There exists an all-female tattoo parlor and it is rad

Do you love tattoos? How about rad companies that empower women in art? Then listen up, my friend, because you’re gonna LOVE this. In São Paulo, Brazil, on the city’s ultimate party street, there sits a lovely tattoo parlor called Sampa Tattoo. Run by a woman named Samantha Sam, the shop was started barely a month ago as a stable place of work for talented and capable female artists.

“[There are] a lot of struggling girls in the business,” Samantha explained to VICE in a profile of the parlor. “One time, a male colleague took my drawings and threw them out. I guess it was some sort of sabotage. I think some male tattoo artists kind of feel like, ‘Man, how can some new chick be doing the same thing as me?’ They feel as if we’re getting in their way.”

Unfortunately, a lot of women are rejected from the tattoo industry under the grounds that it’s a “male industry,” so Sampa Tattoo is creating new opportunities for women.

Though the shop is super new, it already it has a ton of customers pouring through its doors. Probably because it’s totally awesome. “I fell in love with Sampa as soon as I heard about it,” 26-year-old Sampa artist Julia Bicudo told VICE. “What’s cooler than tattooing with a bunch of awesome chicks?”

For 23-year-old Sampa artist Jéssica Coqueiro, her job isn’t just a job — it’s a family. “Working at this shop was the first time I ever really felt like I was part of a sorority,” she told VICE. “We talk a lot about how women can empower themselves at work. We all get along really well and try to appreciate each other’s strengths.” And it’s clear that the artists at Sampa have a LOT of strengths, because their work is beautiful.

Want to visit (or even work at!) this awesome lady-run tattoo parlor, but don’t exactly have the means to get to Brazil? You’re in luck: Samantha is currently considering expanding the business and employing more artists. Fingers crossed that we get a Sampa Tattoo parlor right here in the United States.

For more information on Sampa Tattoo, like them on Facebook or follow them on their Instagram. And check out the full VICE profile here.

Images via Instagram