In 1983, David Dettloff from Virginia received his inaugural tattoo. To immerse himself in the tattooing craft, he spent most of his time working as a janitor in a studio. Concurrently, he was enrolled in art school and ultimately obtained a degree in drawing and painting. Initially he worked in Madison, but eventually decided to establish his enterprise and relocated to Minneapolis. The Ink Lab, one of the scarce tattoo studios in the city at that time, was his brainchild. Despite many years of hard work and numerous changes, David Dettloff and his establishment continue to thrive.