Inked: A lot of your work is obviously tattoo inspired or inspiring, could you tell us the relationship in your own words between what you sell at Steadfast and the tattoo world?

Ansara: Tattooing is part of our personal lifestyle and an industry we take pride in being a part of long before Steadfast Brand. Steadfast is a reflection of that life we live and people we know. As our industry becomes inevitably more commercial, we have to take the future into our own hands or we will all work for outsiders who have no love or concern for the business at all. Chris put it best, “Diversify or be left behind.”

Inked: Do you design anything for the store? Tell me a little about it. Tell me about your own ink.

Ansara: Every design that we’ve ever made has to come through me first. I handle the editing and final production of each item. I’ve designed a few shirts within the line together with Chris as the “Steadfast Brand Design Team” –homage to our origins of being the original team. I have a lot of liberties within design and my thoughts on trends are always heard. I’m also in charge of our graphics, advertising, and web development. My background is in the applied arts: fashion marketing, graphic design, and advertising. So, most of my design work can be showcased best there.

As far my own tattoos go, I started getting work done almost nine years ago. My first tattoo was a set of Day of the Dead skulls on my chest by Nic Montgomery. I really like tattoos that flow with the shape of the body. A good example of that is the mermaid I have on my left side that goes from hip to knee by Jime Litwalk of Massive Tattoo Studio in Las Vegas, NV. I’m currently working on getting my right 1/2 sleeve extended to a 3/4 sleeve by Nick Stegall of RedLetter1 in Tampa, FL. It started as a monkey sitting in a tree and he’s adding more flowers and two finches. I have plans for many more, but I like to space them out over time. I meet so many amazing artists that I wouldn’t want to run out of room!

Inked: Any great stories associated with any purchases made from Steadfast?

Ansara: I’d have to say the first and most memorable sale for me was at the Meadowlands Tattoo Convention in New Jersey sometime after we had just launched as a brand. Ice-T & Coco were there as celebrity guests. The last day of the show, they were walking through with their entourage. Ice-T walked past the booth while I was standing in it, stops his entire group two steps ahead of our booth, turns around, points, and tells me, “I have to have the shirt.” He was pointing at our X-Ray pistol shirt, one of our best sellers at the time. It felt great to be making something that someone who was getting thrown freebies actually wanted to buy!

To see more Steadfast Brand clothing and accessories go to the InkedMag Shop at www.InkedShop.com!