We were lucky to catch up with Teal Korby recently and have shared our conversation below.
Teal, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I have lucked out in this lifetime to have found my partner, Jazz, very early on (in 9th grade, to be specific) and I’ve been with them since; I have double-lucked out in that Jazz is an incredible human being. They’re the kind of person to withstand any adversity, spill out their last pennies, and offer a shoulder when they’re all out of joints and limbs when someone needs it. From them, I’ve been able to learn how to push past hard circumstances and stand strong through them. We’ve dealt with homelessness, financial instability, emotional growth, and plenty more throughout our time together and their resilience along with the resilience within our relationship has seeped through my everyday tasks and interactions. Another key to the resilience that I’ve learned is patience, which is a skill that takes a lot of practice especially when the patience needs to be for other people or entities because we have to remember that the next person is juggling as much as we are, just in a different way with different things.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a freelance artist and a tattoo artist located here in Atlanta. Growing up, my art has always had a little bit of a twist or an emotional element to it that strikes people differently depending on their personal experiences. As far as tattooing, which is a newer venture, I’ve always been asked if I wanted to be a tattoo artist but I was always nervous about the risk factors of dealing with someone’s blood and inflicting pain, so I would make designs for people to get tattooed. A couple years ago my partner’s mom asked me if I wanted to tattoo, and I said well, you know what, let’s do it. And it’s been great from there. My favorite things to tattoo are custom designs and designs that come from my artwork. I’m currently working at a shop on Edgewood Ave and am booking now if you’re interested!
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’ll offer one of each: the quality of patience (and to know when to use it and when to go all in; the skill of learning (and knowing that you will ALWAYS be learning something); and the knowledge of research have been most impactful in my journey and I think are valuable to have in any journey. The best way to develop patience, learning, and research is to practice it. The more the three are practiced, the more they become second nature, then they become a part of you.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is someone who appreciates art and has an idea they want to come to life. Since I was young, I loved putting people’s ideas into visuals whether it be on paper, digitally, and lately tattooed on skin. It’s beautiful to take on the challenge of stepping into someone else’s head and bringing that to life visually. It’s like magic.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/tealkorby
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tealkorby
Image Credits
X Photography & Teal Korby
