Yep – conference season is in full swing, with many of you having attended European events such as Fr.A.P.P.E in Bordeaux, France, and APPE in Madrid, spain – as well as the event that’s on everyone’s bucket list, if not annual travel itinerary: the APP Annual Conference and Expo in las Vegas, Us if you’re yet to join the party, fear not; there are more hangouts on the horizon this summer, and you can get a preview of two of them in this issue of The Sharp End. Firstly, turn to page 10 for some exclusive speaker and vendor announcements from Nathan Hague, organiser of the Piercer trade show 2.5 in london – that’s right folks, you heard it here first! Then flick to page 38 for the lowdown on this year’s unmissable UKAPP Conference in Manchester from the organisation’s Public outreach/Vice President Becky Crossan.
speaking of exclusive, there’s also big news from Cognition training on page seven, relating to the royal society for Public Health level 2 Award in infection Prevention and Control for special Procedures course that is probably on the radar for most of you now, especially piercers in Wales.
And it doesn’t stop there! last month i was hugely fortunate to grab an interview with none other than Nick Martin, founder of BVlA. turn to page 22 to meet the man himself and to hear the story behind the brand – and the wider industry – as you’ve never heard it before! there’s all this and more in the pages that follow, and i hope, as always, that the magazine brings you some inspiration – not to mention a little time out for yourself.
With sunny best wishes,
h ooked
What does body suspension mean to those who practise it? We hear four very different – but all deeply personal – perspectives from each step of the journey
06 News a N d views
All the latest industry news and updates from the piercing community
12 dat es for your diary
Don’t miss these exciting industry events taking place in the UK and further afield over the coming months
22 _ Carpe diem
Nick Martin, Founder of BVLA, charts the epic adventure that has brought him to where he is today, and the industry evolution he’s witnessed along the way
30 Cutti N g shapes
Statement daith jewellery is a surefire festival season winner, and this showcase features some choice designs for summer 2023
34 _ p owe r C ou ples
Working together and living together? We hear from three couples in the industry who have a recipe for success
38 _ r ol l up, roll up! Getting excited for this year’s UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) annual conference? Here’s a sneak preview
40 _ Chro N i C li N g the C o NC h Pa ul King, Founder of the Body Piercing Archive, delves into the fascinating history of the conch piercing
43 _ t im e for te C h N iq ue Expert piercer and teacher Helen Houghton is here to share her 15 years of experience with us, on the subject of macrodermal implants
46 _ m i N d over matter
Elizabeth Moore explains why it’s so important to work with neurodiversity, rather than against it, in your career as a piercer
50 _ eN d- N ot e i N sp o
A fabulous representative of the industry’s newest talent, Sacred Gold’s Sid Briggs inspires us with the story of his apprenticeship so far
Building on the success of its best-selling threadless pieces, Tish Lyon has launched a contemporary collection of internally threaded piercing jewellery, offering piercers an increased choice between threadless and internally threaded in order to enhance the experience for piercers and clients alike.
The range draws inspiration from Tish Lyon’s most popular threadless attachments, with designs adapted to an internally threaded format, providing a smooth transition for piercers whilst expanding the options available for them to work with. Meanwhile, increased ease of use aims to create a more comfortable experience for clients, to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The new collection encompasses a broad spectrum of styles, including gem-adorned pieces and minimalistic designs, enabling piercers to curate unique and luxurious collections to offer their
clients. From crystal snakes to dangling chains, the ever-growing range of internal attachments are available in 14ct yellow and white solid gold, a perfect match for Tish Lyon’s quality titanium stems.
“I am so excited to offer this new collection, which broadens the creativity of piercers internationally,” says Natasha Lyons, the creator behind Tish Lyon. “By bringing together our gold internal attachments and titanium products, we will enable piercers to attain both creativity and profitability with well-priced products they can trust.”
Huge congratulations to Beckie of Gold Point Piercing and her husband Martin of InkMasters Tattoo , who ran a charity raffle through their studio in May in aid of the children and young people at the Royal Marsden Cancer Unit in Sutton – and raised a whopping £2,700 for this fantastic cause!
“Our drive for this is our youngest son Blake who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare type of blood cancer, aged just 10 years old,” Beckie (pictured) explains. “The diagnosis tipped our world upside down in the blink of an eye. We spent months in hospital with minimal breaks.”
More than 80 prizes were donated for the raffle by the couple themselves along with local and national businesses. “I am truly grateful to everyone who contributed,” says Beckie.
“A special thank you goes to the wonderful Stephen from Apex, Alex from Sharp Point Piercing, Jeanette from Queen Arthur Adornment and Denise from Labyrinth. Also to those who bought
the tickets! I was incredibly touched by this from our piercing community.”
The money will now be used to purchase gifts for the children, teenagers and parents on the ward, as well as to buy the nurses some of the things they need. The remainder will be used by the centre however it sees fit.
“Blake is one year in remission now. He is an incredible boy, and we are so proud of him and his older brother Brandon who had to watch it all unfold,” Beckie adds. “Now, we get to make people smile, just like others did for us last year.”
Body art education provider
Cognition Training has been working hard on a brand new project to help the industry and piercers progress and meet the highest standards.
Not only is it now registered as an approved training centre for the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), but it will also be delivering the new RSPH Level 2 Award in Infection Prevention and Control for Special Procedures course that will be needed for licensing in Wales. The content will be available online to everyone, not only those based in Wales who will be required to complete it as part of the new licensing requirements being put into place.
“We can foresee this being rolled out across the whole of the UK eventually,” predicts Director of Cognition Training Olly Todd, “so why not get a head start and do yours now!”
The course is set to go live in July/August, and you can register for updates at www.cognition.training
01. InTroduce yourself!
I’m Hannah Bough, I’ve been piercing for 13 years and I am the owner and one of the piercers at Onyx Body Piercing in walsall, west Midlands.
