Meet Lily Robinson: Psych Honours Student Chasing a Tattoo Apprenticeship

Lily Robinson has never picked up a tattoo gun, but there are more than 10 people around the globe with her artwork inked on them already.

When a job ad for a tattoo studio receptionist popped up on her Instagram, Lily saw it as a great opportunity to immerse herself in the field people have been begging her to enter.

She didn’t get it, because they told her they loved her work and wanted her to apply for a tattooing apprenticeship with them instead.

Now when Lily completes her psychology degree with honours at the end of 2022, she won’t finish the year off like most of her peers—looking at masters, what to specialise in, internships... She’ll be chasing a new dream.

We chatted to Lily all about following her passions and changing her pathway this year, as part of our January series.

What are you doing this year?

My dissertation, which is the final part of my undergrad psychology degree, and I've started just smashing out a lot of artwork for my portfolio because I’ve also been asked to apply for a tattoo apprenticeship.

The goal for the year is to just be creating as much art as possible and hopefully graduate. Plus, either have a portfolio in place or be in the middle of a tattoo apprenticeship.

How did the tattoo apprenticeship offer come about?

Last year, I applied for an admin job at a tattoo studio. I didn’t get it, but they said, 'the only reason we don't wanna hire you right now is that we'd prefer you to apply for the apprenticeship coming up at the start of next year.'

I still value my grades and I still value how well I do at uni regardless of what I end up doing, which I'm pretty sure is going to be tattooing because it's what I really wanna do.

But I'll still be happy to have a good degree under my belt if I need it.

 

What was the final straw that made you decide 2022 was the year to focus on this passion?

It was kind of a buildup.

There were lots of times when I was sitting in uni comparing myself to others, thinking ‘I'm not like any of these other people, I don't feel like I fit in’.

And as much as I love psychology, I don’t have the same passion as them and I'm putting more of my energy into my art.

There were times I'd be sharing my art online and I'd have random people from the other side of the world saying, ‘if you become a tattoo artist, I want to get tattooed by you’. At the time, it wasn't even like a possibility but then so many people kept saying that, and I was like, ‘no, I need to do this’.

What attracted you to psychology studies in the first place?

Midway through year 12, I found out what art therapy was, and I was like, ‘I can combine [my] two favorite things in the world together. This would be my dream job’. I wanted to use art as therapy for people, but then I found out it’s a very new field to psychology.

Then, when I thought about doing the tattooing apprenticeship, I realised I'd still be doing art therapy, just in a different form. And I was like, well, this is exactly what I want to end up doing.

Tell us more about your business?

I started my small business earlier last year... I posted a silly art video on TikTok that went semi viral. It got a lot of attention and people saying, ‘do one for me!’ and ‘you have to make this into a tattoo token so I can buy it and get it tattooed!’

I was posting video after video, and they were asking for tattoo tokens, t-shirts, bags… so together my sister and I make the art and then her boyfriend does the managing, finance and tech stuff.

I get [so much] joy out of seeing people buy my stuff. I see people I don't even know personally with my tote bags and I'm like, ‘oh my God, that's so cool’. I've even got people over in other countries who send me photos on the daily of them going ‘look, I've got your art tattooed’.

 

What excites you most about the pathway you're going down this year?

I'm hoping to meet more like-minded people and be in an environment where I feel supported and encouraged. Art is completely subjective. Everyone can be a great artist and have different styles. It's about me being the best I can be for me, and it's not about anybody else anymore.

If you could go back to the start of last year, what would you tell yourself? And what advice would you give to someone in a similar situation?

I'm not sure I would change anything.

I’d tell myself not to be afraid to invest in my passions.

You really have to keep working hard, but don't put your passion second. I mean, you still have to work to make it a reality, but don't feel like it's something you can't do.

Have a plan in place and work hard for it. Don't be afraid to take the risk.

Lily and her business, Apriciti Design, are on Instagram and TikTok.

Header Image: Deni Robinson