In this episode of the Small Business Origins podcast, host John Kelley interviews Dan Henk, owner of The Abyss Fine Art and Tattoo Studio and Dead Guy LLC. Dan shares his inspiring story of overcoming homelessness, health issues, personal loss, and other hardships on his journey to becoming a successful tattoo artist, author, and entrepreneur.
Main Discussion Points:
- Dan's challenging upbringing as an "Army brat" and finding solace in punk rock, art, and imagination
- Becoming homeless at 18 after his conservative parents kicked him out
- Pulling himself out of homelessness by getting a dishwashing job and working his way up
- Pursuing art by attending community college and moving to NYC
- Facing major health issues like brain cancer soon after starting a tattoo apprenticeship
- Bouncing back while still undergoing chemo treatment through sheer determination
- Going through a painful divorce right when his tattooing career was taking off
- Finally finding stability by opening up his own tattoo shop on Long Island
Guest Bio: Dan Henk is a tattooist, author, and illustrator based in Long Beach, NY. He owns The Abyss Fine Art and Tattoo Studio as well as Dead Guy LLC. He has authored three fiction books and continues to create dark, detailed artwork for various bands, magazines, and book covers.
Tweetables:
"If you look at everybody, that's like a big actor. Brad Pitt slept in his car. He was homeless. You look at all these people they went through trying times to get there. It's not like it was a smooth ride." (00:35:31) - Dan Henk
"So that's what you need to do. You need to find something to keep working at, and you need to not give up." (00:35:15) - Dan Henk
"Nobody cares. They might say, hey, well, it kind of sucks, but if you want something to happen, you got to do it yourself." (00:07:50) - Dan Henk
Links Mentioned:
Dan Henk Online
https://danhenk.com/
Dan Henk Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Henk
Dan Henk on X
https://twitter.com/danhenk
Dan Henk on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/danhenk
Dan Henk on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@danhenk
Dan Henk on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-henk-27775214/
Dan Henk on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Henk/e/B005Q4RQ8Y/ref=aufs_dp_mata_dsk
Dead Guy, LLC on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/deadguyllc
Dead Guy, LLC on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/deadguyllc/
Dead Guy, LLC on Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/deadguyllc/
Beefy Marketing
https://beefymarketing.com/
Small Business Origins Online
https://smallbusinessorigin.com/
John Kelley's Links
https://johnwkelley.com/
