We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sedelah “sid” Haller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sedelah “sid”, 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.
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know that I will ever fully overcome feeling like a little bit of an imposter. I will say, that in this past 15yrs of tattooing (this includes my apprenticeship), I do feel that I’ve got a great set of clientele that keep me optimistic and wanting to get better and better! I think, as long as you persist, strive to grow, stay the course, you’ll never actually be an imposter but maybe it’s even a little bit of a good thing, to feel that way. There’s no telling haha.
I love being able to help people feel more comfortable in their own bodies, and that makes me feel that I’m doing something right! Here’s to the future years!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Hello! My name is Sedelah (pronounced suh-della) and also go by “Sid.” I am a Tattoo Artist and I fully love what I do. Creating things are the ultimate jam haha, whether it’s tattooing, making wood cutouts, painting on canvases or anything else, I love it!
Getting into tattooing a little, I’ve been tattooing for the past 15yrs (including my apprenticeship) and I would say that my style is that I try to be as versatile as possible. The way that I draw, tends to be in the Neo-traditional style and the favorites (if I absolutely had to choose) would be blackwork and neo-traditional color OR black & grey. Clearly, it’s hard for me to choose haha. I love to do whatever style I CAN do but I definitely won’t say ‘yes’ to everything. If I know that I can do it, I will. If I think I can’t, I won’t. I will always be honest and upfront with my clients and be as reasonable as possible. Respect goes both ways!
I love to do color, whether it’s color-blocking or color gradients, but I also love to do Blacwork, of all kinds really. I just love the idea of doing as many styles as I can, and I enjoy them all, for different reasons. The most exciting thing about thing about my client base and coming into the shop, is that I get to have someone with a unique/custom request that I’m able to see through, for them. That’s the most satisfying thing, for me. It’s great to do a tattoo that you love, but it’s so much better when you get to connect the dots for someone and THEY are the one to fall in love with their new body decoration. I know what it’s like, to be on the other end and it’s just really pure, to watch it, as well. Like most artists, I could ramble on, about why I love it, what it’s like etc etc but I will spare you from the excess.
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 think that some of the major things that have helped me in the past is definitely perserverance, discipline and will power. Like most career paths, that are more on the side of a gamble, you really have to hold onto the idea or belief that you WILL make it and things WILL work out. If you really want it, you will have it. Within reason, of course! But, if you believe that you’ll get to the point that you want to get to, and you actually work for it (stay disciplined but honestly I had a lot of moments where my discipline faltered), you will see the benefits of that dedication!
For anyone getting into a career that is, or similar to Tattooing, I’d say that the sooner you start practicing these three things, along with some other fundamental things (maybe learning how to promote yourself/getting good at responding to people promptly/playing the ‘game’ etc), your career will thank you for this!! Getting used to these things, earlier on, will greatly help you, in the long term.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
The main thing that I think that I struggle with, the most, is the self-promoting aspect. It’s always something that seems so easy but even at the young-ish age of 34, I am losing track of the many ways that a person can promote oneself. I do have great clientele and always open to new clients but I do suck at this, at times. In due time!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @sedelah
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sedelahtattoos
