TL;DR on TikTok.

“Why is Inkvictus so political? Can’t you just do tattoos?”

We hear some version of this all the time, usually from someone who believes a business should stay politically neutral. Here’s the honest answer: everything is political. Literally everything, especially right now. The real question isn’t whether a business is political. It’s whether that business is honest with you about it.

This is the first post in a new series. It’s about what it actually looks like to run a business that doesn’t play by the usual rules. Most importantly, it’s about what that means for you as a client. The usual rule here is simple: keep politics out of business. We don’t.

Politically Neutral Is Still a Choice

So, can a business really be politically neutral? We don’t think so.

A lot of us here in the South grew up on “don’t talk about politics or religion at the dinner table.” Plenty of businesses run on that same rule. But staying quiet isn’t the same as staying out of it. A business that says nothing hasn’t stepped outside of politics. Instead, it’s going along with however things already are. That usually works out fine for the people who were already comfortable.

Some businesses stay quiet for real reasons, like serving a mixed community or having a team that doesn’t always agree. We get that. But even then, saying nothing is still a choice.

The people it doesn’t work for are the ones left guessing. Is this place safe for me? Will they treat me differently if they find out who I love? A sign on a wall answers that before anyone has to ask.

That’s why being open gets two completely different reactions. Some people feel relief the second they walk in. Others head straight to our comment section. What they’re really reacting to is a business saying out loud what so many of us learned to keep quiet about.

Being Politically Neutral Isn’t a Luxury We Have

The majority of our team is female, queer, and/ or people of color. When the laws being argued over are about our bodies, our families, and our safety, we don’t get to sit this one out.

My vote matters because not everyone has one. We have a voice and a platform, and we choose to make it very clear where we stand.

And let’s be honest for a second, big businesses have never been politically neutral either. Companies like Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby, and Tesla have put money and weight behind what they believe for years. We respect that. They stand on their business. We just choose to do the same thing with ours, out loud.

At the end of the day, we’re not the kind of people who stand by and watch everyone around us struggle. We could charge more. We could make things easier on ourselves. Instead, we built Pay What You Can tattoos and other ways to show up for our community. After all, caring for the people around us is the bare minimum. If our clients are struggling, we’re probably struggling too, and that’s worth talking about.

When Politically Neutral Stopped Being an Option

We’ve always run this way, but after the 2024 election it hit us the hardest. We felt a deep sadness, and so did so many people around us. That’s when we put out our first Pay What You Can flash sheet. We expected 10 people. 400 showed up, and 100% of the proceeds went to the ACLU of North Carolina.

That’s also when we built our Protest Wall. Which is exactly what it sounds like: dozens of protest signs covering the wall. They say things like “We all bleed the same blood,” “Children should be seen and heard,” “Justice for ALL,” and “Fuck ICE.” We’ve had people walk in, see it, and cry. For a lot of folks, it’s rare to step into a business and know immediately that they’re safe there.

Getting louder had a cost. We lost team members who didn’t want the public connecting them to it. But being open about what we believe has brought in team members, clients, and community who truly align with us. That trade has been worth it every time.

What It Looks Like From the Inside

Every hiring conversation and every studio walkthrough stops at the Protest Wall. We tell people up front: working here is political. Nobody here judges you for it, but being in alignment is part of the job. If anything, that’s guided even more of the right people to us.

Here’s what our team had to say about it, in their own words.

“I came from an industry where you had to leave your political opinions and your personal life out when you worked with families and children. You often felt unsafe, and people put you in really uncomfortable positions. Here, it’s just comfortable. We don’t have to be afraid to talk about our partner if we’re gay, or second guess anything. You don’t have to overthink everything, and you don’t feel like you have to constantly come out.”

“Because politics are so front and center, you know you can talk about it, and you don’t have to censor the parts of your life that matter to you on behalf of anyone else.”

“It was just clear that people here would care for me, and not judge me for the color of my skin.”

“Human decency. If I want to be respected, I have to respect you. If I want to be loved, I have to love you.”

Our clients say it too. More times than we can count, it’s some version of the same thing: “I don’t feel very safe or welcome in other spaces, but I do here. It’s so different.” We hear it constantly.

