 00:34:52:16 - 00:34:54:10 Austin Spencer Yeah. You know. Yeah, you're. 00:34:54:12 - 00:35:15:14 Rick Maloney Totally true. But you know what? Yeah, because it's like the old school tattoos is like. Because I'm in the middle. Like, I think that I like my generation of tattoos isn't really super represented a lot, you know what I mean? Because we're like, you know, ten years in tattooing. So like, you know, I started tattooing, you know, I wasn't, you know, tattooing it back in the day where I was like, I couldn't find a machine unless I was on a show, you know what I mean?

00:35:15:14 - 00:35:28:12 Rick Maloney So, like, I, I, you know, I, I was a scratcher, of course, but, like, I started, like, drawing paper. We didn't have iPads. I didn't have to, like, make needles or anything, you know, but I still had to, like, learn how to, like, take apart a clone machine and fix it and stuff. I'm. I did it on my own. 00:35:28:13 - 00:35:49:00 Rick Maloney Yeah. You know, and, you know, like, we still had we didn't have all the tools we have now, but we didn't also have to do all the fucked off things they had to do back then. So we're kind of in the middle ground, you know what I mean? And it's like, you know, our generation isn't really represented a lot because it's like, we're not the old fucking angry dude that's pissed off at the tools, you know what I mean? 00:35:49:00 - 00:36:01:21 Rick Maloney But we're not. The new kids don't know how to use the old shit either, so we don't respect the old ways, you know what I mean? We're kind of in the middle and, like, you know. So I guess that's why the social media thing kind of. Because anytime there's a new tool like cross with you, I love coil machines. 00:36:01:21 - 00:36:09:14 Rick Maloney I use cool machines all the time. I also have a rotary pen. You won't see me use it a lot because they're fucking gay. But I have one and I use it and I like it, you know what. 00:36:09:14 - 00:36:10:14 Austin Spencer I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.

00:36:10:15 - 00:36:15:08 Rick Maloney You know, like like. Yeah. Like I like to draw on paper too. But I love the iPad. It's super easy. 00:36:15:09 - 00:36:16:01 Austin Spencer It's fucking. 00:36:16:01 - 00:36:33:01 Rick Maloney Know what I mean? Like, I'm not gonna complain about making my job easier, you know, like, I can build a house with a hammer and nails, but if I have access to a nail gun, I'm gonna use that in the fuck. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's like I'm not pissed off at it, but it's like the old guys that are stuck in their ways, you know, they've already built their name. 00:36:33:01 - 00:36:47:04 Rick Maloney They don't have some of these guys don't have to do social media, you know what I'm saying? Like the like the like the dudes that are just, you know what I mean? Like, you know, like, Paul Booth doesn't need to make an Instagram know. Everybody already knows where the fuck Paul Booth is. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? 00:36:47:05 - 00:37:00:10 Rick Maloney Like he's already done that, you know. So those guys are like, well, you shouldn't have to. You know, I'm not saying he says that, but like, those older guys are saying you shouldn't have to do social media, but it's like but yeah, but you come from a time where word of mouth was the only way, and you go to conventions and you do get tattoos and you get famous.

00:37:00:10 - 00:37:16:10 Rick Maloney That's it. Well, now, that's not the way. If you're not on Instagram and you're not putting your face out there, you're not going to really make a name for yourself that way. Or you can, but it's probably a lot harder, you know, so you have to find that. But what they're doing is they're limiting their voice, you know, because I agree a lot with the older guy. 00:37:16:11 - 00:37:22:06 Rick Maloney I probably agree more with the older guys than I do the new kids, because the new kids are kind of fucking idiots, and they don't really know a lot about tattooing. 00:37:22:07 - 00:37:25:04 Austin Spencer And they kind of don't want to go. I mean, they might do good tattoos, like. 00:37:25:05 - 00:37:36:03 Rick Maloney Yeah, but they don't know what the fuck they're doing. You know, they're just guessing and they think they know shit and they don't. So I agree more with the old guys and the old guys. If they're not putting their voice out there. They're they're ruining the chance to reach the new guys. 00:37:36:04 - 00:37:40:22 Austin Spencer Yeah, no I agree. You know their brand. On to the next. And if they're being assholes.

00:37:40:22 - 00:37:55:14 Rick Maloney To the point where like because there's a there's there's a way to be like me, like I'm an asshole, but I'm like, I'm not an unapproachable asshole, and I can have a conversation. And I could mean if I'm wrong, you know? But if those guys act like that, nobody's going to want to listen to them, and then their voices are eventually not going to be heard no more. 00:37:55:14 - 00:37:59:11 Rick Maloney And it's only going to be these new fucking idiots that are telling you the only way to learn is online mentorship. 00:37:59:11 - 00:37:59:14 Austin Spencer For. 00:37:59:14 - 00:38:01:03 Rick Maloney Fucking, you know, $10,000. 00:38:01:07 - 00:38:03:20 Austin Spencer I'm sponsored by this person. Yeah, you know what I mean? The only way, you. 00:38:03:20 - 00:38:17:05 Rick Maloney Know, you got to come to fucking this state and get a fucking $12,000 back piece or whatever the fuck they're doing, you know, and those guys are just going to take over the industry, and their voices are going to be the only ones that are heard, and then we're just going to fall behind and just be forgotten. Yeah.