02. WHIcH brAnd do you represenT?
I am proud to represent NeoMetal europe as its UK sales Agent.
03. WHAT does your brAnd specIAlIse In?
NeoMetal is the original inventor of threadless jewellery. The threadless titanium range includes everything from gem ends and
labrets to nipple bars and circular barbells. we have recently switched from 14ct to 18ct gold and are now offering our famous Flower ends (#neopetals) in gold and with genuine diamonds.
04. WHAT Is THe lATesT bIg developmenT you’d lIke To sHouT AbouT?
Our Titanium Clusters! They look amazing in a variety of placements, especially both inner and outer conch, tragus and helix. I love the fact they’re available in both faceted
gems and cabochons, as well as the Clusters that have been specially created for our Pride Collection (pictured – available on neometal.com only).
05. WHAT do you love mosT AbouT WorkIng In THIs IndusTry?
The inclusivity of it and the amazing clients I get to work with.
How do other piercers keep up their momentum when giving aftercare 50 million times a day... week... month... year?
Top tips on how to deal with the repetitiveness of that part of the job. – Bex
Ah, the dreaded aftercare speech that no one even listens to haha! I joke, kinda. I wonder if the repetitiveness is getting too much for you because you feel like it falls on deaf ears, so to speak?
In my personal practice I keep the aftercare speech short and sweet, mainly emphasising that they read my lengthy aftercare email, received automatically after filling in their consent form. I’ve noticed people pay far more attention this way. They tend to read the email before coming through to the piercing room. It also means they have something in their phones to refer back to. Maybe you could try a different approach, such as this.
But is it the aftercare that’s really bothering you? Or repetitiveness in general? I believe the opposite of the mundane is creativity! s o,
maybe try to introduce some more of that into your working day – take beautiful photos, draw up curations, make a silly reel, decorate your cabinet. Get that brain out of autopilot and allow yourself to be submerged in FUN! Hopefully then the mundane won’t be as overwhelming.
s ending you all the creative juices and some sparks to get them flowing!
– All my love, the Piercing Piskie
Our service has expanded to now include the United Kingdom, making NeoMetal even more accessible.
We’re covering the cost of duties!
Use code ‘NODUTIES ’ to save 10% at checkout.
1-Week Lead Times
we will also be running another charity raffle in London, and I would like to personally thank everyone who participated in the raffle held during the Manchester event in April. In total, we raised more than £1,500 for our charitable cause.
The upcoming edition of the Piercer Trade Show, at the Big London Tattoo Show, is a one-day piercing conference featuring some of the world’s best tutors and vendors.
we’ve already announced two classes: Lucy Simmons from Love Hate Social Club in Cork, who will be delivering an ear curation class (@lcpiercing) and world traveller and educator Nahuel Burgos with his history class (@nahuel_beta_bodymod).
Now, we can exclusively reveal our next two classes for this event!
‘Th E ME d I c A l ST u FF ’ dENISE Tho MS o N Current UKAPP board member and NHS nurse with 20-plus years of piercing experience.
‘Sho PFITTIN g AN d d ESI g N ’
M A rcu S M E y E r Owner and operator of Blank Displays and former project leader in retail shop design.
Plus, we also have two new vendors that we are proud to announce...
Ju NIP urr J E w E lry and Buddh A J E w E lry o rg ANI c S u K will both be showcasing their latest jewellery and you will be able to purchase directly from them on the day.
Plus, we are super thankful to our returning vendors for supporting us, including: Danila Tarcinale, Industrial Strength UK, Inari Organics UK, Stiletto Piercing Supplies UK, Apex Handcrafted Body Jewellery, NeoMetal e U, Blank Displays and NeilMed.
After London, we will start planning our 2024 events, taking place at the Tattoo Tea Party in Manchester and the Dublin Tattoo Convention in Dublin. Dates will be announced soon, and if you have a class to offer or want to bring your jewellery or piercing-specific company to vend, please drop us a line at piercertradeshow@gmail.com
we are super excited to show these brand-new classes and vendors for 2023 at our new event home in London. Get your tickets now via our Instagram bio link!
@piercingtradeshow
As well as carrying important industry updates, these pages are the place for you, the piercing community, to shout about all of your achievements and developments. So, if for example your studio has held a charity fundraiser, celebrated an anniversary, carried out a refit or rebranding, won an award or hosted an event – please let us know!
Send your submissions to editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk or tag us in your announcement on Instagram @thesharpend_magazine or Facebook (The Sharp End Magazine).
Here are some of the unmissable industry events taking place in the UK and beyond over the coming months...
