DAVE LAO

Raised in Winnipeg, Canada, Dave Lao became an electrician after high school, taking what he considered the tranquil route with a job that made $10K a month.

The trade came with consequences, however: Lao worked three weeks each month in Saskatchewan, on 14-hour shifts in icy temperatures at a construction site, and he barely saw his girlfriend and their pets. After 10 years as an electrician, Lao wanted to do something more fulfilling for his personal growth and love for the arts. A life-changing moment arrived when a friend of his showed off work by Lil B Hernandez. Lao got tattooed by Hernandez, and the two became acquaintances. Hernandez later mentored Lao on how to use a single needle, but the rest of Dave Lao’s journey to becoming a renowned tattoo artist was his to navigate alone.

You married your long-time girlfriend Meghan in Sedona, Arizona, a place both of you had already visited and where you got the inspiration to become a tattoo artist. Why Sedona?

We just found a connection to that place. I don’t want to say “spiritual,” but you feel at peace there—no one is judging you. Then, I was reading a book by Eckhart Tolle, “The Power of Now,” and everything just clicked. I went back to work [as an electrician] and I just told my buddies [about changing jobs], and they were giggling at me, saying, “You can’t be a tattoo artist; you’re good, but...”