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

Sofia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

A tattoo means more to one than you might think, even if it doesn’t have a particular meaning. My mission is to create a piece of art out of every idea adding my own vision to it and to make my customers feel like their tattoo was a part of them all along and it was made specifically for them. Some people want to get a tattoo in remembrance of something, some — to feel more themselves or more confident in their own skin, some just find it beautiful.
In any case, I always intend to not just bring someone’s idea to life through my vision but to make it as personal and unique as it can possibly be. Even the same flower can be drawn differently depending what personality and what mood you’re trying to reflect.

Despite that, it’s important for me to approach each person who chooses me for their tattoo with kindness and understanding, I always listen carefully considering all the wishes but I don’t always follow the initial idea if I think it can be done better for one reason or another. The crucial part of my mission is to provide advice and guidance in order to achieve the best possible result, to explain what’s best to do or not to do for a particular placement on the body or for a particular idea. This is what I definitely do differently from what people are used to and what makes me stand out from other tattoo artists. It’s an important part of what makes a tattoo session a whole unique experience instead of a regular walk-in in a tattoo shop.

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?

I am a tattoo artist based in Munich, Germany, internationally known as betstattoo. I specialise in fine lines and freehand. The motifs that I prefer in my art are always nature- and flora-related.

My path in tattooing started from the love to the drawing craft. I always enjoyed sketching different plants and flowers when out in nature but never thought about it as a potential profession. I was an SEO specialist and at some point I just got bored of sitting in front of a computer and dove in the drawing even more. I spent all my free time sketching something at that point, so I’ve decided that I would like to find some kind of purpose for my drawings and a way to share them with the world. That’s when I thought about becoming a tattoo artist. I obviously loved tattoos at that point as well and already had quite a few tattoos myself, so it seemed like it was meant to be.
At the time, I also realised that if I’d like to really grow and achieve something in this industry, I have to quit my job which was terrifying but I haven’t regretted it once. Now I can say for sure that pursuing what seems to be right for you is always the right path and I absolutely happy I did it when I had the chance.

What sets me apart from other tattoo artists, despite other things, is the freehand technique of drawing my designs. It means that I draw right on a body with a marker without any prepared sketch. It gives a huge freedom not only in allowing me to adjust all the parts of the design to the liking of my customer but also in allowing me to meet my customer first, discuss the idea and our thoughts in person, get to know each other and only then get set on what we’re going to do. It helps me create that unique experience for each particular person that come to me and I think it’s very important.

The other thing that other people always mention about my art and that makes me stand out is the attention to detail. The fine-line technique of tattooing allows me to create very detailed art and I also enjoy working on every tiny little detail, so this distinctive feature of my tattoos is hard not to notice.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think this is such an important topic right now for any business owner. No matter if you want this or not, you have to build your audience on social media in order to be successful. And we all struggle with that from time to time.

My advice would be to be patient and not to compare yourself to others. You need to understand that the quantity doesn’t really matter. It’s the quality you’re looking for. You have to find the right and loyal audience for yourself, it’s a key. Only the right audience will interact with your posts enough to make any social media help you grow further.
It’s very time-consuming, yes. Almost nothing on social media gives you immediate results, so you have to be patient and consistent. Post as much as you can and as often as possible, try different strategies and it’ll pay off.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I get so many positive emotions and energy from people, so much gratitude and happiness throughout the whole process, it’s priсeless!
I love to see people smile looking at the mirror in the end of the session and enjoy their freshly-made tattoo! That’s definitely the most rewarding part of my job, it even erases any feeling of tiredness in the end of the day.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betstattoo/