Meet Alexis Petersen | Tattooed Dog Mom & Co-Owner of Ink Oil LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexis Petersen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexis, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve wanted to get a tattoo since I was in elementary school. The day I turned eighteen, I headed to a tattoo shop and got my first tattoo, a beautiful sparrow with lots of color. Unfortunately, my body was not a fan. I had an allergic reaction to the ink. I was miserable and my beautiful, new tattoo looked like it might not recover! My family had always used essential oils for healing, so I made a concoction of any oil I could think of that might help healing and kept applying it to my tattoo. It worked!  My skin was soothed and the tattoo healed beautifully. I pitched the idea of selling my essential oil blend to my mom, but she laughed saying there wasn’t a market for a tattoo oil. I told her to go to any public place for one hour and count how many people passed her with a tattoo. It was 1/5,  in Utah a very conservative state! She was shocked, but it was enough to get her on board with my idea. My brother, who is a pharmacist, also joined the team and perfected the blend. Many, many tattoos later, even a few for mom, and IINK OIL has expanded from tattoo aftercare to soaps, permanent make-up blends, beard oils, and, my favorite, a line for pups called PUP OILS.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We started small and remain a family run business.  We blend, label, and ship all our own products. It’s a hard industry to break into and it’s been really intimidating at times. It’s been great to have a good team that supports each other and jumps in where ever needed. We hope to grow and want to be big timers someday; however ,we are trusting the process. Starting and maintaining a small business is a lot of work and is not easy. You have to really love what you do and believe in your products. Luckily, we love both.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh I love this question; we love when friends come to town! We live right next to Sloan Park, so hopefully they are visiting in the spring, and we can catch a game on the lawn with a hot dog and a beer. When we first moved to AZ, we started a tradition, “Where to Wednesday.”  We try a new spot each week. Some of our favorites have been, Bar Louie, Social Hall, 12 West, Crescent Ballroom (bonus if there is live music).  On Saturday mornings in downtown Mesa there is a really cool market, as well as a ton of rad vintage shops that we like to browse with a coffee from the Nile Coffee Shop. The bars, cafes, shopping, and entertainment here in AZ are pretty endless, but soaking up the sun in my own backyard is also a really good time. Nothing beats AZ weather!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In honor of Women’s History month, I was to dedicate this shout out to a stacked women’s team here at Ink Oil. KP (mom/co -owner) does all our fulfillment and was our financial backer, even when she was hesitant about the idea, she jumped right in and let my dream become a reality. Megan McMurtrey with Megan Nicole Brows is our cosmetic line manager and KILLS it. She is a social media genius, brow babe, and has the personality that really launched us into the cosmetic demographic. Lastly all the brow babes, tattooed dog moms, and women in general that have supported INK OIL and grown it into a legit business.

Website: www.shopinkoil.com

Instagram: @ink_oil

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pupoils/

Image Credits
The Photo Box Photography – Scott Gianchett Erin Rochetto