p iercer t ra de s ho w 2.5 27 a ug ust
ExCel London (at the Big London Tattoo Show) @piercingtradeshow
Big London tat too s ho w 26-27 a ug ust
ExCel London biglondontattooshow.com
u K ap p c on ference 2023 24-26 s ep tember Radisson Blu Edwardian, Manchester ukapp.org.uk
e me rgency f ir st a id at w or K ( efaw ) course 27 s ep tember Manchester cognition.training
5 t he w ee s co ttish p ie rcing eX po ( sponsored by Buddha Jewelry Organics with support from Stiletto UK) 3-4 March 2024
The Old Dr Bells Baths, Edinburgh @theweescottishpiercingexpo
i nternationa L i nspiration
B m Xn et 7-10 September Berlin, Germany bmxnet.org
apa r it orno a LL e o ri gini Vo L 6 2 1-23 October Pescara, Italy @ritornoalleorigini.apa
Let’s fi LL t his map up! If you know of a conference, expo or open-door event that should be on this page, or have one of your own to promote, send the details to editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk
PROUDLY SUPPORTING THE BEST STUDIOS ON THE PLANET #THECHOICEOFPROFESSIONALS
Getting under the skin of body suspension, we hear what it means to those who practise it, from four different perspectives
The first time I got in touch with suspensionbody was when I was around 10 or 11 years old. I was lurking on the heavy body modification website, BME, and saw pictures of people suspending from hooks. After seeing these pictures and looking more on the internet I went to the local library and found the book, Modern Primitives. Ever since that age I had a spark for hook suspension. It wasn’t until my early 20s that I finally had the chance to do my first suspension. I was nervous and stressed and didn’t enjoy it as I would have loved to. It took another year or maybe two until I tried again. But the second time was life changing for me. Ever since that suspension I knew I would love to facilitate. I got suspended a few more times until some friends and I decided to try, and we began to suspend each other. I started going to BMXnet and took as many classes as I could about suspension. I talked with other facilitators and never stopped learning. Now, about six years later, I provide this service to people who
want to experience a hook suspension. I offer as suspensionsmany as I can to people asking. I travel to suspend people and it controls a big portion of my life. I can’t thank the people I help suspend enough. The joy you get from suspending people is indescribable. There have been a few suspensions that I have performed or helped to perform where the suspendee and bystanders have started crying, because everybody in the same room felt
connected to the person suspending. Some people use it to overcome certain problems in their lives, and being a part of that journey is the most special thing.
Suspension connected me with so many people around Europe – even the world. I have friends whom I talk to regularly because I met them suspension.through
I understand it looks bloody and gory, but it’s also beautiful at the same time.
@aikobmba
As a kid I was always fascinated by the strange and abnormal. I can’t thank my parents for much, unfortunately, but I am grateful that they had no concept of parental controls when it came to the worldwide web, circa 2005, because it meant I could scour the internet for the weird, the gore and the subcultures. I loved watching documentaries with my grandma about the process of mummification, and I’d flip through Guinness World Record books for hours to see the ‘freaks’ and how far they could push their bodies.
The first images I saw of body suspension came from either 4chan or BME, but I will always attribute my fascination for it to ‘that’ scene in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If you’ve seen it, you know. From that first encounter, I
knew it was a sensation I wanted to experience. Fast forward to a cold Sunday in Nottingham, in January of this year. The rig is built, facilitators Aiko, Alicia and Aiden are here, and the time has finally come for that experience to happen. I regulate my breathing to steady my adrenalin. Alicia’s calm voice fills my brain. She talks me through her process as a guide; I don’t know what I need from her yet but I know she is there. I know Aiko and Aiden are there. I trust the process.
The hooks feel like fire but I’m not afraid. I have my reference points clear in mind. I expected the burn and I enjoy the weight in my back. I’d planned to keep the room clear of spectators but when the moment comes, I don’t care. I feel under no obligation to provide any kind of performance. There are no expectations as to how this will go. But I know I will hang.
I’m connected up to the rig. My blood is cleaned. I’m vaguely aware of the people in the room; I feel their energy. The tension on my skin feels good. Lifting the first foot is easy, but everything in my body tells me to keep the other one down. I feel the doubt and look at Alicia. “Don’t look down, look over here,” she suggests. My feet are up and I’m lifted by Aiko.
My brain is quiet. I physically adjust to the sensation of hanging. My brain is still and I breathe. I ground myself with conversation because I feel vulnerable. Aiden says it’s good to see me
“my BraiN is QuieT. i PhysiCally aDJusT TO The seNsaTiON Of haNGiNG”
so calm. I feel calm. I feel mentally relaxed. As I hang I become aware of the endorphins, the building euphoria. The feeling isn’t comparable. The descent is heavy, as Alicia said it would be. My feet touch the floor and I feel incredibly heavy. I let the warmth of the endorphins flood me. The hooks are removed and I feel a moment of grief that the experience is over. I feel overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity.
I’m cleaned and dressed and I need a moment alone. This day has been 17 years in the making. A curious fantasy has become an important reality. I was suspended.
I know this is only the beginning. I plan to suspend again as soon as possible and allow myself to fully relax into the moment, take the time to close my eyes and just ‘be’. I’m curious to see
what comes up for me, and how it compares to my first time. That 11-year-old weirdo kid with a computer is forever impressed that this 28-year-old adult woman is able to share such incredible experiences with such wonderful people.
@gempiercing_
My first memory of seeing suspension was when my parents took me to a Circus of Horrors show when I was about 10 years old, and I saw one of the performers doing what I now know as a ‘hook pull’. I have always been into body modification from as young as I can remember, and over the past few years have been actively seeking out new experiences within the industry. Suspension just appealed to me more and more on so many levels as I heard other people’s experiences and how it’s affected their mind, body and wider life.
“i know This is onlY The Beginning. i Plan To susPenD again as soon as PossiBle”
Last year, I reached a point where it just seemed ‘right’ to experiment with suspension, and everything lined up for my first experience to happen with Tam and the State of Bliss crew. I remember being really nervous and excited for my first experience, as everybody I spoke to had something different to say about suspension. The overall gist was that it was an incredible experience but I was still a little confused as to what to expect from my time with Tam.
I chose to do a twopoint suspension in my
back, as that seemed the standard first suspension from what I read online. I remember meeting Tam outside the venue and he instantly put me at ease; all the crew were so warm and lovely. He sat me down and talked me through the process. He also asked me why I wanted to suspend, and at that moment I just went blank! Why did I want to suspend? I actually couldn’t put it into words. Looking back on it now, I know that I really wanted the experience and to explore my mind and body further. I was super nervous about the piercing part, but as it transpired I find getting the piercings the easiest part – the more hooks the better! We got rigged up and I went up surprisingly quickly – too quickly, as it turned out, and I almost fainted a few times but the guys were all really supportive and helped me through it. We eventually found that having some connection to the ground worked best for me, and holding hands until I was off the floor worked great.
