We were lucky to catch up with Mo Ganji recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

My parents moved from Iran to Germany when I was two. They got divorced when I was 6.

I grew up in a single mother household with a younger brother. There was not much of an upbringing because my mum couldn’t be there. She worked 3 jobs and was gone most of the time.

Due to the circumstances my brother and I had to learn how to run things very early. From washing to cleaning and preparing food. We were quite poor and could sense the hard time my mum was going through. One thing that stands out looking back at my childhood was my ability to dream and make the best out of any situation.

I was able to imagine a world that was better than the world I actually lived in and that made my whole reality shift from dark to light. By repeating things that were absolutely naiv and silly I was able to change my experience.

This thought me a simple but powerful lesson for life. If you can see it, it can be done.

Fast forward here I’m after all these years. Still a naive little 6 year old living in my own reality enjoying the bright side of life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My job description is Tattoo Artist.

I started following this profession in 2014. After an early carrier in the NFL Europe as an equipment manger and almost a decade in the Retail industry I started tattooing at the age of 31.

It all started with me dreaming and talking to friends about it. “Of course I can do this, why shouldn’t I?”

10 years later I established a internationally known name that had an impact on the Tattoo industry. Somebody who uses nothing but a thin line to express himself on skin.

Fineline Tattoos were not really accepted in a traditional orientated world at the time.

But being naive and ignorant really helped me to overcome any critic and just follow my vision of a timeless tattoo concept.

Just one line that can represent anything or nothing at all. Light and delicate instead of heavy and loud. My work stood out and got recognizes by many art platforms. The continuous line concept is probably one of the most copied styles today.

All this happened in the past 10 years without any big strategy or business plan. It was me sitting in my private Studio minding my own business and dreaming along.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In the first three month of my carrier I did an apprentiseship in a traditional Tattoostudio. I tattooed a friend of mine on my third day there. I picked up everything quite fast and after 10 days I had my first paying customers.

I started drawing my own designs while tattooing stuff from the shop sketchbooks. My boss wanted me to do any project that came through the door.

A strategy that is understandable from the perspective of a shop owner. Let the newbie gain experience and teach him all the techniques that a traditional tattooist would need to do.

None of that was interesting for me.

So I pushed for my own designs from day one.

Standing my ground and communication clearly what I want to do in the future led me to open my private studio after only 3 month.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I kept everything very simple and clean. A philosophy that I try follow in my private life. It is clearly visible in my work which is basically a good reflection of me my values and believes. Authenticity is something that happens alongside without any effort.

The less decisions I had to make during the whole work process the better I felt and the less things to optimize and doubt.

It started with “what am I wearing to work every day?” I bought a uniform and never thought about it since then.

I still use the same camera the same filter the same light etc.

That led to a handwriting that is recognizable in an endless ocean of visually overloaded content out there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moganji.com
• Instagram: moganji

Image Credits
The picture with the fern on the wall is my private bedroom at home and shows how little I possess and how simple I live. What I do is just an extension of who I really am.