March 20, 2017

Meet Theo Walker of Golden Anchor Tattoo in Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Theo Walker.

Theo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It started off as a pipe dream in college. I was at Georgia state University and didn’t enjoy what I was going to school for. I wanted to have a career that I was passionate about, and at the time the only thing I truly had passion for was tattoos. I was enamored with the culture and art of the industry, and I was covered in tattoos already. So I decided to take the plunge, I immersed myself in art classes while I was finishing school at GSU, and once I graduated I ditched my degree and got an apprenticeship at a shop, and never looked back.

Once I began tattooing full time I always knew I wanted to own my own shop, so I began saving money, building clientele, and bettering my skills. About 4 years in I finally reached the point to where I could open up Golden Anchor Tattoo, and the rest is history.

Has it been a smooth road?
There were many bumps in the road to success, I felt like I wanted to quit many times. There were times where I felt like I wasn’t progressing enough, where work was slow and I was barely making ends meet, and the biggest obstacle was opening my own shop. Many places and counties still carry tattooing with a negative stigma so I faced a lot of adversity in trying to open Golden Anchor Tattoo. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and through all the adversity I became a better person, and it’s led me to where I’m at today.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We take pride in serving the metro Atlanta area with elite body art along with great customer service. We have multiple artists who range in many styles, We aim to give every client that walks through that door great and friendly service, so we help get rid of that negative stigma that tattoo shops are intimidating and scary. We offer a clean and comfortable facility that feels welcoming the moment you step in. With all of these factors combined, we feel like you can’t find many shops in Atlanta who can offer an experience quite like ours!

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is a great place for all businesses, especially mines. The tattoo industry is blowing up, and Atlanta has such a great and underrated art scene. A lot of the new and younger generation love tattoos, so it’s only going to get more popular from here! If someone was starting out here, I’d say make sure you focus on bettering your skills first and foremost, since Atlanta is a heavily populated city, there are so many great artists here you have to really set yourself apart from the rest or you’ll be drowned by the competition!

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