I remember the rush of being off the ground being so overwhelming, and I was beaming from ear to ear. The sense of achievement from overcoming the doubt in my mind that I’d even get off the ground was incredible! That day, we also discovered that I LOVE a hook pull (pictured). for me, hook pulls are just pure fun whereas being off the ground is something more meditative. I approach suspension with a much more open mind now and treat every suspension individually. I also love to be more in control of my suspension experience; as soon as I’m rigged up and the tension is set on the hooks, I like to have the rope and control getting off the ground. I love suspension because it makes me live for right now. Everything just melts away and time stops; I get lost in my experience and it allows me to switch off from everything going on in life and be present for just that moment in time.
@piercedbyjosh“FOR ME, HOOK PULLS ARE PURE FUN WHEREAS BEING OFF THE GROUND IS MEDITATIVE”
To us, suspension is a ritualistic, holistic, artistic opportunity for closeness to the self.
Utilising pain is, for many, an empowering and incredible way to dance and play with bodily sensation and ownership. It can be described as an out-of-body and often out-of-mind space, offering a quiet stillness that isn’t accessible in our every day.
Suspension ritual, for most, starts with undeniable and often subconscious setting of intention. Is it simply to experience sensation? Is it to trust yourself, your practitioner, and/or your audience? Is it simply to fulfil a curiosity? Is it to access a feeling? Is it to bring yourself closer to nature?
Whilst there is a lot to be said for the power of intention setting, it’s important to consider that suspension will give you what you need, not always what you wish for.
At Incrementum in Dolore, based in Suffolk, UK, we strive to facilitate an experience that is as unique as our suspendee. Whether this be holistic, artistic, spiritualexperimental, or physical – as facilitators, we endeavour to connect with our suspendee prior to their ritual in a personal conversation to determine the framework and parameters required, and to work out how we can best care for them, before, during and after an emotional experience. The physical aspect of suspension is as variable
as the emotional: finding the safest hook placement; considering the most ‘comfortable’ discomfort piercing spots for the suspendee; considering rigging requirements; body positioning; tuning into body language; and reducing physical risk as much as possible whilst maintaining an awareness of biological material, all the while unconditionalofferingcare through empathetic coaching and tenderness. These things all differ from individual to individual and it’s important for us, as facilitators, to stay vigilant and versatile.
A lot goes into suspension. A lot comes out of suspension. And it’s an honour to facilitate a space for such huge energy. If you’re curious to learn more, we’d be happy to hear from you.
Industry-specific quality education and training
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Blood-borne virus biosafety training out now
In this exclusive interview with Louise Hoffman, BVLA Founder Nick Marti N reflects on the epic adventure that has brought him and the wider industry to the place they are now
“You’re going to think I’m a real nutcase,” admits Nick Martin, Founder of Body Vision Los Angeles (BVLA), as he relays his incredible life story to me over the phone from his office in the US.
This man has done things that most people only see in Hollywood films – and it’s all down to fearless determination (with a bit of good timing thrown in). In fact, as we speak, he’s just returned from a trial run through the b aja California desert in a Tundra pickup, with his partner kerry, in preparation for entering the two-day N o RRA 500 off-road race in a bV l A-wrapped race truck later this year.
“I’m also a pilot,” he adds, to my increasing amazement, “which I took up partly because it’s such a discipline. I’ve always been a person who wanted to get the craziest outcome out of everything, but when I reached my early 40s I realised that probably wasn’t the best way to have a long life! With flying you have to be really careful, and what you’re looking for is an uneventful outcome. I’ve
flown maybe 1,500 hours, including down to Mexico, up to the Canadian border, and across the United States.”
o h yeah, and he’s also tried wing-walking (“which was scary, I’ll kid you not!”) and, last year, casually took up aerobatics as a new hobby – now performing
loops, Cuban eights and barrel rolls, among other manoeuvres.
b ut, hold up, let’s rewind for a moment and find out where this already mindblowing saga starts...
“I’ve always been a person who wanted to get the craz I est outcome out of everyth I ng”
The beginnings
Nick’s story actually begins in London, England – but that’s not the backdrop for very long. It was a tough start for him and his young, single mother, and after finishing at Mandeville high school in Aylesbury he decided to venture across the Pond to try the US for size.
“I was illegal when I first went over there –undocumented – so I bounced between tourist towns where it was easier to get a job; lots of restaurants would turn a blind eye,” he explains.
“I remember at one point, when I was 22, I convinced my girlfriend at the time that I would save all my money from my dishwashing job in Massachusetts to buy a tiny sail boat, and sail it from there to the promise of another dishwashing job in Key West, Florida. But we got caught in the tail of a hurricane and were lost at sea for about six days.
“After we were rescued by the coastguard, my girlfriend of course left me! But I stuck with it, and after six months I finally got to Key West in this tiny little boat – with no electronic navigation and no money to speak of. It was literally, like, socks on the hands instead of gloves and just going for it!”
Life continued in this vein, with promotions from dishwashing to cooking along the way, until one day whilst working in a restaurant in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a friend invited Nick to interview for a sales position at a jewellery store in the vibrant, LGBTQ+ capital Provincetown – and he got the job.
“I soon realised, however, that as a shy English person who didn’t ever want to push anything on anybody, my sales were just awful! So I hid out the back and taught myself how to make
jewellery,” he explains.
“First it was about polishing people’s rings – that was my shtick. I’d be like, ‘Oh let me take your ring and polish it and make it new’, and then maybe the owner would talk to them and I’d be let off the hook of trying to sell them something they probably didn’t need or couldn’t afford.”
