Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Principe.
Jon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a married father of two small children who was born and raised in Kenosha WI. I was a police officer with the city of Racine Wisconsin for 14 years starting in July of 2001. In 2015, after a good career I decided to leave the police department and go into private business. In late 2016 I decided it was time to do something that I have always wanted to be part of and open a tattoo shop. So I put together a business plan, and scraped together every dollar I had, 45,000.00, to remodel the space I wanted to use. I then assembled the best artists I could find and brought them into Kenosha and put together an amazing team.
I brought in Carlos Cerda who was on his way back to Arizona from Chicago, who had open offers from 11 different shops for his amazing work. I snagged Tayton Pennington out of Hayes Kansas whose father brought him up in the industry and was quickly making a name for himself. I also grabbed Tyler Brown who has been a staple in the Kenosha tattoo circle for the past 5 years.
After a long 7 months we finally opened in June of 2017 and everyday take over a little bit more of the market.
I completely rolled the dice with my entire life savings, pension and every dollar I had to make this work. Our shop is booming, we are growing leaps and bounds every week and I couldn’t be more excited for what our future holds. The shop is doing great, I love my team, I love my job and I couldn’t be happier with the decisions I made to get here.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It certainly was not. In November of 2016 I contacted the City of Kenosha in reference to opening a tattoo shop. I was told that the building I wanted to do it in was zoned properly and I shouldn’t have any problems opening up. I then invested every dollar I had into getting it built out right, got the best equipment, and found the best artists I could. When I went to get my final inspection permits in January to open I was told they made a mistake and actually I wasn’t zoned properly. I had to be in a B3 zone and I was in a B2 zone and unfortunately there was no way I could open there. I was told that the ordinance was written decades ago and I would need a full redrafting of the ordinance and full city council approval. I spoke to a couple different shops in town and was told I would never get it approved and I should stop wasting my time.
I went to all 17 alderman on our city council, the mayor, the city planning commission, the city attorney, and health departments. It took me 7 months, over a dozen meetings, and 6 different city board votes before finally getting the last vote for full approval to open on the evening of June 22nd. We then officially opened on June 23rd 2017 and never looked back. At the time I was out of money and out of time, if it wouldn’t have gotten through the votes I would have been lost. I didn’t have a backup plan, I never took no for an answer and I had faith I could get it approved and make it successful. I rolled the dice and went for it and never looked back.
Please tell us about The Kenosha Tattoo Company.
We are a high end tattoo and piercing shop in South Eastern Wisconsin. Our artists specialize in black and grey, color, portraits, memorials, original designs and cover ups. In fact, we are getting quite the reputation for our amazing work in cover ups and reworks of old tattoos. Our shop features private tattoo rooms, honest pricing, we have all brand new state of the art equipment and spared no expense in making this shop a very fun and friendly spot. We pride ourselves on our quality of work, originality and taking on projects that other shops won’t touch because of the difficulty. We think out of the box when it comes to project and designs including using UV light reactive ink which will shine under a black light, high lights and low lights, and white inks. Our shop is clean, safe, inviting, nonthreatening and welcoming to the tattoo veteran or newbie. We provide a fun and lively atmosphere to make sure your experience is the best it can be.
We provide an amazing experience of tattooing at a very honest price. We do not upsell, we do not charge for design or layout, and we provide a free touch up on any of your work. Our shop puts out high end work that has gotten us international recognition and has already won a couple awards. Come check us out! You won’t be disappointed, see what all the fuss is about!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Growing up my parents were in business for themselves owning a printing company, they worked a lot of hours. What was a 5 day a week business often turned into a 7 day a week business to stay current and keep the customers happy. With that I learned a lot about self-discipline and work ethic. You work hard and you play hard. Some of my best times were going to the print shop with my dad and watching him work. everyday was a lesson in life and how to treat people. I learned that if you put your heart into what you love to do, you will always be successful as long as your honest with yourself. Work until you’re done, not until your tired. Now he’s 70 years old, retired and he meets me at my tattoo shop every morning for coffee, I wouldn’t trade these times for anything.
Pricing:
- 120 per hour on average.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3012 30th Avenue
Kenosha WI 53144 - Website: kenoshatattoocompany.com
- Phone: 2627647067
- Email: ink@kenoshatattoocompany.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/kenoshatattoocompany
- Facebook: facebook.com/kenoshatattoocompany
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
