We were lucky to catch up with Megan Hoogland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned how to tattoo by doing an apprenticeship. This was almost 30 years ago, so it was before everyone had cell phones, before Google was invented, and before tattoo artists were considered anything but degenerates of society. I started dating the biker who was apprenticing me, and a few months into that relationship found out he was a mentally ill drug addict who I continued dating for a year because I knew no one else would teach me how to tattoo because I was a girl. In 1997 I bought one of his tattoo shops from him for $10,000 when he went to prison.

I should never have owned a shop that soon in my career, but he made business ownership easy, so there I was. At that time tattoo artists didn’t share trade secrets with other artists and there was no regulations or inspections on tattoo shops. I didn’t learn anything about universal precautions or blood borne pathogens until an artist from Minneapolis came to work with me. I didn’t learn how to use the standard shading needles until 5 years into my career thanks to a guest artist. I was basically doing everything the hard way because that’s all I was taught.

Everything changed when I started tattooing at conventions. I was part of a new generation that was hungry for learning new tricks and networking. Tattooing was still somewhat taboo, but me and my friends sharing information with each other changed the whole industry. I had the basic fundamental techniques that we all used every day, but all of our work evolved so much in that time.

I would say that the next big change came when I went to work in the Cites for a few years with a group of amazing artists. My fear of larger projects disappeared and I was able to start doing large scale work. One of my main mentors was a traditional artist…they are known for tattooing fast and putting in solid work. I was fast becoming a black and grey reproduction artist, but since I was taught the rules for traditional tattooing my black and grey work stood out since it followed those rules: You have to use black and the tattoo has to be big enough to age well with the details included in the piece.

My career has been one of the most challenging, rewarding, and heartbreaking things I have ever done, and I would have to say that the good far exceed the bad. I’ve been able to make a living from doing art and am so appreciative of all of my customers and artists. It has been an honor to be part of the evolution of our craft.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the owner of Mecca Tattoo in Mankato, MN. I tattoo there with 5 other artists, and travel to conventions to work. I specialize in large-scale black & grey reproduction tattooing. My goal with my shop is to make sure that every client is paired with the right artist for the job they are wanting and to have safe and fun experience. I have spent my entire career learning from other artists to be the best I can be and to pass on my knowledge to my successful apprentices.

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

When I started tattooing I only knew of a handful of females tattooing in the US. I tried to do as many conventions and guest spots to get to know more artists and learn as much from them as I could since I was mostly alone in my Southern MN shop. It was my mission to be one of the best in the industry, and in 2010 was included in the book Tattoo Prodigies, listed as one of the top 100 artists in the world at the time:)

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When I get really into my work and zone out. It feels like I’m rebooting. And my customers. I can’t believe how much trust the put in me:)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meccatattoo.com
• Instagram: @meganhoogland
• Facebook: @meganhoogland

Image Credits

photo of me and my daughter by Josh Madson