Married couple R\u0101r Farmer and Tracey Johnson opened the Ministry of Regret earlier this year. The shop, located in Near Southside at 129 E. Daggett Ave., serves as a safe space for the queer community to be tattooed by local artists.<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth Report spoke with Farmer and Johnson about how the business formed and their goals within the tattoo industry. The story has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
Ismael M. Belkoura: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you started Ministry of Regret?\u00a0<\/p>\n
R\u0101r Farmer: I tattooed around \u2014 I tattooed in the Stockyards for a while, and on the west side of Fort Worth, but never in my own shop. I used to live in Fairmount years ago, and I really wanted to get back to this area because there\u2019s a huge sense of community here. So many people know each other, there\u2019s so much stuff that\u2019s going on, and I just thought it would be great to be a part of it. That\u2019s why we decided to open a shop here, specifically.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to open a shop because I tattoo a lot of queer people, I tattoo a lot of trans people, a lot of women. The space is really for them. When you\u2019re an artist, you like to be around stuff that inspires you, so that\u2019s a little bit of it as well, but the main driver really is creating a space that is safe for people.<\/p>\n
Belkoura: Your opening was recent, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Farmer: We opened in March. We\u2019re brand new, but we\u2019ve been well-received. The community really came out to support us both in getting tattooed and spreading the word about us on social media \u2014 and just coming in to say \u201chi\u201d and welcome us. We love this neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Belkoura: Maybe an obvious question, but what\u2019s behind the name?<\/p>\n
Farmer: We made a little video<\/a> about it on Instagram. Probably everyone who\u2019s ever thought about getting a tattoo or is tattooed has heard, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna regret that,\u201d from your grandma or your mom or whoever.\u00a0<\/p>\n One that I got a lot, especially when I was in my 20s \u2014 I haven\u2019t heard it in a while \u2014 but I do recall lots of people saying, \u201cWhat are you gonna look like when you\u2019re old? What\u2019s that gonna look like? It\u2019s gonna be all saggy, you\u2019re gonna regret it.\u201d You see a lot of older tattooed people now \u2014 seniors \u2014 and I think they look amazing. I can\u2019t wait to see what I look like when I\u2019m 70.<\/p>\n Belkoura: You talked a bit about the reason why you wanted to come back. What\u2019s the process been like, opening your own business here in Near Southside?<\/p>\n Farmer: Whenever you take on any sort of endeavor that is going to bring change, it can be super stressful. I\u2019m just an anxious person anyway, so it was a little bit stressful. But there\u2019s so many people here who offer advice and help with different processes. Obviously, my wife is my rock, my person who helps me keep it all together. Overall it was not as hard as what I thought it was going to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n For me, adapting to being in a different space and having a new set of expectations about what kind of service you\u2019re offering people. When you\u2019re tattooing, it is already stressful, but if you make a mistake, it\u2019s on the shop owner and now it all falls on me. So there was a little bit of that that I had to sort of come to terms with and get over the anxiety about that. Still dealing with imposter syndrome. That\u2019s probably the hardest one.<\/p>\n Belkoura: What would you say makes you stand out compared to other tattoo shops here in Fort Worth?<\/p>\n Farmer: The intimacy of the space. A lot of people have commented on how they feel when they\u2019re here. The aesthetics. We just want people to feel at home. I think that\u2019s the main thing. You go into some tattoo shops \u2014 and I\u2019m not knocking any of them, because I think that they\u2019re all great, and I love them all \u2014 and there\u2019s six or seven artists and it\u2019s really noisy, it\u2019s hard to interact or feel like you can relax when you\u2019re getting tattooed. We didn\u2019t want it to feel like a spa, but we also wanted it to be someplace where you felt like you could relax and be yourself 100%.<\/p>\n Belkoura: How have you made it into this cozy space? What elements would you point out that say this is different compared to another shop?<\/p>\n Farmer: The fact that it\u2019s the size of a broom closet (laughs). Maybe we\u2019ll have three artists at some point, when there\u2019s a big event, but full time, there\u2019s only going to be two of us here. It\u2019s kind of like a private studio, with a walk-in shop hybrid feel to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey Johnson: We’re all over each other here, we\u2019re all in each other\u2019s space. You have to figure out how to be comfortable. But we also tried to let the space be what it originally was. We didn\u2019t add a whole lot to it or a ton of remodeling. We just let it be what it is, all the character.