[Ragz]

As my buddy Robzilla once told an apprentice. "Dude you gotta be marinated in tattoos".
Kinda go's with the territory. Kind of like a tattooer that never tattoos(ed) themself. Would you go to a mechanic that wouldn't work on their own car? Same konsept, when people say this is a lifestyle, they don't mean like a rock star. They mean the commitment, the responsibility, the humility, the strength of character to scar someone permanently.
If you're not comfortable with going below the elbow yet and need to wear short sleeves for a day job while you get up to speed, no worries. You can always wear a slightly big shirt, and get some shoulder cap/half sleeve action goin' on. The idea that you don't "like how it looks personally" concerns me. Why do you want to do something that you don't love the look of?