What It’s Cost, and What It’s Brought

We weren’t always this loud. Growing up, and even when I first opened the studio, politics seemed to land in tension and fear, like something you weren’t supposed to talk about. There were always little nods to what we believed, but we kept it quieter. Now I know better.

Being loud hasn’t cost us nearly as much as it’s brought. Mostly, it’s meant more negative comments on our pages, and that’s okay. Every comment is proof the message is reaching people. Meanwhile, every person who finds us because of where we stand is the reason we keep going.

As a white, women and queer owned business, I understand the importance of using my voice and my platform. That matters most for the people who don’t feel safe using theirs. There’s a statement I live by: I could stop doing this at any time. That said, I never will, no matter how much work it takes.

All Are Welcome, But You Gotta Act Right

We mean it when we say all are welcome. If you can respect differing opinions, we’ll respect you in the exact same way.

We also know there are shops out there that don’t think the way we do. Some clients will simply align better with them. That’s not us dismissing anyone, it’s us being honest that not everyone will fit with us, and that’s okay too. You get to choose where your money goes.

Every Business Is a Micro Community

When it comes to small businesses, people want to find the places that vibe with them. If you know a business believes what you believe, you’re going to want to support it. But how would you ever know if they stay politically neutral and never say anything? That’s exactly why we’re loud about it.

Most people don’t get loud until something pisses them off. We’re always pissed off.

So the next time you’re deciding where to spend your money, pay attention to more than the product:

• Are they saying anything at all? Silence tells you something too.
• Is the team having fun? When people get along and actually enjoy being there, that’s the community you’re buying into.
• How transparent are they about how they run? Do you know where your money goes once it leaves your hands?
• What’s happening behind the counter? Workers complaining in front of clients says a lot about who’s running things behind the scenes.
• How do they market? Are they selling at you, or letting you see what happens behind the scenes? “Come here because we’re the best” is a very different message than “come here because this is how we run.”

We Hold Ourselves to the Same Standard

Inkvictus is very picky about who we buy from, and about who we follow and engage with, myself included. It’s taken a long time to get to a point where I’m truly proud of how we run things. That includes our business model, how we bring on team members, and what we choose to promote. So we’re intentional about every bit of it.

Want more ways to vet a studio? Start with How Do You Know If a Tattoo Shop Is Good?, then bring along our list of questions to ask a tattoo artist before you book.

If You’re Staying Politically Neutral Because You’re Scared

This part is for the small business owner who agrees with all of this but stays politically neutral in public. What do you have to lose? You’re already here. You’re already doing the work. The only difference is wearing it on your sleeve.

But safety comes first, always. We’re fortunate to be in an area that isn’t fully against what we believe. Even so, those people still show up sometimes. Not everyone has that. Look out for yourself, your team, and your space. Sometimes the safer option is saying nothing, and there’s no shame in that.

When You Spend Money Here, This Is What You’re Supporting

We talk a lot about voting with your dollar, so here’s exactly where yours goes when you book with us.

• A team we take care of. Every full-timer here gets a guaranteed base pay, and the profit is split equally between all of us. Nobody is relying on your generosity to cover their rent. Plus, every tip goes 100% to the person who earned it.
• People who can’t always pay full price. Our Pay What You Can tattoos exist because of the clients who can.
• Community care. The work that happens in our chairs funds our community care table and free STD testing events.
• Areola restoration at no cost. We offer our areola restoration pro bono to the people who need it.
• Safer standards for everyone. Nobody has updated North Carolina’s tattoo laws since 2002. The time and energy we put into changing that protects clients at every studio, not just ours.
• A space where nobody has to hide. A team and a community where you don’t have to censor who you are or who you love.

That’s what your money builds here. It’s not just a tattoo, a piercing, a set of nails, or a facial. It’s all of this.

It’s Voting Season

You already vote with your dollar every day. This season, you also get to vote with your vote.

Need to find your early voting site or polling place? Check the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

So, can a business really be politically neutral? Every business is already making political choices in how it prices, who it pays, who it serves, and what it stays quiet about. The only difference is whether it tells you. We’d rather you know exactly where we stand.

We’d love to see you at Inkvictus, and our consultations are always complimentary. If you’re not in the Raleigh area, look for a business near you that doesn’t pretend to be politically neutral. They’re out there, and you deserve one. ◡̈

Chat soon,

Natascha Fuchs