Meet Cei Lambert | Artist , Educator, and Entrepreneur

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

Hi Cei, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I started tattooing in a shop owned by someone else, I knew immediately that my end goal was to have my own space. I was thinking, oh, three to five years down the road. Then a short while later it was 2020 and the pandemic and the shop I had been working at let me go. I had also been working remotely in public health but had given my notice in January 2020. As of June 2020 I was unemployed, so I decided to take the leap. I took what little I already knew and worked with my wife to craft a plan for me to open my own business. We created everything so that I could run the entire business by myself. I had my first client on August 1st, 2020 and it’s been going great ever since.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For me the easiest part of my job is the business part. It can be tedious to do finances and social media management and so on, but each of those tasks is quantifiable. By it’s very nature art is impossible to quantify and tattoo is no different. The hardest part of my job is taking a vision shared by the client and creating something that is suited to the medium of tattoo and also honors my own style and way of seeing the world. Every tattoo I do is a custom piece that has been drawn specifically for that client, and so there is more variation in my work and more blending of styles. It’s sometimes a challenge to work this way in a part of the art world that is governed by strict seniority and patriarchy, and I’ve had my share of disapproving communiques from other tattoo artists and shops that I’m somehow betraying tattooing. There is a very strong “I suffered through this so you must suffer through this” attitude in the tattoo community that I think is unproductive to cultivating creativity and an abundant mindset. I hope that my work stands for itself as a testament that you do not need to suffer in order to create or be successful.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m not a city person in any way, so we’re going backpacking for sure. I have a route I love that goes through Lory State Park then out southwest behind Horsetooth Mountain and back. The trialhead is 20 minutes from where I live and as soon as you are out of Lory there’s hardly anyone else on the trail. If my BFF was super excited about hiking and camping I might suggest we do three days west of Boulder up Left Hand Canyon/ When we got back I’d suggest Choice City or The Regional as spots to refuel.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife, Jordan Lambert. We are a team in all things, and so all my insights and successes are just as much hers as they are mine.

Website: https://www.meadowlarktattoo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meadowlark.tattoo/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceialambert/

Image Credits
All photos taken by Cei Lambert.