tattoo apprenticeship

Hi every1! I recently been to a few shops to ask for apprenticeships and to be honest i only have one tattoo but i am very much interested and dedicated to becoming a tattoo artist but it seems that since i only have 1 tattoo the tattoo artist put me down and lets me know that since i dont have enough tattoos they wont teach me. Now i plan to get more tattoos i dnt wanna just get tattoos from just anyone and i am saving up for tattoo since i work more for nothing now. So im just wondering Is it really true that have alot of tattoos leads you closer to an apprenticeship? Sounds silly really but has anyone eles come acrossed this? Thanks