00:38:17:06 - 00:38:21:22 Rick Maloney You know, so it's really important for us to, to to be out there as much and then not hate each other. 00:38:22:02 - 00:38:47:01 Austin Spencer No I know yeah. Just like poke fun, talk shit, have fun. But just be fucking be fucking kind to each other when it almost just most tattoos are now even the older guys have been humbled. We all have been kind of humbled. And it's I'm really enjoying seeing a lot of the machine builders get out and about and tour and do the workshops we were talking about, and all of those cats are starting to like, I feel like they deserve all the, you know, whatever that they are trying to get. 00:38:47:02 - 00:38:51:22 Austin Spencer And I don't know, it's cool to see them just finally putting themselves out there more. 00:38:51:23 - 00:38:53:04 Rick Maloney Well, we all love the same thing. 00:38:53:05 - 00:38:53:23 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:38:54:01 - 00:39:12:18 Rick Maloney We all love the same thing. So like, why do we have to, like, hate each other over it? You know, because somebody thinks it should be done this where everything should be done this way. But there are a handful of assholes that I think that are exploiting tattooing. And those guys, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, the fuck off, you know, or whatever is like kindly as I could say it.

00:39:12:19 - 00:39:29:19 Rick Maloney Yeah. You know, but we all love the same thing. We should all get along. We should all, you know, want the best for each other or whatever. But, you know, like, if we don't, if we don't put ourselves out there, you know, we're just not gonna. It's it's you're just holding yourself back. Yeah. For no reason. Yeah. 00:39:29:20 - 00:39:30:02 Rick Maloney You know. 00:39:30:07 - 00:39:37:04 Austin Spencer Like when you say exploiting tattooing, like, what is it that they're doing that is that fucking hits your hot button, you. 00:39:37:04 - 00:39:39:19 Rick Maloney Know what I mean? Like, I think turning it into, like, a pyramid scheme. 00:39:39:21 - 00:39:40:07 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:39:40:08 - 00:39:47:19 Rick Maloney Okay. Is, is kind of exploiting it or like, also like the tattoo school thing is a little bit of a and I'm kind of I'm kind of torn between the tattoo school thing. Yeah. 00:39:47:19 - 00:39:48:05 Austin Spencer Because I.

00:39:48:05 - 00:39:56:07 Rick Maloney Agree there are states now that are making tattoo school mandatory for a tattoo, you know, license. Right. So you have to go to tattoo school. 00:39:56:09 - 00:39:57:11 Austin Spencer All through Oregon. You have to go. 00:39:57:13 - 00:40:12:16 Rick Maloney You have to do tattoo school. So the thing about that is like, okay, so if that eventually happens and everyone has to go to tattoo school and there's only these fucking assholes that don't even have tattoos, running tattoo schools that don't know shit, or teaching people they might be teaching people wrong, or they don't give a fuck if they learn correctly or whatever, you know? 00:40:12:17 - 00:40:25:14 Rick Maloney So if we decide, oh, we're not touching the tattoo school, then we're actually we're not going to be controlling it, which is who's to say who should be and who shouldn't be. But I'm pretty sure that dudes have been tattooing 30, 40 years. Should probably be the professors. 00:40:25:15 - 00:40:26:01 Austin Spencer Yeah.

00:40:26:01 - 00:40:35:07 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean? Not these other fucking clowns, you know? So. But they don't want to do it because they don't agree with it. But it might be fucking the industry in the long run. 00:40:35:08 - 00:40:43:03 Austin Spencer They don't step up and take some of that and fucking just push forward and just share what it is that you love and the knowledge that you, you know. 00:40:43:05 - 00:40:58:15 Rick Maloney So it is kind of a weird fucking area, you know what I mean? But I think a lot of these guys with the, the Instagram shit has kind of turned it into like, hey, I could do a cool black and gray tattoo. You should join my tattoo school. Yeah, it's this much money. I don't really give a fuck what you learn. 00:40:58:18 - 00:41:07:12 Rick Maloney You are. I'm gonna give you your diploma at the end or whatever. Because, like, tattooing is a weird thing where, like, some people get it quickly, some people get it slowly. Some people never get it at all. 00:41:07:13 - 00:41:07:20 Austin Spencer Yeah.

