Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bashir Henderson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bashir, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I’ve taken in my life was changing my career from an average office worker at JFK airport to become a tattoo artist.

Bashir, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I became a single dad after my divorce and was completely at a loss of direction. 1 day I went and got a tattoo and the artist showed my drawing to their boss and he then approached me to mention if I ever wanted to be a tattoo artist I had the artistic ability to be good. I never paid it any mind but mentioned it to my mom and during my time at home as a stay at home parent feeling lost and confused she reminded me of what that shop owner said and suggested I give it a try. Eventually she would even bring me a business card from an artist who owned a shop in Brooklyn and was actually on Inkmaster who was related to a friend of hers. Long story short I text him for a year building a relationship and that would lead to an apprenticeship and me becoming his shop manager. Before long I was renting his shop from him with another artist who would eventually be on BlackInk and after 3 yrs I would go on to open up my 1st location at 201 Schenectady Ave. In Brooklyn.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the beginning of my career I guess you could say I was pretty late to the party. In my heart I just wanted to be an artist. Whether that meant painter, graphic designer, or musician, I just love art but as I found out about the tattoo industry and learned how each individual artist could become a powerhouse and brand in his or her own style that became my primary focus. Day in and day out I would find new ways to brand and market myself in the streets, person to person, in the shop or online via social media. As time passed people began to know my name but it wasn’t all about talent it had a lot to do with my personality and my ability to listen and allow my clients to dig deeper into what their soul asking them to instead of just walking into the shop and getting any flash off the wall give the tattoo deeper meaning. I challenged my customers and it became what set me aside from other artist. Eventually, I had so many customers and my name rang so many bells other artist began asking me for job opportunities. Truthfully, I wasn’t ready for that and while my shop grew quickly it was too much for me as an owner because it wasn’t my plan. It was my friend and managers vision for what he believed was a great idea. With that being said I had to learn how to grow from just an artist to a manager, artist and shop owner I had to learn how to spread my time out in order to lead my team because what they did represented me and it happened fast.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the best part of being a creative is I get to see my art travel around the world even countries I’ve never been to in the flesh a part of me has traveled through my art. Each time I put a tattoo on a person from another country or city and they return home my work goes with them when people ask them who did their work my name grows in legend and that part feels great. Each time a person books and tells me it was a referral it’s a blessing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MohawkOfNewYork.com
• Instagram: MohawkOfNewYork
• Twitter: MohawkOfNewYork
• Youtube: MohawkOfNewYork
• Soundcloud: MohawkOfNewYork

Image Credits

Photographer: @insidiousvibes
Zniyah Mikani Pixels
@BabaluMachete