A women-owned tattoo-and-piercing co-op launched in July 2024 by artists trained through traditional apprenticeships, Spirit Tattoo operates out of 3100 Fifth Ave at the southern edge of Hillcrest's 92103 ZIP. Three full-time tattoo artists share the floor with a dedicated body piercer, spreading custom and flash work across fine-line, traditional, and blackwork styles — a spread that sends specific cover-up styles outside the residents' strengths over to neighborhood peer Electric Tiger Tattoo. The LGBTQ+ friendly shop holds a transgender safe-space designation and runs per-artist flash specials alongside by-appointment custom sessions. Needle-based piercings replace the spring-gun model found at mall kiosks, with 14-to-18-gauge hollow jewelry set in implant-grade titanium. When clients want a piece removed rather than added, the shop points them to laser tattoo removal at American Board of Aesthetic Medicine. The most complex bookings are full back and sleeve custom pieces run across multi-session timelines, with stencil mapping and healing-window pacing built into each appointment block.