By now it was the end of the 1980s, going into the early 90s, and so a lot of the body jewellery was Gauntlet-style.
“It was pretty much formed around S&M stuff – nipple barbells with pullers on them,
RIGHT: N ICK AN d HIS PARTNER BVLA CFO K ERRy“Failure; i won’ T even con T emplaT e i T. iT jus T can’ T even exis T, you know?”
big PA rings, giant labrets with 3/8in beads on them; and gold was also really cheap – I think it was $300 an ounce at that point. So I started off making some of these crazy things, but they were so... utilitarian, let’s say. And I started thinking, does it all have to be like this? Can’t we make something more delicate and beautiful for a change?”
With that, Nick began working on a fledgling line of what are now very familiar to us all as charms. “I see these things today – little bezels and marquise prong-sets with a jump ring and a little bit of chain. I made about 45 of these charms to hang off navel rings, plus a few other pieces here and there. It didn’t really go anywhere; it was just a nice thing to do.”
One winter, while the summer tourist destination of Provincetown was hibernating, Nick embarked on a motorcycle trip across the country with a friend, camping along the way. It was during this trip that he was to reunite with someone he’d met some time earlier in Key West and who was now living at Lake Tahoe. Someone who, by mindboggling coincidence, had also attended the same high school as Nick, back in Aylesbury; and someone
who, as fate had determined, was destined to play the biggest role of all in his future life: his now-wife Kerry.
Staying with Kerry for a month at first, Nick instantly fell in love with California, with snowboarding and with skiing. And it was there, a year later – after a brief return to Cape Cod – that his story was set to take a serious, yet pivotal, turn...
“I had a terrible accident. I broke my leg in eight places dirt-biking up in the mountains; I had to be airlifted out, and was in hospital for about five weeks,” he reveals.
“Being illegal, I didn’t have medical insurance, and I had no money to speak of. It was brutal. My cooking career –which I’d returned to in Tahoe – was completely over, and all I had was a vague dream of getting the jewellery line off the ground. I’d made a little catalogue and a few more pieces – I think, my first threaded flower ends – but I didn’t have the gumption, and had been working too hard and having too much fun, to really pursue it.”
However, after convalescing for the best part of eight months with no money coming in, and unable to return to the kitchen, Nick was forced to accept a stark reality. “Because I grew up very poor in England, and because I was illegal in the US, after my accident it all
became very apparent: no one is going to help you, you’re going to end up on the street.
“This country is really great when you’re producing, but when you’re not producing you get kicked to the wayside like a lame dog. Failure was just not an option – I couldn’t fail, because if I failed that would be it for me. So I think that’s what got me through, and past every obstacle that has come up since. Failure; I won’t even contemplate it. It just can’t even exist, you know?”
f orging ahea D
After this wake-up call, Nick set about reassembling his little line of jewellery. Then, in customary audacious style, he climbed back on board his dirt bike – with his crutches tucked under the seat – and rode to San Francisco, where he found a copy of the yellow pages and started calling local tattoo shops.
“I went to a shop called Body Manipulations, which still exists now, and the lady there actually bought some of my jewellery! I couldn’t believe it! And you’ve got to remember, it didn’t look that great either,” he laughs. “So I headed back to Tahoe and was like, ‘Kerry, Kerry, this lady bought some stuff!’ And Kerry said, ‘That’s great, how are you going to make more?’
“Well, we had to kind of trick the system, because I didn’t really have any money and even buying six inches of 18g wire was a major stressor,” he continues. “Back then you could use ATMs to fake a deposit and then withdraw half of that deposit straight back out, which was so stupid – they stopped it after about six months! So what I would do – and I’m sorry to admit this – is pretend, for instance, that the deposit envelope contained $200, then I could draw out $100 and that’s how I would buy the wire.
“Of course the next day I’d get hit with a $35 insufficient funds fee. But that’s how I got started – with all these little micro loans, if you will. I mean, it was wrong. But the bank is a giant corporation and they profited from it, so that’s how I’ve somewhat justified it. They got their money back, plus the fines,
and it helped me start my little business. No one was going to lend me any money, after all.”
With the fledgling Body Vision business (with its “very 90s” logo, as Nick describes it!) growing account by account – the second being with Reno, Nevada’s stillstrong Black Hole studio –Nick moved production out of his living room and into a small office space in Tahoe. But as he relied on more people in the daily running of the business, it became increasingly clear that the future of this enterprise lay elsewhere.
“The problem was that, up in Tahoe, when it snowed, no one would come to work because they’d be out on the mountain. Even the FedEx driver would be late, and I’d miss deliveries. So it started to dawn on me that if I was going to grow the business, I couldn’t be there any longer. I needed to be in a city where there was a jewellery district.”
The big move
So it was that in 1996/7, Nick moved to the city that has been home to BVLA ever since: Los Angeles.
“Kerry and I had become really good friends by this point, and I begged her, ‘You’ve got to come and help me sometimes – I don’t know how to do the books, I barely know how to write cheques!’
And I knew I’d miss her,” he recalls. “It was on one such occasion that we realised, this is crazy, we’re absolutely in love with each other! So she moved down, and the business started rolling.”
First, they rented manufacturing premises in the jewellery district in downtown LA – a district which, funnily enough, the company has returned to in recent years for some of its operations.
“There was a lot of demand, but there wasn’t many of me – no one really knew how to make this type of jewellery,” Nick explains. “I was making internally
“ i couldn’ T h ave done any of T hi s by myself”
threaded curved barbell shafts, for example, and at that point they had to be drilled out by hand – I hadn’t made any little machines to do it – so it took a lot of skill.
