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From the first conversation that I had with Brandie West, I knew that I wanted to cover her new family business and their family’s story in general. Inspiring, thought-provoking, and informative; These are all words that sum up the West family and what they’ve recently brought to Madison.
West is the co-owner of Golden Phoenix Tattoo, Madison’s newest tattoo and piercing shop. West and her husband Jason first opened their doors to the community in early 2022 and have been rockin’ and rollin’ with customers every since.
The Back Story of Golden Phoenix Tattoo
The West family are newcomers to the area. They originally landed in Alabama to open a mobile tattoo service, a concept that is popular in many other states. Brandie and Jason have eight children, ages 23 down to 5, and this business concept would not only allow their family to spend time and explore together, but it would also allow them to pursue working in an industry that they both love.
After running into state regulatory issues, they switched gears and decided to quickly open a brick and mortar tattoo shop in Hartselle called Kingdom Minds in the summer of 2020.
Jason and Brandie are grateful that their Hartselle store is doing well and realized last year that they were ready and excited to open a second store, and they knew that Madison would be the perfect location.
“We wanted to open our second shop in a location that felt like a happy medium between and big and small city. Madison was perfect because it feels big and popular, but it’s still kind of growing too, and we wanted somewhere like that,” shared Brandie.
“Big city perks,” she continued to share, “but with a community-like feel.”
And with that, Golden Phoenix Tattoo in Madison was born.
When asked how Jason and Brandie began working in the tattoo industry originally, they both smiled and sighed, which let me know that I was in for a great story.
Jason was a truck driver years ago, and though he enjoyed many aspects of his career, he desired to begin building a different life where he could spend more time with his family.
“I was home and messing around with powder coating (a durable finish applied to all kinds of surfaces), and Brandie gave me a compliment that I’d done a really good job.”
That one compliment gave him an idea: What if he left behind his trucking career and “started a business about this powder coating thing?”
One thing led to another, and his powder coating business was born. The only problem: people kept mistaking it for a tattoo shop.
Jason says that when he launched his business, he’d never touched a tattoo machine (though he had a handful of tattoos himself).
“People kept asking me about tattoo machines, and something one day made me want to play around with a machine and see what I could do.”
He began tattooing fruits such as bananas and apples and says that he quickly fell in love with this art form.
From there, the rest is history. He shares that he was able to get in touch with a gentleman who gave him an apprenticeship so that he could learn as much as he could about the art of tattoos.
“I felt like the muse,” joked Brandie who says that she believed in Jason way before he believed in himself.
Their ultimate goal was to be on the road, and they knew the concept of mobile tattoo shops was popular.
“This idea just fit in with our desire to travel, so once Jason was established enough, we sold everything we owned and bought an RV.”
While they worked on securing their mobile trailer and getting everything up and running with this huge life transition, Jason did freelance work at various brick and mortar shops and continued falling deeper in love with his new career path.
The West family set their sights on Alabama as home base but were crushed when they ran into some state regulatory issues. They quickly reset, however, and opened their aforementioned Hartselle shop.
Now that their Madison shop is open too, they’re more excited than ever to show the community how they’re hoping to break the mold in the tattoo industry.
“Everybody’s getting tattoos these days,” jokes Jason. “From doctors to teachers to everybody in between, it’s pretty commonplace to see people of all kinds getting tattoos.”
He says that for this reason, some of the old-school tattoo industry standards need to be taken up a notch.
“Our original business model has always been for this to be a family-friendly environment,” shared Jason.
As a father of eight, one of Jason’s top priorities for Golden Phoenix is to ensure that it’s inviting for everyone.
“The environment we’ve built here isn’t just about how we interact with our tattoo artists, but it’s about our clientele too. We want people to have a sense that we are down to Earth and polite. We strive to be personable and show you how much we care that you are here.”
He continued to share that he and Brandie as well as their artists care just as much about a client’s experience in their shop as they do the final product.
“Integrity is important. It all goes back to being different and doing things right. You can put a hole in anybody’s body, but that doesn’t mean it should be there,” says Jason when discussing how selective he, Brandie, and their artists are when it comes to accommodating a variety of requests they receive.
Jason is passionate about looking out for other people and not going along with something that a client may regret.
“It’s not just about the money for us,” he says. “We are going to explain what something might look like down the road and do a bit of education about what you came in here wanting.”
He says that they never charge for a consultation and will always give every client the amount of time he or she needs to make a well-informed decision before getting a tattoo or piercing.
“This is just the way we treat people. We will give you our thoughts on what you’re wanting and share our professional experiences.”
He continued to share that he doesn’t necessarily always want to talk someone out of getting a tattoo or piercing, but rather he cares deeply about educating those who walk through the door about what they’re wanting to get.
{Author note: For years, my husband has been interested in getting a tattoo on his ring finger since he used to fly in helicopters often and also is a heavy weight lifter. When I shared this with Jason, he spent some time educating me on what the upkeep might look like down the road and what types of designs hold up better than others. I shared this information with my husband, and he was really interested and grateful to hear the “real deal” about this type of tattoo.}
As far as the family atmosphere of Golden Phoenix goes, Brandie says that their children are there with them at the shop every day.
“Even our repeat clientele bring their kids in here,” says Jason.
“I’ll hold the babies!” Brandie jokes.
“We work together to make sure this environment is clean, welcoming, and conducive for guests of all ages. We even have games they can play.”
Jason says that most tattoo shops are super rigid about who is allowed inside, which often creates a stereotypically intimidating environment.
“We want to help keep people comfortable,” says Brandie. “The first time I walked into a tattoo shop, everybody just stopped and stared at me. When you walk through our doors though, we are going to greet you warmly.”
When asked what Brandie and Jason love about owning Golden Phoenix Tattoo, Jason smiled and shared that “we love seeing the fruit of our hard work, which is huge for me. Working hard for something and seeing that fruit grow is incredible.”
He continued to share that having the freedom to do what they love while connecting with amazing people is something that will never get old to him.
“I love where we are at in this season of our lives because it’s beautiful evidence that nothing is impossible,” says Brandie.
The Cover-Up Campaign
Golden Phoenix Tattoo is proud to announce their cover-up campaign, which is their own personal charity they’ve launched that is intended to give back to the tattoo community.
Every quarter, Golden Phoenix will select and announce a specific genre of cover-ups and give the community the opportunity to have work done by Jason at no charge. Genres will be announced on the Golden Phoenix Tattoo social media pages, and stories for consideration can be sent via email.
Previous cover-up campaigns include self-harm marks and tattoo mistakes.
“If you have a checkered past and put things on your body that don’t represent who you are today, we want to hear about it and help you out.”
{Author note: WOW. Wow, wow, wow. I love the heart behind this campaign and can absolutely see how life-changing this campaign could be.}
Golden Phoenix Services
Golden Phoenix currently has four tattoo artists and one body piercer. Guests who are interested in getting a tattoo are invited to call or walk in. Guests that are interested in a piercing of some kind are asked to call ahead to discuss their wishes. (This includes ear piercings.)
Quick Links for Golden Phoenix Tattoo in Madison, Alabama
7449 HWY 72 W, Madison, AL 35758
(256) 444-3187
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