00:41:07:22 - 00:41:24:14 Rick Maloney You can try and try it forever and not really be able to pull off. I've seen that. I've seen dudes are like 20 years tattooing and I'm like, God damn, you should probably give it a rest, you know? And it happens. But so you can't say a tattoo school courses six months or three months or two weeks or whatever because it takes everyone. 00:41:24:16 - 00:41:35:10 Rick Maloney Some people pick up a machine and tattoo beautifully right away, and that happens, you know, but you can't put a time frame on it. That's why some apprenticeships are a year. Some are two years. Kind of depends on you, you know. 00:41:35:12 - 00:41:40:14 Austin Spencer Personality trained to as far as like working with your canvas college some shit like. 00:41:40:16 - 00:41:46:03 Rick Maloney So that's what I, when I say exploiting I think that that's exploiting is they're just trying to make a quick buck off of people that don't know any better. 00:41:46:04 - 00:41:46:22 Austin Spencer Yeah, that's not cool.

00:41:46:23 - 00:42:06:01 Rick Maloney And and I don't want to say it about all of them because they're probably there probably are some guys that genuinely give a fuck and they're like, hey, I can make money and give back at the same time. Nothing wrong with that. But I find that hard to believe that that's the case with everybody, because it's really easy to find. 00:42:06:05 - 00:42:24:08 Rick Maloney That's what it is now, even like with the fitness influencers and the, you know, the, you know, the online marketing, you know, gurus and the, you know, the Instagram whatever. It's just a pyramid scheme, like, hey, I'm going to show you how to do it, and then you're going to know how to do it now, and then you're going to go ahead and you're going to get ten people to sign on to your program, and then you're going to make a bunch of money. 00:42:24:13 - 00:42:37:00 Rick Maloney You know what I mean? You're going to make a bunch of money and you're probably not gonna have a tattoo, you know, more. Yeah. And I don't know, I mean, I don't know everything. Yeah, but I know enough to figure that part out. Like. Yeah, that's been since the beginning of time. They've been doing pyramid schemes like that. 00:42:37:01 - 00:42:41:13 Austin Spencer Yeah, I don't know. I don't have too many of them in my algorithm I guess. But I definitely see like the. 00:42:41:19 - 00:42:42:22 Rick Maloney I've been blocked by most of them.

00:42:42:22 - 00:42:44:09 Austin Spencer Okay. Yeah. 00:42:44:11 - 00:42:53:16 Rick Maloney Yeah. There's a handful of them that like I used to like would comment on their shit. And when you comment on that's another thing to about commenting is it you shows you more of it even if you comment hate. 00:42:53:17 - 00:42:55:21 Austin Spencer Yeah I know, I know, I. 00:42:55:23 - 00:42:56:16 Rick Maloney It doesn't know. 00:42:56:16 - 00:43:04:17 Austin Spencer That I've been having people. I know that you don't like me into stock a bunch of shit and I'm like, they're like, how do I get you out of my feet? I'm like, stop fucking commenting and like, stop clicking. 00:43:04:19 - 00:43:05:17 Rick Maloney Shows you more of that. 00:43:05:17 - 00:43:08:20 Austin Spencer And hitting the heart button to like on accident. 00:43:08:22 - 00:43:28:03 Rick Maloney So I would get blocked because I would say some foul shit. And so I don't see a whole lot of them anymore, you know? But I'm kind of getting to the point now where, like, I'm like, there's a couple of guys that I didn't like at the beginning, you know what I mean? Like their attitude and like, you know, some of the younger guys and after watching them over and over and like, commenting dumb shit on there, then it would show me more of it and I'd be like, are kids guys all right, guys, all right.

00:43:28:07 - 00:43:41:20 Rick Maloney Even if he's a fucking dirtbag, I kind of like this guy, to be honest with you. You know, he's kind of a piece of shit. I kind of like that about him, you know? But I just kind of stopped. Really stopped. Really giving a fuck. Too much about it, you know what I mean? Because it's really, like, at the end of the day, it does it. 00:43:41:21 - 00:43:42:22 Austin Spencer All kind of fake anyway. 00:43:42:23 - 00:43:59:04 Rick Maloney It doesn't affect me personally, you know? And if somebody's dumb enough to fall for some stupid trick, you know, or if they're gonna, they're gonna do it. Maybe it is going to change their life and it does change their life. What the fuck do I know? If it helps their career out, cool. And if they get burned, well, maybe they learn a expensive lesson, I don't know. 00:43:59:05 - 00:44:17:08 Austin Spencer And hopefully if they really want to keep tattoo and then they'll figure it out, like, and make your way through it. Yeah, I thought I kind of love about tattooing is all of us come into it and these all these different types of ways, you know, either out of necessity or drugs or just fucking just like go to school, like I have a one tattoo that works at my shop. 00:44:17:08 - 00:44:34:01 Austin Spencer He's fantastic tattoo. Or he probably never would have got into tattooing, though, if he wouldn't have gone through a school. And he went through a school and now he's a great tattoo her. So I'm like, and he's in love with it, you know, and he's out there doing it. But I don't know man. Like like you said, I kind of feel the same way about the schools.

