Meet Eoghann Mcgregor

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

Hi Eoghann, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Working in a competitive industry like tattooing, a strong work ethic is absolutely critical in finding success and stability in a constantly expanding and growing field.
I have spent a long time try ing to cultivate a strong work ethic and really always try to push myself to go the extra mile not only for my customers but for myself to help provide the best service possible for my clients.
Coming from a working class family certainly provided me with. a strong work ethic, and seeing my father excel and move up in his career gave me a strong drive to succeed and work hard. He certainly always pushed the concept of having to work hard to get places and ensured that as soon as was able I had a part time job and since then I’ve always been on the hustle.
I think also positioning myself around other artists who have the drive and passion about tattooing is so key. My old boss, who is also my best friend, has an insanely strong work ethic, and is constantly pushing himself and everyone around him to be better and challenge themselves, and I honestly think that he has inspired me massively to push myself further and constantly question what is next or how can I improve on what I am doing.
having started my career in a small town in Scotland and finally ending up in New York is surreal to me, but it motivates me even more to see how far I can keep pushing myself and work harder to achieve more.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am 32, Scottish, and a tattoo artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York.

I’ve been working in the industry in one way or another since I was 18, originally as a shop assistant, then a receptionist, then a manager and finally as an apprentice then tattooist. I’ve been super fortunate that tattooing has taken me so many amazing places and has allowed me to meet some incredible people along the way .

Currently I’m based in Brooklyn, New York and intend on being here for the foreseeable future. I’ve been developing my artistic style over the last 6 years and seem to have landed myself into doing a somewhat unique style of tattooing which is a mix of blackwork/illustrative tattooing mixed with neotradtional design featuring single gradients of a colour fade. My focus in tattooing really started with an obsession with neotradtitional and eventually morphed into what it is now which is something I am super passionate about. I love to try and give people a tattoo that will be bold, standout, and something that many people may not have seen before, but will also last a lifetime and age kindly.
Whilst pushing myself in tattooing and developing my work, skillset is definitely one of the key parts of the job for me. I think something that is so important to me is meeting and working with so many different and exciting people. I literally get to meet new people almost everyday and they all have such interesting stories and personalities and I just love having this special relationship with these people and giving them something that will last a lifetime. It’s a special connection and not something you get in a lot of other jobs.

I’ve been working on a few side projects in the background, when I can find the time around creating for tattooing. I’ll hopefully be releasing a small clothing line later this year which I’ve been developing and working on for the last 6 months or so. This is something I’m really excited about, it’s kind of a silly little side project that keeps me designing but also allows me to think outside of the perimeters of tattooing. So that’s something I’m pretty excited to get out there later in the year.

But really tattooing is my main focus and drive, it’s literally the most important thing to me in the world. I love this job so much and just want to spend as long as I can doing it, meeting new people, and creating cool tattoos that people will look at and go, “damn who did that?” or even better “did Eoghann do that piece?”. Having something that is instantly recognisable to people, that’s such a dream.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think the three most important things on my journey personally were patience, acceptance, and drive.

You have to be patient in this industry, especially at the start. Getting an apprenticeship for me was not a quick or easy process. I had several jobs in the industry before finding an apprenticeship. I also took a long time to figure out what was the right style for me, trying different avenues and taking advice from people around me was so key. But this isn’t a job you can rush, it takes a long time (unless you’re super lucky) to find an apprenticeship, then it takes a long time to get the ball rolling with it. You have so much to learn about how the industry runs, and how a shop works, and the importance of hygiene etc in the job, before you even pick up a machine. Then when you do, chances are you’re gonna suck for a while. But if you keep pushing through you’ll come out the other side and often be a better person and artist for it.

Acceptance is also so key. I’ve made mistakes in my career which have hindered me, and unfortunately, people do make mistakes, but you have to accept that, as well as the consequences of these mistakes. It may be that you have something that hangs over you for a long time, but as long as you accept these mistakes and learn, and become a better person and actively navigate your life and career to not make these mistakes again, things will always get better. You’re gonna do pieces you think you could have done better, you’re gonna have people that don’t like you, you’re gonna mess up in one way or another, but if you can accept that and learn from it, then hopefully you can become better from that.

Drive is probably the most important one in all this. Without the drive I’d probably have thrown in the towel years ago. I’ve hit so many road blocks along the way and still to this day do, but my perseverance and drive constantly encourage me to move past these stumbles and become a stronger person and artist for that. If I go in for a competition and don’t win, I don’t fall back and say, well that’s it, never entering another one of those. I just think well what can I do better next time or what did that person do that tipped them to be better and learn from that and try to apply these things to my work. It’s really just all about growth and never giving up when life inevitably throws a curve ball your way.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I think in recent years my old boss and best friends Matt Adamson has really been a massively influential role in my career and life. His passion and drive makes me want to constantly push myself and try to be the best I can be. He has such a great work drive and skill set, but is also a fantastic friend and loving person. I think seeing him navigate the industry really changed how I look at it and made me want to be a better person and artist.

My wife also is so important in my career. She is exceedingly accepting and supportive of my drive in this career and will always have my back. She’s always supported my decisions or steered me in better directions when I’m going a little of course or get a bit too carried away with an idea that isn’t going to go anywhere.

And of course my friendship group. Their support is so key. When I’ve had challenges to ever overcome they’ve been there to pick me up, and are alway supporting me and pushing my business on their platforms etc. It’s so awesome to have such tight community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @yur.da.sells.blackwork

Image Credits

the photo of me tattooing was taken by Justin Boykin @justinboykinphotography