Altai Mowgli Closes Cafes, Starts Anew in Moscow

Until the age of 20, Odzhan Naumkin lived in a dugout and did not interact with people, which earned him fame as the Altai Mowgli about 12 years ago. Today, he lives in Moscow, has tried his hand at business, and is not afraid to start life from scratch if something goes wrong. Read about what Odzhan is doing now and how his fate unfolded after moving to the capital in this NGS22.RU article.

“There’s nowhere to go, I need to get used to it”

Odzhan was born in a forest in the Altai Mountains, near Belokurikha (a resort town in Altai Krai). His parents, Alexander and Elena, decided to live away from civilization in a small dugout back in the 1990s. Odzhan learned about the world from radio broadcasts. He studied using old Soviet textbooks and had almost no contact with people.

In 2013, his parents decided to move to Primorye (Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East), and that’s when Odzhan came out to people. The young man had neither a birth certificate nor a passport, so the media quickly dubbed him the “Altai Mowgli.” After getting his documents, Odzhan realized he didn’t want to return to his former life. He quickly adapted to the city and found work first as a waiter, then as a barista. At first, of course, he had difficulties communicating with the stream of people in the food service industry.

— I knew there was nowhere to go and I had to get used to it. When I first approached people and asked if they were ready to order, I think my face went pale; I was a bit scared. But I managed, and I worked in coffee shops for many years. I still sometimes take shifts, even though I’m doing other work now.

Before moving to Moscow, Odzhan even tried to open his own coffee shop in Belokurikha, but that experience turned out to be not entirely successful:

— The business lasted literally a month. There was no talk of breaking even — I went into the red almost from the first day and immediately decided to close. But at least I got a good lesson out of it,” Naumkin recalls.

“Living in Moscow is easier than in Altai”

After closing the coffee spot in Belokurikha, Odzhan decided not to stay in one place and moved to Moscow. According to him, failures have never been a reason for him to give up new attempts and strive for something bigger.

— I think many people after failures feel like not continuing, but I’ve always wanted to move forward, otherwise life would just be boring. So I moved to Moscow without any expectations, but I believed everything would be fine,” Odzhan recalls.

In the capital, the life of the “Altai Mowgli” gradually began to improve: at first he rented a small apartment in the Moscow suburbs for 10,000 rubles ($100), and then moved closer to the metro, and life became even easier. By the way, he found a job in Moscow in the first week after moving — he got hired as a waiter.

— No matter where I worked before, it seemed like I just couldn’t earn money. In Moscow, everything became different. I can’t say I’ve achieved incredible heights now, but living here is much easier than in Altai. You can find a job literally in one day,” Odzhan says.

Became the owner of two coffee shops in the capital

Having gained years of experience as a barista, Odzhan wasn’t afraid and decided to try himself as an entrepreneur. With attracted investments, he managed to open his first coffee shop in Moscow, and for just 500,000 rubles ($5,000).

— At the time, that was very little money for opening a coffee shop. We had to make compromises, but even so, it was equipped better than many Moscow “coffee-to-go” spots. Then an investor came to me again and suggested opening a second coffee shop. We found a good location, literally ten meters from the metro, and started working on the next opening,” he says.

However, soon the business faced serious difficulties. According to Odzhan, after a sharp rise in prices at the end of 2024, the cost of purchasing products nearly doubled, and the tax burden increased along with it. At the same time, customers were becoming fewer every day.

— If before I bought a kilogram of coffee for a thousand rubles, then in 2024 the price shot up to two thousand rubles ($20). Everything got more expensive, of course. People also started saving and buying coffee less often. Back then, we had regular guests from a neighboring fitness club. We adapted to their wishes: we made a line of smoothies and protein shakes. The reviews for the spot were good, but that wasn’t enough to avoid working at a loss,” he shared.

Despite closing both coffee shops, Odzhan admits he doesn’t consider this period a failure and views it exclusively positively:

— It was a cool experience. The more difficult the situation, the more interesting it is to find a way out of it later,” the Altai Mowgli muses.

According to the young man, that’s exactly why starting his own business wasn’t scary for him. Moreover, he is sure that most of the necessary knowledge comes during the work process.

— I don’t think you need to specifically study something for this. You gain experience, navigate the situation, and work. Of course, I went through many scammy training sessions, read lots of articles to at least basically figure out, for example, which tax system to choose for an individual entrepreneur. Maybe it didn’t bring much benefit, but I was constantly immersed in this information and inspired to move forward,” he says.

“You need to go through fear”

However, his path wasn’t without difficulties: when Odzhan decided to leave the food service industry and get a job as an apartment renovation specialist, he encountered salary delays, so he had to take out microloans and credits to pay for housing. But despite this negative experience, it was the construction field that later became a new source of stable income for him.

— It’s probably a poor person’s syndrome: to fix everything yourself, to understand everything. Fixing a faucet, laying tiles — it’s not hard. If I don’t know how to do something, I learn quickly. Soon I’ll be installing hidden-mount doors for the first time in my life. First time, but I know I’ll manage. Things can always go wrong. You take it, redo it, smooth over your mistakes. The main thing is that the result is good and clients are satisfied,” he smiles.

At the same time, the young man admits that work in construction is only a temporary stage for him:

— I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 years, and I dream of saving up funds and opening my own production of vegetarian products and prepared foods. Such a project, of course, requires huge investments — at least seven to ten million rubles ($70,000–$100,000), but that doesn’t scare me,” Odzhan says.

Despite all his optimism, the Altai Mowgli admits with sadness that the rhythm of the city has affected his usual life, so there’s no time left for his favorite hobby — he used to enjoy painting pictures on commission. By the way, for the same reason, Odzhan hasn’t seen his family for three years, but he tries to call them often and find out how they’re doing. So far, Odzhan hasn’t met the love of his life, but he’s sure he first needs to get on his feet.

— When I lived in the mountains, there were many difficulties, so probably little scares me now. I don’t understand why people have a tendency to fear something and not do it, not move toward something new. On the contrary, you need to go through fear, like the kitten named Woof: “How can you not go toward difficulties when they’re waiting for you?”