00:44:34:01 - 00:44:46:10 Austin Spencer Like, I would much rather see us take it than where like, all the supply world's gone and fucking all of our other stuff is like, all these rules are getting made up and they don't have any control over it, because we're all just bickering in the comments and not doing anything about. 00:44:46:10 - 00:44:46:18 Rick Maloney It, do. 00:44:46:18 - 00:44:47:23 Austin Spencer Anything about it. That's not fun. 00:44:48:00 - 00:44:58:16 Rick Maloney Yeah. And that that will eventually happen, you know. So that's why we got to get either involved or we got to stop complaining about it. You know, like, I've even thought about it. I've thought about opening a school. 00:44:58:17 - 00:44:59:11 Austin Spencer Like a legitimate. 00:44:59:12 - 00:45:06:19 Rick Maloney Like a legitimate. It has crossed my mind, you know, and I had a couple of people tell me, like, why don't you just do it for real? And I'm like, fuck, I already have, like over 2000 students.

00:45:06:19 - 00:45:07:12 Austin Spencer How ironic. 00:45:07:16 - 00:45:18:07 Rick Maloney Once, do you know what I mean? But, like, what if I just make it legit, you know, and just. Yeah, you could just come over here, I'll charge you some money, and I'll just fucking shave your head and talk to you for a couple of months and then fucking send you out the door with the machine. 00:45:18:08 - 00:45:20:20 Austin Spencer The first six months were going to go through hazing. Yeah, yeah. 00:45:20:23 - 00:45:24:11 Rick Maloney We gotta learn to mop the bathroom first. That's the first step of tattooing. 00:45:24:12 - 00:45:25:22 Austin Spencer Yeah. Clean up the parking lot. 00:45:25:23 - 00:45:46:01 Rick Maloney Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go leave some streaks on the toilet for you to scrub. That's awesome. It is important to build character. The thing with the apprenticeship, too, is, are like, you know, a lot of these guys will say, oh, apprenticeship scam. You don't need to clean and mop floors and take shit, you know? But it's like but it's like that in every job, you know, like these people get into tattooing because they think that it's not going to be hard.

00:45:46:03 - 00:45:59:05 Rick Maloney They see these guys that are driving Ferrari's and but those guys are put in the work, you know. Yeah. They like they they put in a lot of work and like people might talk shit like, oh it shouldn't be about getting famous and like buying watches and stuff or whatever. Yeah. But if that's what somebody into. 00:45:59:06 - 00:46:03:13 Austin Spencer If that's what you want to wake up and they're doing great tattoos and doing it, I. 00:46:03:14 - 00:46:19:04 Rick Maloney Don't think I could ever wear a diamond necklace. Like, I don't ever think that even if I had millions of dollars, I probably would never buy that. So whatever. I can't judge somebody for wanting that, you know? But like, those guys put in the work to get to where they're at. You can't hate on that, you know? But some of these people get into it with never having had a real job before. 00:46:19:09 - 00:46:19:16 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:46:19:16 - 00:46:20:08 Austin Spencer That's weird to me.

00:46:20:09 - 00:46:20:17 Rick Maloney You know. 00:46:20:18 - 00:46:25:18 Austin Spencer Like I had to pull shitty underpants out of a fucking bar bathroom, and then I had to clean up the vomit and fucking do. 00:46:25:20 - 00:46:26:21 Rick Maloney I did ten years in construction. 00:46:26:21 - 00:46:27:02 Austin Spencer Before. 00:46:27:02 - 00:46:34:04 Rick Maloney I started doing so. Like I had already done hard jobs. So like when I did my apprenticeship, I was like, this is easy. Yeah. You know, you want to clean the fucking bathroom. 00:46:34:05 - 00:46:38:14 Austin Spencer My two seconds just get it done. I still have to clean my own bathroom. 00:46:38:14 - 00:46:42:10 Rick Maloney So I literally had like three chores. Like, it was like, you know, mop the floor. 00:46:42:12 - 00:46:42:22 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:46:42:23 - 00:46:45:04 Rick Maloney Take the trash out and clean the bathroom. 00:46:45:05 - 00:47:12:09 Austin Spencer Yeah. And you should be showing fucking pride in your environment. That's what people are forgetting. And they're looking at it as this task is daunting and terrible. But really, like, you don't do that at your own house, like you don't take pride in your environment. If there's shit on the floor when you walk by, you pick it up and you put it in the fucking garbage, and then you should be working as a team to make sure that your spot, even though it's not your spot, maybe you're not an owner you should own who the fuck you are, what you're doing in that place at that time, and you don't know how many opportunities will

