Hello, my name is Nikki and I have tattoos. As an elder millennial, it was almost a rite of passage to get my first tattoo in 2002 at 18 years old and I have clear memories from each experience that has left permanent ink on my skin.

In my most recent tattoo experience, I was visiting friends in California and decided to get tattoos at the same shop for a Flash Friday event. My friend recommended a shop she knew and trusted that has almost perfect reviews and a beautiful space. I was in!

We arrived, picked out our designs and my friend saw the artist she typically sees. Since I wanted to try to get tattooed at the same time, I went with the next available artist. This was my mistake, big mistake. The artist I chose to work with brought with him a heavy emotional life story, that he chose to share very intimate details with us about. I was uncomfortable to say the least, and it was more from his attempts at conversation than it was about the needles in my skin.

Today, I have a beautiful tattoo that reminds me of this man’s emotional life story rather than the wonderful memory I had hoped to create with my friend. I feel, in this case, my customer experience was tainted by one bad employee that didn’t understand his negativity was impacting my experience. Think about it – if your employee is having a bad day and working with a customer, what kind of story are they telling?