“On a Friday night I would hide in a corner of my little factory with the lights off until security closed down the building and went home. Then I’d drill curved barbell shafts all weekend and not leave this horrible room until the factory was unlocked again on the Monday morning! It was dangerous, because had there been an earthquake or a fire I’d have been trapped in there. But, you know, you do what you’ve got to do.”
From these humble
beginnings, BVLA has grown beyond Nick’s wildest dreams, now employing a team of 125 people across six factories in Los Angeles, with most manufacturing located 20 minutes out of downtown, in La Verne.
“The team here is amazing. I couldn’t have done any of this by myself. I have some insanely amazing and creative managers, executives, jewellers, gem setters and polishers, including Kerry, Jill, Niki, Kaycee, Adam, Jade, Krista and Becka. And our customer service, I feel, is second to none,” Nick enthuses.
“We’ve been really selective about who we hire. My thing is, you can always teach somebody a task, but you can’t teach them to be decent and nice. So we try to hire people who are decent and nice, and then if we have to teach them the task, that’s fine. We try to keep a really beautiful, happy culture here, and as a result, some of the people from those early days in downtown Los Angeles still work for me after 20 years.”
So, what’s next? Well, there are lots of plans in the pipeline for BVLA, from website updates, new packaging and laser engraving, to a beautifully produced brand book. Rumour has it, there’s also a coffee table book to come, highlighting stand-out studios across the 50 States of America as a snapshot of this moment in piercing in the 21st century. A similar project for Europe will hopefully follow.
Ultimately, though, Nick is philosophical about the future. “People sometimes ask, ‘Where are you going with this? Are you just a megalomaniac – do you want to just keep growing this thing?’ What I say to them is this: business is like gardening to me. You get a seed and you put it in the ground and water it a bit and a little shoot comes up, and you think, oh that’s cool! So you
water it a bit more and a couple of leaves appear and you think, wow! Then a tomato comes, and you’re like, holy shit that’s amazing! And then you just keep doing it, because it’s not so much for the money, it’s more for seeing something that’s been created out of nothing grow.”
So, having come all this way, I’m curious to know what Nick’s feelings are when he looks back at those early days in the industry. “There are some favourite memories and some not-so-favourite memories,” he replies. “Back then I would travel around in my little Toyota Prius and, with lots of determination and lots and lots of rejection, I would go to these stores, which, in the 90s were mostly tattoo shops, right? They were pretty grim, with just a little bit of piercing stuff in the back; the tattooists mostly thought the piercers were a joke, and it was just kind of sad.
“I’d go in, still somewhat of a shy English person, I’d plonk my jewellery down on the counter and they’d say, ‘That shit is for old ladies; no one wants gold’, and I’d say, ‘OK thank you, bye!’, and this happened over and over again,” he recalls. “To think about now being able to sell pieces made out of diamonds, sapphires or alexandrite and platinum; back then I was just happy to sell a 14ct gold cubic zirconia nostril screw!
“But when you broke through
all that, it was one of the most amazing things. I’d leave a little store in, I don’t know, Des Moines, Iowa, and my nowfriend Leo would have bought something from me – it was a rush!”
Today, Nick has to pinch himself about how far the industry has come: “Back then it was a hopeful time, but no one really knew where any of us were going. I think people in the industry didn’t recognise piercing and body jewellery as a money-making thing; it was just something people on the fringe did. They didn’t ever think they were going to put their kids through school doing it – let alone lead the fashion and jewellery industries like so many do now!
“I mean, you’ve got fashion houses scrambling to create looks that are just natural to us. And I see all these jewellery companies (that weren’t ever piercing jewellery companies in the beginning) trying to get in on the scene, but it’s going to be hard given they don’t understand the intricacies that combine body and metal. Meanwhile, piercing studios have become ambassadors of style – they are the new jewellery stores. That, to me, is amazing!
“I’m proud to be part of this industry, I really am. I think we’re still growing and we haven’t seen the best yet.”
With the festival season underway, statement daith pieces are sure to be a winner. Here are some stand-out moons, hearts, spirals and curves to inspire your cabinet curations and add the finishing touch to your clients’ summer looks
“Our popular LunEAR design was inspired by Julia, my daughter, who was only three years old at the time (and is now about to turn 13!). She had an obsession with the moon and would have to see it every night she could, prior to falling asleep. There was so much talk about moons that I came up with the idea to make a moon piece for the increasingly popular daith piercing. And so the LunEAR was born!”
Josh Collins bodygems.com“The LeRoi ‘King of Hearts Collection ©™’ sometime between 2010-12 and was completed over two years, being introduced to the public in s ep tember 2012.
“ we had noticed a little trend growing within a few of our retailers. we would get occasional requests to bend wire into heart shapes. It was an interesting concept because it opened up the possibilities for so many different types of shape, and not necessarily just heart shapes. w he n you look at the daith anatomy there’s so much room for creativity with jewellery designs to be placed there. we can’t confirm we were the first company to make these, but we were at least one of the first.
“The trend continued, and we thought it would be fun to create one special
heart design per month. we so realised we didn’t want to be limited to just wire we started to cast 85/ au7 50 with interesting shapes and textures, and adding stones.
“The campaign was super cool, and we named it l e r oi ‘King of lection ©™’ (Koh ). we created a display card that resembled a playing card from a deck of cards. o n this card was the featured design of the month and on the back of the card was the ever-growing collection of past designs. we also featured body piercers’ photos of piercings using the Koh d esigns. It was an amazingly successful, collaborative campaign.
“It’s nearly 13 years later and the collection continues to be successful. But of course, these days design ideas have expanded far beyond just heart shapes!”