00:47:12:09 - 00:47:33:21 Austin Spencer open up if you just put off that energy, that good vibes and like, take care of your shit. Be nice fucking when the owner is not there. Just be fucking kind to the client. Still, don't fucking be a like, ignore them and be a turd because they're gone. It's still the when it comes around to like you ever doing anything on your own in your own life, you'll think back at that time and you're like, fuck, I was a dick, you know, like, but. 00:47:33:23 - 00:47:40:02 Rick Maloney Or they don't want to work. And sometimes doing stuff like, doesn't that you think that doesn't have anything to do with the other thing, like. 00:47:40:07 - 00:47:41:08 Austin Spencer Some shit. 00:47:41:09 - 00:47:53:14 Rick Maloney Yeah. What is the what is the have to do with, you know, using a tattoo machine? You know, you might not find the connection until years down the road. You're like, holy shit. Like, yeah, you know, until you own a shop, maybe you're like, Holy shit, I gotta pick up the mop again. Fuck. 00:47:53:19 - 00:48:01:14 Austin Spencer And you're trying to figure out how to get that spot off the floor. And I had to figure out how to get the spots off. The old floor has already solved that problem in my life. So when it comes up again, it's easy.

00:48:01:16 - 00:48:14:19 Rick Maloney It's not as easy as it seems. And like the hard work too. Like, you know, if you're not putting in the hard work in some areas, you're not going to put it in the other areas, you know, because like you said, like you, you know, some tattoos just won't try. And the sad thing is, is I've seen good tattoos sit there with no work. 00:48:14:21 - 00:48:16:16 Austin Spencer Which is the more than ever I. 00:48:16:18 - 00:48:27:03 Rick Maloney You know, and I'm like, why the fuck are you slow? You're a fucking great tattoo. And a walking comes in the door and they're like, hey, I only got 200 bucks. And they're like, well, I want three. And they let him go out the door. It's like, what? 00:48:27:05 - 00:48:28:06 Austin Spencer You have the time, bro. 00:48:28:08 - 00:48:44:11 Rick Maloney You didn't just pass up 200 bucks, you passed up their next tattoo and all their family and their friends and all that other shit that could have came with that fucking deal that you gave them. Because sometimes if you give someone a deal, they go, hey, I got this guy came up to me out of convention. He's like, hey, man, I know you're gonna probably hate me for this, but I only got 300 bucks with Tattoo Me.

00:48:44:16 - 00:48:49:01 Rick Maloney I'll fuck. I would attach a dude for a fucking for 150. What are you talking about? Fucking 300 bucks? 00:48:49:01 - 00:48:51:07 Austin Spencer Absolutely 300. Yes. 00:48:51:12 - 00:48:52:01 Rick Maloney You know what I mean? 00:48:52:01 - 00:48:52:15 Austin Spencer I'm like the fuck. 00:48:52:16 - 00:48:53:20 Rick Maloney Why would I turn that down? 00:48:53:22 - 00:48:55:01 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:48:55:02 - 00:48:55:17 Rick Maloney Something like. 00:48:55:18 - 00:48:56:09 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:48:56:11 - 00:49:07:11 Rick Maloney But some people think that, you know what I mean. Or like, they think that if I don't, I'm afraid to ask because I'm going to be told it's fucking super expensive. I can't afford it, you know what I mean? So, like, I always want to be that guy. That's like, people will tell me like, hey, what's your what? 00:49:07:12 - 00:49:09:07 Rick Maloney Your price goes. What's your budget?

00:49:09:08 - 00:49:09:19 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:49:09:20 - 00:49:15:14 Rick Maloney Did you tell me what your budget is? And I'll tell you what you what you can get. That's a that's an easier fucking conversation to have, you know. 00:49:15:14 - 00:49:25:21 Austin Spencer Yeah. And you're just talking about it. So like, you just, you say 300 bucks and you come up with something where you don't feel that that's worth 300 bucks, then talk about it again. Just try to work through it to everybody. 00:49:25:23 - 00:49:28:16 Rick Maloney Is a $300 tattoo. Is that so fair? Yeah. 00:49:28:17 - 00:49:33:20 Austin Spencer You know. And is your experience gonna be awesome? You get to sit down with the one and only beaver duck, you know what I mean? That's worth. 00:49:33:20 - 00:49:35:01 Rick Maloney The money. Just so. 00:49:35:02 - 00:49:36:09 Austin Spencer It's just fun. I like, you know. 00:49:36:10 - 00:49:38:00 Rick Maloney I should just charge for consultations. 00:49:38:01 - 00:49:38:14 Austin Spencer There you go.

00:49:38:17 - 00:49:39:02 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:49:39:07 - 00:49:41:05 Austin Spencer It's just it's like a kissing. 00:49:41:06 - 00:49:44:03 Rick Maloney Thousand dollar consultation to tattoos free. Yeah. You know. 00:49:44:05 - 00:49:48:08 Austin Spencer You could just run your school right out of a convention. Yeah, I could. 00:49:48:10 - 00:49:48:19 Rick Maloney Have a little. 00:49:48:19 - 00:49:49:18 Austin Spencer Seminar curtain. 00:49:49:18 - 00:49:53:15 Rick Maloney I have a little seminar. Right at the end of the day, it's not a bad idea, actually. 00:49:53:16 - 00:49:57:22 Austin Spencer Let's get it done. Yeah. And you just get their certificate done. That would be good. 25 bucks. 00:49:57:23 - 00:49:59:03 Rick Maloney And also be good content. 00:49:59:05 - 00:50:03:19 Austin Spencer Yes, it would be. Oh, shit. Was what else you got going on for the Vegas trip?

