Mark and Ashley like tattoos.
Errrr…let me re-phrase, Mark and Ashley like OUR tattoos.
As soon as we found out that each of us had tattoos, an instant office bond developed. It didn’t matter that Ashley is nearly a generation older than Mark, or that we come from different cultural backgrounds—but after 10 minutes of comparing tattoos and tattoo stories, we had each other’s backs. We were no longer just co-workers, but rather friends with a common interest. (Plus, it didn’t hurt that we also both hate the Los Angeles Lakers, but that is a whole other blog…)
Tattoos allow a visible open-door for employees to interact and share their stories with one another. This creates team building and connections within the company. EMG is a place where we can truly express who we are. It doesn’t mean we can’t be professionals when it comes to pitches, client meetings and conferences. Of course we need to dress appropriately for these types of events, but during the normal workweek, allowing employees to be themselves helps ease the pressure of meeting tight deadlines and stressful days.
With that said, some employers have policies that do not allow visible tattoos. Depending on the industry and type of job, we suppose this makes sense. But we’d like to submit contrary evidence that people with tattoos work in a variety of industries, holding positions that range from entry-level to top executives. The way we see it, body art is a display of self-expression: having tattoos has nothing to do with an employee’s ability to perform their job.
To further relate tattoos to our everyday grind, it’s interesting to consider what significance our tattoos hold for us as individuals, and in context of this blog, what they say about us as team members of an ever-flexible, evolving and often fast-paced Digital Marketing Agency.
You can find out a lot about a person’s experience, beliefs or simply their personalities through their tattoos. Some get tattoos to remember a loved one who has passed and others simply get inked to tell a story of their background and culture. For whatever reason, tattoos are a part of our lives, whether it’s religion or just to have fun. Either way, we are who we are because of the choices we’ve made.
A Softpedia article reporting on research done by the University of Arkansas on the significance of tattoos said:
A tattoo is a snapshot of a part or scene of the owner’s life, turned into a personal myth. “We continue to be struck by rapid and unpredictable change. Consumers adapt to these changes by varying their lifestyle. They downshift, upgrade, change their hair, body, clothes, car, house, career, geographic location and even family. The result is a loss of personal anchors needed for identity. We found that tattoos provide this anchor. Their popularity reflects a need for stability, predictability, permanence and identity,” said co-author Jeff Murray, marketing professor at Sam M. Walton College of Business.
There is something very true and relatable in that statement, because while we both work in a cutting-edge industry, we find comfort in being grounded and take solace in consistency. There is also a very real connection that we both have to where we came from and how we got here—a respect, of sorts, to our family legacies and our own personal history.
In an ever-changing day-to-day work environment, a strong foundation and something consistent to fall back on, or turn to, is critical. Our tattoos are daily reminders that not everything changes, despite what this industry might try to convince you.
Of course, this is all written in hindsight—we don’t think either of us could have seen some of the parallels in our careers to the tattoos we’ve selected for ourselves for more than a decade, when we actually chose the tattoos. But now, we feel like the parallels are easier to spot.
Who knew the tattoos we chose would end up holding new meaning for who we are, were and may evolve to in the future? Well…maybe now people will add an extra level of consideration to what their tattoos say about them.