Terry LeRoi www.leroi.comGold Pavé Gem Hinge Heart Ring in 14ct yellow, white and rose gold wholesalebodyjewellery.com
“Our Daith Rockers were born out of a gap that we saw in the market, with only BCRs and CBBs really being used, so we decided to design and create something new to fill that gap. In designing pieces I like to take advantage of spirals and curves, for a sort of natural, organic flow, then the actual creation takes a bit of elbow grease, hand bending, hand polishing and finishing for a trademark sparkle!”
Stephen Clarke @apex_piercing
In the first issue of The Sharp End , we put a call out for couples who work together – and we had a great response! Here are the stories of three such couples, and their top tips for a happy working relationship
We are Kathryn and Rob, owners of The Black Sage Gallery in Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
Rob is the tattoo artist and specialises in neo-traditional pieces and black and grey work, with around 10 years in the industry, while I, Kathryn, am the professional piercer, specialising in a range of body piercings, ear styling and curations, with a passion for gold jewellery and a bit of creative freedom when planning out a piercing. We had the idea to open our own studio after lockdown, deciding that it was the perfect time to put ourselves and our family first. We have two children together, now aged three and four, plus a mortgage and we’ve been planning our wedding, so we thought
why not throw a new business into the mix too!
We were previously working in a studio owned by someone else, which was frustrating for Rob who felt he couldn’t realise his goals with tattooing. Meanwhile, as the in-house piercer, I had no control over the jewellery or supplies being used.
After leaving that studio, it took us around six months to secure premises and get planning approval for our own. Then a further two months of renovation on the premises to get it looking and feeling how we envisioned. After a long eight months, we finally opened our studio to clients in March 2022, and had a great response from our previous clients, other local businesses and residents. Working together can be
challenging! But we do work well together and try to share the responsibilities of everything studio-related. We find that clear communication and a united front when dealing with issues means that everything runs smoothly from day to day... except when trying to build flatpack furniture two weeks before our opening deadline – let’s just say that was a touch-and-go moment!
It’s important to always tell your partner when they’ve done something great, or find the right time to talk if something needs improving on. We’ve learnt to reach out to each other when we’re struggling and help each other through any difficulties. The best part is that we know how to make each other a good cup of coffee. Plus Rob always knows when I’m getting hangry!
Our other top tip for making a business work together as a couple is to have fun and enjoy what you do, but also know when a break is needed. Holidays are for relaxing and enjoying each other’s company without thinking about work.
The last few years have been incredibly stressful, opening our business and juggling that with a young family. But we still got married in June, so we must be doing something right!
@theblacksagegallery @theveganpiercer
The Black Sage g allery, e ccle S hall
kaT hryn and r o B
allows us to work well together is having not only a similar vision for the studio itself, but the same priorities in terms of services offered.
ii -listed building at the height of the 2021 lockdown, and opened shortly after in May 2021.
Hi, I’m Emma Regan and I work with my fiancé Jamie Lee Knott at our studio, Chapters, in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.
i ’ve been piercing for nine years now, and have been a u KAPP member for the last couple of years. Recently, i got elected as Secretary on the u KAPP board! Jamie has been tattooing for 12 years and specialises in neotraditional tattoos.
We first started working together in 2014 when Jamie opened his first studio, d ark Horse c ollective, with his then business partner Rich Harris, and i joined to offer piercing. i n 2020 we decided to venture out on our own and set up our current studio, c hapters. We (very sensibly!) decided to take on a completely derelict Grade
Working together has always been something that came relatively easy to us (although that doesn’t always mean we agree!).
i think the main factor that
o ur studio has a very homely feel and we wanted to keep and showcase as many of the original features as possible and create a relaxing and unintimidating environment. u pon first entry you wouldn’t even necessarily know that we offer piercings or tattoos! o ur main focus has always been on client and artist happiness, so we strive to create a friendly and comfortable studio for anyone who happens to come in, as well as offering the best service we possibly can.
o ur top tip for couples considering working together has always been to leave the relationship at the door! As soon as we enter the studio any arguments about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher are forgotten and it’s time to focus on making our customers happy. i t also helps that our current studio is across two floors, so i g et a break from hearing some of his truly awful jokes!
Working together is no different to living together; sometimes you have to make compromises and you won’t always necessarily agree on how to decorate, but i t hink as long as you both have a similar passion for your career and always keep your clients as your top priority then you can’t go wrong!
@chapterstattoostudio
@emmareganpiercing @jamieleetattoo
3 Katie
We are Katie and Matt, co-owners of Foxhie Studio in sunny Southend, Essex.
We have been fully established in our own place for almost a year, deciding to go it alone after enjoying success as a resident piercer in a local tattoo studio.
i , Katie, am f ox hie’s piercing expert, while Matt operates as front-of-house. i ’v e got lots of experience in helping people with neurodiversities, gained from many years in care and healthcare management, while Matt enjoys the technical side of the business, using his tech skills and decade in
journalism to create a website, online booking system and digital booking forms. He also provides detailed yet succinct aftercare advice to all clients.
As a rule, we genuinely love working together, although i h ave to laugh when Matt is telling a client to take slow deep breaths just as i ’m about to pierce their navel, and their whole stomach moves!
o ur top tip is to communicate freely and allow each other to flourish independently, rather than always being seen as a duo.
@foxhie
This year’s UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) Conference will take place from 24 to 26 September 2023 at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel in Manchester, UK. The event is for professional piercers, licensed trainee piercers and other industry professionals (counter staff, jewellery specialists etc) to come together to learn, network and shop the expo floor.
2023 will be the organisation’s biggest event yet, with an expansion that includes an additional classroom and an enormous separate vendor floor. This will allow for more classes, more tickets, and an even more impressive range of vendors to purchase from. We made the decision as an organisation to expand the event after two sell-out years, opening it up to more attendees, and we’re so excited to show you what we’ve built.