<\/p>\n Belkoura: You mentioned a couple times wanting to be a safe space, specifically you mentioned queer people. What would you say that tangibly looks like for a tattoo shop, and what are the efforts that you say you\u2019ve done to make it this safe space?\u00a0<\/p>\n Farmer: I\u2019ll start by saying I\u2019ve been in shops where the language has been harmful to people in that community. Not maybe necessarily directly toward a person that was in the space at that time, but the acceptable language used around trans people or women who are feminists \u2014 I have worked for people who are loudly anti-feminist, and people who shame bodies in some sort of way. And I don\u2019t like any of that shit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson: Print that.<\/p>\n Farmer: With sexism or language that would be considered sexual harassment in any other workplace, I\u2019ve been in all of those environments. And I feel like that\u2019s probably one of the strongest things to illustrate why we are different.<\/p>\n Belkoura: What would you say are your goals? What do you envision for the business at maybe the five-year mark or 10-year mark? Is that something you think about?<\/p>\n Farmer: I go back and forth about things like that. I have a tendency to dream. I have a billion ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n At this point, I really just want to settle in and focus on my own work and provide a really good service for people. I\u2019m not too concerned about trying to grow or expand, move into a different shop, or have more artists. Obviously that\u2019s something that is in the back of my mind, and I\u2019ve sort of thought about it. But for me, it\u2019s just about getting better at what I do and developing my own style and techniques further.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson: I\u2019m thinking about some conversations we have about this \u2014 once you start expanding and getting more artists in this space, you do start to lose that intimate feeling and run the risk of kind of losing our ultimate mission, which is to be a safe space. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s all about expansion, it\u2019s about getting embedded in the community.<\/p>\n Belkoura What would you recommend to people that want to become business owners like you guys have?<\/p>\n Farmer: Whatever community you\u2019re serving, it\u2019s important to partner with different people and have conversations about what you want your neighborhood to look like. We got here, and there was already a lot of momentum that we wanted to be a part of, but if there\u2019s not that momentum, then create it. Figure out a way to do that, and be afraid to fail, but do it anyway, if that\u2019s what you want to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n Belkoura: You mentioned this earlier about the community embracing y\u2019all and feeling like you\u2019ve been able to move into an area where it\u2019s not additionally hard to be a business owner. What has Near Southside given y\u2019all when it comes to opening and creating this business?<\/p>\n Farmer: Near Southside itself, the nonprofit, Megan Henderson, the president \u2014 she\u2019s the reason we are in this space to begin with. I\u2019ve known her for a long time and when we decided that we were going to open a shop, I went to the internet, and told realtors that I\u2019m looking for a space. Megan texted me immediately and was like, \u201cI know the space, I have the space.\u201d That was key, because it just happened. We were talking about it, and then boom, here it is. It\u2019s either jump on it now or don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone here knows who we are. I say it because they genuinely come and introduce themselves, and they remember your name. And they ask you if you need anything. When you\u2019re doing an event and you want to put your flyer up, all you have to do is ask. I feel like we all have the same goal: to create more of what this neighborhood is offering. The people that are here already realized that the way to do that is together.<\/p>\n Johnson: You don\u2019t have to go it alone. As long as you\u2019re meeting the other people that are in the business area that you\u2019re looking to join, or have been in the same industry as you, make friends and ask for advice. Don\u2019t try to do it alone, because that\u2019s not necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Farmer: Start small. Whatever the thing is that you want to do, just focus on that and enjoy it, and give it some space to grow on its own.<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/06\/07\/made-in-tarrant-new-near-southside-tattoo-shop-leaves-its-mark-as-a-safe-space\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=592202&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/06\/07\/made-in-tarrant-new-near-southside-tattoo-shop-leaves-its-mark-as-a-safe-space\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script>![\"(Christine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260513_Ministry-of-Regret-2-1024x683.jpg\")
R\u0101r Farmer, owner and tattooer at Ministry of Regret, tattoos a customer at their shop May 14 in Fort Worth. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"(Christine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260513_Ministry-of-Regret-13-1024x683.jpg\")
R\u0101r Farmer, owner and tattooer at Ministry of Regret, tattoos a customer at their shop May 14 in Fort Worth. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n