00:50:03:20 - 00:50:12:02 Rick Maloney That's it. I'm actually gonna go, after this, I'm going to go see one of my mentors. He works out here now. Oh, okay. One of the cools bills. Oh, okay. I'm not sure which one. 00:50:12:02 - 00:50:30:10 Austin Spencer I've been wanting to talk to them because talk about a crazy, like, business format for tattooing. They focus on their $10 tattoos up front. Oh, really? And then they try to talk you into getting, like, the 50 and the 100. Brilliant. But they've got like six locations and they're like, oh, I'm not a hater. On how I feel like there's enough work for all of us. 00:50:30:10 - 00:50:41:00 Austin Spencer And there's like in every market, there's people that will do things for $10 and 10,000. So, they're doing it and they've been in the game for a long time, and they I don't know. I've been I want to reach out to like, the owner over there and. 00:50:41:00 - 00:50:41:21 Rick Maloney Just see how that works out. 00:50:41:22 - 00:50:42:19 Austin Spencer Yeah, that's fucking wild.

00:50:43:00 - 00:50:57:01 Rick Maloney A bad idea. Well, the thing is, is you're gonna open up to a different demographic of people some people hate. Oh, I hate the cheap clients. Whatever. Yeah, that's okay. But, you know, the person that only wants to spend ten bucks on a tattoo or whatever isn't going to be the $300 guy. Yeah. So you're not losing that? 00:50:57:03 - 00:51:07:03 Rick Maloney No. Like, if they're that cheap, then they probably weren't going to get tattooed anyways. And that $10 tattoo is the only thing that brought them into getting that small tattoo. And then they got the small tattoo and then they're like, hey, maybe I do want a bigger one. 00:51:07:04 - 00:51:07:14 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:51:07:16 - 00:51:10:23 Rick Maloney I mean, it's like drugs. Some people get a small one and they're like, well, now I want to sleep. 00:51:11:00 - 00:51:30:06 Austin Spencer Especially if you make them laugh and you give them a great experience and you have fun with them. And then and then they're just sitting there in your booth looking around at all the other artwork you can do. I've watched so many of my clients grow from a walk into a full sleeve and yeah, no problem. It's it's, I don't know, just some people just get sour and stand in their own way and don't want to fucking get their ego out there.

00:51:30:07 - 00:51:44:11 Rick Maloney I just want a tattoo. Yeah. I just want to catch you, you know, I don't care. I just whatever it is like, you know, I don't care what style it is. I mean, I'll talk shit and complain about it or I'll try to talk you out of it. Yeah, but I'll still do it. You know, I'm not gonna, like, say no. 00:51:44:13 - 00:51:50:02 Rick Maloney Yeah. I mean, there's a handful of things that, like, I. I will give away because, like, I don't do portraits. 00:51:50:04 - 00:51:50:18 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:51:50:20 - 00:51:56:13 Rick Maloney Like, I got a guy like the big happy, just great portraits. Why do I need a I like, I should probably learn portraits just to be able to say I can do them. 00:51:56:14 - 00:51:57:02 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:51:57:04 - 00:52:11:05 Rick Maloney But I'm probably not gonna do a better one than him. So, like, I'll just give that to him. Yeah. Me out. Like, I don't want to give you a cockeyed grandma, you know what I mean? Because I got it's real easy to make some across I real quick or do one line outside of the I, I, I fuck fuck that up.

00:52:11:06 - 00:52:11:17 Rick Maloney Yeah. 00:52:11:21 - 00:52:27:15 Austin Spencer I mean, I made some weird portraits in my time. Just trying to be too confident, getting excited and want to try. That's one weird ass thing about tattooing is your whole career is documented forever. So, you know, like you'll walk across, you'll see somebody at Home Depot and you look down at their leg and you're like, fuck, you wanna. 00:52:27:15 - 00:52:28:09 Rick Maloney Try to look the other way? 00:52:28:09 - 00:52:30:18 Austin Spencer I did that two years fucking. 00:52:30:20 - 00:52:39:17 Rick Maloney Why did you do a tattoo? And you want to murder them before they leave? And I don't ever want to see you again. I hope, hopefully, they never come back. Those you get the call you like. Hey, I want to come get my second one. 00:52:39:22 - 00:52:40:12 Austin Spencer Something to say. 00:52:40:13 - 00:52:42:14 Rick Maloney They want. Please don't come back. Yeah. 00:52:42:16 - 00:52:50:04 Austin Spencer Some of the most difficult clients from you being a nice guy to them, they seem to find their home and feel comfortable being fucking super hard and annoying.

