Meet Jordanne Le Fae

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordanne Le Fae a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordanne, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

The interesting thing about overcoming impostor syndrome is that I don’t think anyone who experiences it ever fully overcomes it. For me, it’s about pushing past it using my three P’s – Passion, Pettiness, and Progress.
I am passionate about tattooing. In my near 40 years of life, there has yet to be another art form that has captured my attention so entirely. Not only do I get to do the thing that I love, but it also allows me to do the other thing I am passionate about, which is taking care of my people and my circle.
I am petty, but not in the way you might think! I work in a field that is still a majority men, and more of them than should be are mediocre. I have decided that if these mediocre men can take up space in this industry… then why can’t I? Even on my worst day, I know I am trying harder than a lot of tattooers to continue growing as an artist and as a business owner. I use that “pettiness” to push past my imposter syndrome, because I won’t let the patriarchy stop me from having a seat at the table.
And that leads into Progress. I am constantly learning! Constantly watching what my friends in the industry are doing and learning from them, constantly applying new best cleanliness practices, constantly looking to my team to find out how I can be a better boss and leader from them. It’s when I stay stagnant that the impostor syndrome sets in, because I KNOW I can continue to learn and progress and by not pushing myself, I am not being true to my potential. Also, that progress lets me know two very crucial things: that I am better than I used to be, and that there is always more to achieve.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Most artists will tell you that they have “always been into art” in some way, but eventually found their true love in the main form of art that they create. I am no exception to this, and tattooing is my true love (don’t tell my husband! LOL). I got into tattooing because it was one of the most lucrative ways to make an actual living being an artist. It is the people and the connections I make with my clients that was the unexpected joy I found in this career. I get to help people decorate their avatar in a way that brings them closer to their final form… how cool is that?!
An unexpected new path in my tattoo career is the fact that I am becoming known for certain tattoos, like “Lisa Frank” styled pet portraits. If you told 10 year old me that I was paying my bills, feeding my cats, and buying my books from money I earned tattooing pictures of peoples pets in the brightest, happiest colors I can imagine… well, she wouldn’t have believed you. I am so fortunate that the hard work I have done over the last decade of this career is paying off in ways that are beyond magical.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I am one of the small pool of tattoo artists who also has an art degree. And yet to this day, I will tell you that 90% of my schooling was unnecessary for my current career. I tell anyone who is aspiring to be a tattoo artist to skip traditional college, but DO take as many community courses you can on beginning art techniques and theory. Once I learned to embrace things like color theory, contrast studies, and life drawing, my work continued to get better and better!
After I graduated college, life got de-railed a bit before I was able to purse tattooing fully. And in that time, I found myself in corporate management for a chain of massage and facial spas. It was soul sucking, and thankfully the company is shut down due to poor business practices… but having that job taught me so much about how to run an appointment based business! It taught me the value of my time and how to hustle to get “butts in seats.” It taught me how NOT to treat my staff and that you have to consider the well being of your staff as high priority in order to have a successful and ethical business. All that to say that I consider every job I have had as training for working for myself. So no matter what job I have had, I am always “all in” until my last day… because you never know what working for someone else will teach you about how to work for yourself.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I LOVE this question, and I am fortunate to have a good relationship with my parents that lead me to my current path. My Dad, Jim, is a Master Builder, and has been building everything in my life for my entire life. He is my proof that an artist and a blue collar worker can work for themselves and make a beautiful life out of their art. My Mom, Cindy, is one of the hardest working women I have ever met, and she raised me as if the glass ceiling simply didn’t exist. She is my proof that hard work and resilience will help you achieve your goals.
They have always encouraged my art, and the things they let me do were always a little “out there” and too extreme for most parents… where they just let me embrace my weirdness! When my dad built the home I spent my teen years in, before they put down carpet, I was allowed to color on the sub flooring of my room. So to the next owner who pulls up that carpet… you’re welcome! They later let me paint on the walls of my entire room! I had one full wall where my friends could put their signature, one wall I painted a ton of band logos, a tree that took up a corner of the room… it was chaos and I loved it. Their acceptance of letting me express myself lead to a lifelong love of art that has lead me to the beautiful life I have now. So my advice to those with young children, remember, material goods are not as precious as nurturing your child’s passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Faetattoos.com
• Instagram: @faetattoos
• Facebook: @faetattoos
• Youtube: @faetattoos
• Other: TikTok, Bluesky and all other socials are all @faetattoos