“Every article starts with where I’m from,” says Mo Said.
This article, too, will start there to show just how meteoric the Mojo Supermarket founder’s rise has been by age 31. Said grew up in Pakistan with a passion for creativity and no outlet. “There is no word for [creativity] back home,” he says. “My mom equates musicians and prostitutes at the same level.”
So he left at 18 and came to the U.S. “I spent my last $800 to buy a camera and do a portfolio,” says Said, who landed a job at BBDO and later Droga5.
Before Said turned 30 he’d opened his own agency, a hot shop that has done head-turning work for Savage X Fenty, Adidas and more, while recently winning new clients such as Match.com and The Truth Initiative. Mojo Supermarket went from six employees last January to 31 and is now preparing to open in a retail space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Said’s vision is to become more than an agency but rather “a home for creatives,” he says, including creating its own media and intellectual property.
“I have a very hard time imagining what I’ll be doing at 40, but advertising won’t be the only thing,” says Said, bringing us back to—well, where he’s from. “The accent you hear is fake. I tried to mold myself into what is marketable for so long and now I’m just excited to be myself.”
If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be?
The poet Rumi. Or better yet, his partner in philosophy—Shams. He just seems like a thought junkie like me. We could nerd out on the Sufi concepts of self. Either that or Steve Jobs. For the exact same reasons.
What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis?
Instagram and LinkedIn.
What is currently on your bedside reading list?
Oh boy. Do TikToks count? Last book I read was called "Awareness," by Anthony DiMello. I like to study how we learn our bad habits or thought patterns so I can build a better creative school where we can help people unlearn bad creative habits they learned from creative directors or in their childhood.
What was the last show you binge-watched?
"The Serpent."
At what age do you hope to retire?
35. My CFO disagrees.