00:52:50:06 - 00:52:58:12 Rick Maloney Yeah, no, I do a bad one because I won't show anybody else in the shop if I do a good one. But hey, do you guys see this this out? Why don't I wrap it up in black and push them out the door? Oh my God. 00:52:58:14 - 00:53:04:00 Austin Spencer Dude, I know clients always feel so insecure when Instagram really started kicking off their like, well, how come my tattoos not on your Instagram? 00:53:04:00 - 00:53:20:10 Rick Maloney Yeah, I stopped posting a lot of my stuff. Yeah, like I still I tattoo every day. I tattoo all kinds of stuff. But like lately I've only been posting like beaver ducks and I kind of like traditional stuff or like mostly traditional stuff because that's really all I want to do. But I do a little bit of everything, but like, I won't post it. 00:53:20:11 - 00:53:36:20 Rick Maloney Yeah, I just, I just don't see the point in posting shit that I don't. It's not that I don't want to do it, but like enough people know that I do do it to hit me up to do it. Yeah. You know, or like I get enough word of mouth or like people that see it and they're like, oh, I want to get something like that to where, like, I just want to push that. 00:53:36:20 - 00:53:38:19 Rick Maloney And I think that that's a good way to like.

00:53:38:21 - 00:53:39:13 Austin Spencer Find a signature. 00:53:39:14 - 00:53:43:12 Rick Maloney Thing, because the more that I've been posting the beaver ducks up, the more people have been hit me up and they're like, oh, I get one of those. 00:53:43:13 - 00:53:44:01 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah. 00:53:44:02 - 00:53:48:20 Rick Maloney And there's nothing like tattooing something that you made. Yeah, that's the best. 00:53:49:02 - 00:54:12:04 Austin Spencer No, I don't really agree. And finding just your, your happy place or like I say, my happy place was like I built a whole career out of these little skeletons I called skeletons. And then I just would literally go from small, little weird skeletons that people talk shit about in the beginning. And then I got a whole career out of lining, like a sleeve or two, sometimes three a week and all, just skeletons partying. 00:54:12:06 - 00:54:13:18 Austin Spencer And that became a thing, and. 00:54:13:19 - 00:54:14:07 Rick Maloney That's awesome. 00:54:14:07 - 00:54:18:04 Austin Spencer And I was like, you know, I don't know. So you could be Beaver Duck.

00:54:18:06 - 00:54:19:00 Rick Maloney People want them. 00:54:19:00 - 00:54:19:09 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:54:19:10 - 00:54:30:02 Rick Maloney It's kind of a dumb. It's a collective work. Yeah. Because I can turn anything into a beaver duck. I could literally take any piece of flash, put a fucking duckbill on it, a beaver tail. And it's that it's it's like, so easy. 00:54:30:02 - 00:54:42:05 Austin Spencer And then if and. Yeah. And then like you said, when people see it, they fucking know. Yeah. That's a big flattering thing. I think as far as an illustrator or a tattoo or whatever, like if you can come up with a signature thing that people see ten years from now, you're like, oh shit, the fucking. 00:54:42:06 - 00:54:57:19 Rick Maloney That's one of the things that like makes a good tattoo or two because anybody can do good tattoos, you know, but like one, like if you can create good tattoos, that's like the next level of shit. You know, like being able to really create something that's different, stands out, stands out, and somebody looks at it and goes, oh, I know who did that.

00:54:57:20 - 00:55:11:13 Rick Maloney Yeah, that's fucking pretty cool. Yeah. You know, and that's why I really like doing and it's cool because like people will hit me and they'll be like, hey, I want to get one. And and I'll be like, okay, well, I have some, like I'm working on a flash book right now. Like I'm every day like I draw a couple. 00:55:11:14 - 00:55:19:05 Rick Maloney I'm doing them like just, you know, stencil paper with some, colored pencils. I'm just gonna tape it together and just make it look kind of cheesy, because I kind of like the way that looks. 00:55:19:06 - 00:55:19:14 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah. 00:55:19:16 - 00:55:31:01 Rick Maloney And then I want to probably print them and sell them. Yeah. But I'll also be able to have like a flash book to do. But what's cool is people will hit me up and look like, hey, but I got an idea. Can you put them on a fucking skateboard or something? Or like, like I'm a I'm a plumber. 00:55:31:02 - 00:55:40:14 Rick Maloney Can you put some plumbing tools in his hands or. Yeah, you know what I mean? Shit like that. I'm like, oh, that's even cooler because now people are giving me the ideas and there's something cooler than ideas that I would have.

