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- To become a tattoo
artist when I started,

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it was not an easy thing at all.

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There was no social media,

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there wasn't a digital
community to share images

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or anything like that.

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You had to apprentice.

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You couldn't just YouTube
how to do a tattoo

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and then start your
own business somewhere.

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(upbeat music)

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- Dr. Woo isn't just any tattoo artist.

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His work can be found on the bodies

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of some of the most famous
people in the world,

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from Miley Cyrus to Drake.

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He also has millions of
followers on Instagram,

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who are fans of his intricate
single needle technique work.

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And now he's expanding
the brand that he's built.

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What made you know that that was kind of

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what you wanted to do with your life?

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- I didn't know that
that's what I wanted to do

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to be honest.

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I was working in fashion a little bit,

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doing a little graphic design.

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I didn't know I wanted
to be a tattoo artist.

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I thought I just wanted to
be an artist or creative.

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I was getting a lot of tattoos.

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That was part of my thing.

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It was very rebellious at the time,

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tattoos weren't very mainstream.

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So I was just hanging
out in the tattoo shop

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and I got approached by Mark Mahoney.

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Who's a legendary tattoo artist, icon.

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You know, he always took me
under his wing and he said,

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I think you might be good at this.

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In a weird way I still do
kind of feel like an outsider,

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even after all these years,
it was such a niche culture.

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- Tattoos have become so
popular and so common now,

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particularly among young people.

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So do you feel like
there's a challenge now

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in creating art that really stands out?

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- There's so many tattoos now to be made

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for this younger generation.

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How do we find new artwork and inspiration

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to still carve a bit of
nicheness and individuality

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in this huge sea of tattoos.

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But I think the most important thing

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is just to hone down what you do.

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If there is something that is your thing,

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just perfect that thing.

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The other thing though,

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is the vastness of the internet and images

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and information constantly
grows every second.

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So normally when I think
that there's nothing else

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left to be done,

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somebody will show up with something

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or I'll see something like,

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oh, wow, I never thought of that.

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I don't think that we are
at a loss for figuring out

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how to keep topping or finding
new inspiration tattoo-wise.

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- In addition to all of that,

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you've also launched your
own product business,

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which is that you're making various soaps

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and personal care products.

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Tell us a little bit about
what inspired you to do that.

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- We've been working
on it for the last two,

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to almost three years.

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I spent a lot of time
researching different ingredients

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for these different products that we have.

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And it's a full, essential
skincare line for everyone

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with and without tattooed skin.

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As a tattoo artist,

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I've discovered so many things about skin

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and skin is so different
from each person to the next.

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And every skin type presents
a certain challenge.

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And that was the inspiration
for the skincare brand

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because aftercare for a
tattoo is so important.

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- We're in this moment where
we're all feeling a little bit

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less creative because
we're all stuck at home,

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In moments when you don't feel creative,

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what do you do to kick
start that engine again?

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- Honestly, you know, the
weirdest thing is like

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when I'm in the shower in the morning.

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I don't know why, maybe it's
your skin is being constantly

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flushed with the liquid
so your mind is like,

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I don't know what's happening,

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but I need to start
treating those like dreams

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where like right when you
get out of the shower,

87
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you write it down before
you forget about it.

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I think it's always important

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that if you have any
kind of spark of an idea

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that you just record it,

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because sometimes I go
through back and I was like,

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I don't even remember making this.

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(soft music)