Life & Work with Dana Forrester of Ann Arbor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Forrester

Hi Dana, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I opened Lucky Monkey Tattoo in 2002 in downtown Ann Arbor. At the time, women in the tattoo industry were a rarity. I was a a triple threat – a woman, a Jew (Jewish culture opposes tattoos), and a non tattooer. One of our biggest competitors threatened to burn down my shop because of those reasons. Fast forward 23 years and I now own (along with my wonderful husband James Trunko) 4 thriving and inclusive tattoo shops including Lucky Monkey Tattoo, Ritual Body Art (also in Ann Arbor – our secret annex shop), Lovely Monkey Tattoo and Piercing (Whitmore Lake) and our newest shop Electric Superstition Tattoo in Brighton, Michigan.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a non tattooer – and as a woman – I received a lot of push back opening a tattoo shop. However, as the years have gone by and we have flourished – where other shops have come and gone – we have earned the respect of our peers. . The 2008 recession and the 2020 pandemic were also very challenging but we got through both of them by being resilient and adaptive. In fact we expanded and opened 2 more shops AFTER the pandemic – which was something I never anticipated.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a creative and a business owner. My creative side includes playing bass guitar in several original hard rock bands including True Devil and Crud. I love writing, recording and performing.

Being a creative person really helps me relate to our tattoo artists. Between the 4 shops we have 23 artists. Each artist has their own style and of course individual personality. They are all very different and unique people. I see my job as the Captain of the Pirate Ship – steering our course and enabling everyone to do their best work, while getting along with each other.

I spent some of my early years working in a cubicle in a corporate environment. I dreaded going to work in my uncomfortable business attire and being a prisoner of the 9 to 5 punch in and punch out clock. I strive to make each of our shops an awesome environment where our artists enjoy working. For the most part they also make their own schedules so they are not prisoners of measured time.

One of the things I am most proud of is our work at Lovely Monkey Tattoo in Whitmore Lake. Our artist Jamie Wedge does realistic 3D nipple and areola tattoos for people who have undergone breast surgeries. She also is one of the few artists in the midwest who does Phalloplasty tattoos. We have clients that come in from all over the country for her services.

I am also proud of providing safe and inclusive shops for our tattoo artists and clients and for hopefully enabling our artists to primarily focus on their art and clients – and not worrying too much about the business side.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think the use of AI and robotics – will unfortunately impact the tattoo industry. in the near future. In France there’s already a shop where robots are tattooing humans – and that technology will become more available in 5-10 years. I am hoping clients will still want tattoos designed and applied by real people not robots. We will never replace our artists with robots. To me, that takes the heart and soul from tattooing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luckymonkeytattoo.com | https://www.electricsuperstition.com | https://www.lovelymonkeytattoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luckymonkeytattoo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luckymonkeytat
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Truedevildetroit
• Other: https://truedevildetroit.com