Meet Art Cantu Jr | Co-Owner & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Art Cantu Jr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Art, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I feel like sacrifice has been a huge part of the process.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I founded this one of a kind tattooed beauty pageant back in 2014 without knowing what truly went into hosting one of these competitions. I learned hard lessons along the way and eventually, in 2019, I decided to sell the pageant. That’s when my 15 year old daughter convinced me to not sell and then she was appointed Co-Owner along with me. I’ll be grooming her into a future businesswoman and leader within the tattoo industry. Dealing with emotions are the hardest thing when running a pageant. No one wants to lose, no one wants to be embarrassed. Sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles and I have had to have thick skin to deal with the finalists throughout the years. I’ve definitely learned patience through this process and I can only hope to teach my daughter the same. The world needs to understand that tattooed individuals are people too. Tattooing has been around for centuries and is apart of many cultures. We are here to stay.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It’s Texas, everything is great here. No itinerary is necessary.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family deserves a huge shoutout for being by my side through thick and thin. My mentors in business: Billy Jack Gunter, Daniel Costilla, and Jeremy Hanna have had a huge part in shaping me as a businessman. My best friend and business partner, Alonzo Gonzales, has been able to teach me to have more of a backbone and his support and motivation is immeasurable. Lastly, my daughter has been a huge motivator to keeping this pageant going. When I was ready to sell the company for over $160,000 in 2019 my daughter absolutely refused to allow me to do so. At that moment I then realized that she wanted to take over the company. At just 15 years old she was enthusiastic about possibly owning and running her own business. So, with some guidance, she will hopefully being taking full control starting 2021. She’s got bigger and better plans for the pageant than her ole’ dad had.

Website: www.missinkedusa.net

Instagram: missworldinked

Facebook: Miss World Inked

Image Credits
Deanna James, Jeff Williams, Samantha Frederick, and Joseph Stembridge, Naudia B. Cantu