00:55:40:15 - 00:55:41:01 Austin Spencer A thousand. 00:55:41:01 - 00:55:47:00 Rick Maloney Percent, you know? And so then I'm creating those and I'm like, it's just getting like, now it's getting out of control. It's fucking super cool. 00:55:47:01 - 00:56:03:03 Austin Spencer So you fuck it. Yeah. Keep going dude. You'll be banging those out of conventions all over. Oh, yeah. One, one last question. I don't know why I was thinking I was talking about with Randy Radisson the other day. He was talking about this dude that was the most tattoo or the like the dude. The was like the epitome of what a tattoo is. 00:56:03:03 - 00:56:10:05 Austin Spencer Do you have somebody that's like that to you that just kind of jumps into your head? Yeah, I've seen you do a lot of stuff with that. 00:56:10:06 - 00:56:27:03 Rick Maloney He okay, I've met a lot of cool motherfuckers, in the last, you know, like year, year and a half of, like, you know, doing social media and, like, traveling and stuff. I met a lot of cool guys. He is the best. Yeah. He is. If I think of, like, what an old school tattoo should be, is that.

00:56:27:08 - 00:56:40:05 Rick Maloney You know what I mean? You ask him about anybody and what you think about that guy. Let me tell you about fucking piece of shit. Let me tell you about that motherfucker. You know what I mean? Like he does not give up. You know what I mean? And he will tell you to your face. You don't care. We do a lot of traveling. 00:56:40:05 - 00:56:56:07 Rick Maloney We do a lot of car rides together. I mean, we'll sit in the car for six hours at a time. So good radio off. Yeah. And we'll just. You know what I'm saying? Like, we can carry a conversation for six hours and, like, he can tell me everything about tattoo history. I'll be, you know, what happened in 1939, you know, let me tell you about that fucking. 00:56:56:13 - 00:57:14:12 Rick Maloney We talk about these pieces of shit over there, but you know what I mean? And he'll tell you this, these stories, you know what I mean? And he just he he loves tattoo machines and tattooing the history of it. And I think that that's so cool. And that's kind of one of the things that's being lost. Yeah. Is that nobody really gives in like, I like history. 00:57:14:12 - 00:57:25:06 Rick Maloney I don't know a lot of it. Yeah. I mean it's hard to retain. I never was good at even like school history. Like I don't remember shit, you know? So I got to hear it a bunch of times. And that's what's cool about sitting him. He could tell me the same. He was telling the same story five times in a row. 00:57:25:08 - 00:57:44:05 Rick Maloney Yeah, you know what I mean? And every time I'll be like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so it's cool. So I'm starting to kind of retain some of it and like, you know, doing these seminars, you know, you know we travel and it's cool to see like people that are interested in it. And they come and they, they hear the seminars and they ask questions and, and you know, you hear the backstory on some of these old school guys and then you kind of appreciate it.

00:57:44:05 - 00:57:50:17 Rick Maloney And then you also hear the drama too, like you think the drama is a new thing. Yeah. People are just starting to beef it. They've been beefing it since fucking the 20s. 00:57:50:17 - 00:57:51:01 Austin Spencer Yeah. 00:57:51:02 - 00:57:57:23 Rick Maloney You know what I mean. They've been hating each other forever. Nobody wants a they none of them wanted each other to succeed. No. You know what I mean. They all wanted. 00:57:58:00 - 00:58:00:05 Austin Spencer A greater than we did. Yeah. 00:58:00:06 - 00:58:07:03 Rick Maloney Yeah. It's crazy. So like, you know what I mean? Like, that's super cool. And like, that's probably probably, that's probably my favorite. 00:58:07:05 - 00:58:07:12 Austin Spencer He's the. 00:58:07:16 - 00:58:12:03 Rick Maloney Favorite fucking. Yeah. Favorite guy in tattooing for sure I love it. Yeah. 00:58:12:04 - 00:58:16:13 Austin Spencer Well. Damn, dude, I don't want to keep you too long here, man. I just greatly appreciate you coming by.

00:58:16:14 - 00:58:17:19 Rick Maloney I appreciate it. Thank you so much. 00:58:17:20 - 00:58:28:07 Austin Spencer Yeah, I knew it was really good to meet you. I look forward to staying in touch with you. All right. Cool, man. Good luck with everything. If you guys don't know who Mr. Beaver Duck is, I'm pretty sure that's his government name, but. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Check. So how do we find you? 00:58:28:08 - 00:58:31:00 Rick Maloney The Instagram beaver duck. Be pretty simple. 00:58:31:01 - 00:58:33:03 Austin Spencer Yeah, yeah. One word. And then your shop. 00:58:33:04 - 00:58:35:23 Rick Maloney Shop? Beach Boulevard. Tattoos. Anaheim, California. 00:58:36:01 - 00:58:46:22 Austin Spencer Yeah, man. So get out there. Go say hi. I go say, what's up, man? And, Yeah. Support tattooing, man. Support Your Local Tattooer or do all the things. Don't be a dick. All right, man, you guys have a good one later.