From Tattoo Artist To
Brand Alchemist for
Multi-Passionate Creatives
You’ve awakened your
creative legacy—now it’s
time to transform it into
ancestral wealth.
LIBERATION / INNOVATION WERK
I guide accomplished, multi-passionate creatives to embody their creative legacy, and transform chaos into strategy so they can build intergenerational wealth that feels artful, sovereign, and deeply ancestral.
Meet Your 'Weird to Wealth' Coach
Master Tattoo Artist | Ethnohistorian | Author | Philosopher | Cultural Steward
IMANI K. BROWN® (Osunyoyin)—Osun priestess, spiritual practitioner, and brand alchemist—is one of the most influential Black women in tattooing today. With 23+ years of serving Fineline for My Melanated Folk, she is recognized as the second most prominent Black female tattoo artist in the U.S. and the first most prominent Black artist tattooing in Japan.
A noted practioner-scholar of her field, she is the founder of Little INKPLAY Shop®, where Imani practices modern traditional tattoo with a lineage-centered approach—blending ritual, ancestry, scholarship, and Afro-Kawaii design. Apprenticed under Chris Mensah and traveling globally to study world art traditions, she now extends her research across Sub-Saharan Africa to reclaim lost tattoo practices.
Her illustrative tattoos are instantly recognizable—specializing in fineline Japanese, Kawaii/Anime, Ornamental, Floral, and vibrant color tattoos on dark skin. Known for her custom lettering handstyles, trauma-informed care, and spiritual tattoo experiences, Imani’s work attracts clients worldwide.
As a cultural steward and founder of Black Tattoo Anthology®, she documents, preserves, and reactivates diasporic tattoo traditions. Through her creative community, Y.U.M.E. Create Club®, she helps multi-passionate creatives transform ritual and story into visibility, sustainability, and wealth.
Author of Shoppe Gal®: The Memoir, Imani’s mission is simple: the magic, lineage, and creativity we’re taught to hide are the very technologies that protect, guide, and sustain us and our futures.
What My Clients Are Saying
This experience was everything I didn't know I needed!!!
I can see a pathway forward to living out my purpose and creating deep impact, something that had been scared to do for a long time.
I feel so relieved, and now I don't feel as paralyzed as I did before we connected.
Dr. LaTanya White
Visionary Founder
Dynastic Wealth®
Imani is it! Her branding genius blew me out the water. She came in and consulted with me and in just days took my brand to another level... She made my business flyers and site clear, colorful, in order, straight to the point and easy to navigate. Imani is skilled!
Trust me. You won't regret or resent the decision.
Iya Sade Ajala
CEO & Spiritual Advisor
Oja Aje Botanica
Imani is so easy to work with...
I would recommend anyone looking for inspiration, advice or direction regarding creative ideas, that they should work with Imani K. Brown. My sister-friend is knowledgeable, supportive, fun and a caring spirit.
I can’t wait to see what I do next.
Marq Few
House DJ &
Culture Curator
THE SHOPPE GAL® ETHOS
A commitment to unlocking creative inheritance ~
Transforming grief into creativity, invisibility into visibility, and weirdness into wealth— through tattoos, stories and spirit-led business.
It is about living at the intersection of ritual, remembrance, and radical creativity. It’s the belief that what we are taught to hide—our weirdness, our wounds, our cultural inheritance—is actually the source of our power, wealth, and wellness.
SHOPPE GAL®, THE MEMOIR
Unapologetic. Feminine. Inked in Resilience.
A coming-of-age story of Imani K. Brown—one of the first Black women to break barriers in tattooing. Equal parts grit, glitter, and growth, this book inspires creatives and dreamers to embrace their power, rewrite the rules, and build a life that feels like their own.
SHOPPE GAL®, WORLD MARKET
Where vibrant creativity meets holistic well-being.
Curated by Imani K. Brown as a sanctuary for individuals seeking adornment with intention. Every product—from ritual body care to kawaii-coded lifestyle goods—bridges art, ancestry, and self-love. Here, glamour is medicine, creativity is ritual, and beauty becomes a form of liberation.
SHOPPE GAL® DIARIES
VLOG
A digital journal of ink, identity, and creative liberation.
Essays, musings, and tattoo philosophy by Imani K. Brown that invite you into the inner world of Shoppe Gal—where healing meets hustle, and self-expression becomes a spiritual economy. Each entry bridges artistry, ancestry, and authenticity, guiding you to turn your weird into wealth.
MY CREATIVE INHERITANCE
Y.U.M.E. Create Club®
Archival storytelling, artist features, event highlights
BLACK TATTOO ANTHOLOGY®
Archival storytelling, artist features, event highlights
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DOCUMENTATION.
PRESS. & PUBLICATIONS.
THE SHOWCASE: IMANI K BROWN | Artist Vignette with Kayode Kendall of KeN-K Media, 2023
TATTOOING WHILE BLACK | A Community Conversation Exploring the Trials of Being a Black Tattoo Artist, 2020
MORE THAN A TATTOO: A LIFE-CHANGING TATTOO EXPERIENCE | Client Story Conversation Archive curated by Imani K Brown for Little INKPLAY Shop, 2018
A RARE BLACK FEMALE TATTOO ARTIST SPEAKS ON CREATIVITY, RACISM, & CRAFT IN THE BODY ART WORLD | Published by The Grio, 2012
COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES | the only Black Tattoo Culture Documentary produced by Miya Bailey, 2012
SOUND PATTERNS NO. 8, 2023
Your story is sacred. Your path is waiting. Let’s create it together.
Every tattoo, every story, every ritual is a return—
a remembrance of who we’ve always been.
My work is more than ink; it is cultural stewardship, liberation technology, and a mirror for your own becoming. As your transformation coach
I hold space for your magic, lineage, and visibility to rise.
© 2025 Copyrights by Imani K Brown®.
All Rights Reserved.
Tattoo Lineage. Cultural Stewardship.
African Studies. Intellectual & Cultural History.