The expansion has meant that we can welcome more speakers than ever before, covering a wide range of classes. Speakers are still being announced, so keep an
About the u KA pp
The UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) is a not-for-profit health and safety organisation dedicated to spreading knowledge of safe piercing practices and up-to-date information for industry professionals and the general public.
The organisation has a list of criteria that industry professionals are required to meet in order to become a member of the organisation. This includes environmental criteria, jewellery standards, and health and safety criteria such as being trained in first aid and blood-borne pathogens. The UKAPP also holds an annual educational conference.
For more information, visit ukapp.org.uk
eye on the UKAPP’s social media pages to stay in the loop. We can confirm, however, that we have a range of different classes, including piercing technique classes covering a variety of piercing placements; some piercing history-based classes; some studio organisation-focused classes; some business and sales-based classes; some self-care classes; and many, many more!
We feel that this year provides a great range of classes for a range of attendees, regardless of whether they are a newer or more experienced piercer. And, as usual, counter staff are very welcome to attend anything that is not piercing technique-based.
Some of the big names we will have in attendance this year to teach include Jef Saunders, Olly Todd, Cale Belford, Helen Houghton, Paul King, Luis Garcia, Suzanne Wise, Lola Slider and Ryan Ouellette, with many more still to be announced.
Ahead of last year’s conference, the organisation received more companies requesting to vend than we
Be CK y Cross A n gives us the lowdown...
could possibly accommodate. So this year, the event will be expanding onto another floor with an enormous vendor space for all of your shopping delights! Whilst many of the vendors are of course jewellery companies, we are very pleased to also be hosting companies carrying needles and piercing tools, as well as aftercare.
the expansion has allowed us to bring back regular returning favourites, such as ISUK, Stiletto, Anatometal UK and Danila tarcinale, as well as some big names attending the UKAPP event for the first time, including BVLA, LeRoi Fine Jewelry and Jewelry this Way. As this is our largest expo to date, we are still in the process of announcing more vendors, so keep an eye online for more companies that you can expect to see there.
the UKAPP is a not-forprofit, which means that the ticket price goes back into the organisation. the board members who organise the event, the volunteers who help make it happen and the speakers are not paid for their time and dedication. this means that you can rest
assured that the money you spend will go back into creating future events and bettering the industry through outreach projects and engaging with other relevant organisations to promote safe piercing and improve the industry as a whole.
the ticket price is £180 for all three days (£150 for UKAPP members) and this allows you access to classes and the vendor floor.
Continued professional development is so important, regardless of whether you’re a newer piercer or many years in. this year’s event has something for everyone in terms of class content and we really can’t wait to welcome you back!
t ickets for the 2023 conference are still available at ukapp.org.uk/shop
“WE MADE THE DECISION AS AN ORGANISATION TO EXPAND THE EVENT AFTER TWO SELL-OUT YEARS”
From time to time, this section will feature historical information for specific piercings, and for this issue of The Sharp End , the focus will be on the conch piercing.
To begin, the anatomical name is ‘concha’, singularly, and ‘conchae’, plurally. The word derives from Latin. Whilst we don’t want to police language and we like the sound of the soft ‘ch’, the pronunciation is technically a hard ‘k’ sound, meaning the word concha would be pronounced [kongkuh ] and conchae would be pronounced [kong- kee ].
Sometime in the early 1990s, the original Nomad body piercing shop in San Francisco, owned by Blake Perlingieri and Kristian White, started referring to this piercing as the ‘sadhu’; a rather catchy name that stuck for a while, and which refers collectively to Indian Hindu holy men. It’s a particular subsect of these sadhus, Gorakhnathis, who have their conchae pierced.
Very little is known about their founder, Gorakhnath, as a historical figure. Most likely he lived between the 9th and 12th century. He was credited with the creation of Hatha Yoga and his practice included a ‘left-hand’ path of Tantra, which involved the pursuit of spiritual learnings through the inclusion of sex. 1 2 3
Of course, what we’re most concerned with for this article are the strikingly large earrings worn by his followers through slits in the conchae. These openings are called Kanphata , which means ‘split ear’. In fact the conch piercings received at initiation are so important to adherents, they are often called ‘Kanphatas’ instead of Gorakhnathis.
One account of the process stated the initial piercing was formed using a three-edged knife. A piece of neem wood was worn during the initial nine days, then afterwards clay jewellery was inserted for the next year. Once healed, the earrings can be made of glass, bronze, copper, animal ivory, wood and other materials such as stone agate.4 Adherents claimed that the piercing ceremony and the recitation of secret mantras opened “astral
ling
energy channels to facilitate profound meditation”.5
There is little historical documentation of the conch piercing, and its practice seems sporadic within different cultures. however, another group with strong cultural ties to the perforation and adorning of the concha are the Mangbetu.
The Mangbetu, or Mangebetu, are peoples of central Africa, found in the Democratic republic of the congo (previously known as Zaire). The Mangebetu were formerly regarded for their sophisticated court and developed arts; it was the women of this tribe who could be seen wearing the beautiful long pieces of ivory in their concha. The conchae perforations often “hold monkey bones which are used to part their hair”, though sometimes the bones were simply for decoration. in the past, when
1&3. The S e ph OTOS S h O w T he
c O nch piercing S OF T h AT ic O n OF c O nT e M p O r A rY piercing A n D
BODY MOD i F ic AT i O n in e ur O pe, eT hel g r A nger 2. c lOS e-up OF A gO r A khn AT hi c O nch piercing
4. The c O nch OF nOMAD
c O - FO un D er Bl A ke p erlingieri, ph OTO BY FA kir Mu SAFA r
elongation of the skull was more widely practised, hair styles were worn high to accentuate the skull’s shape and the conch jewellery was used to support the hair. The woman’s hair was sometimes extended using hair from the dead of an enemy tribe.6
it’s impossible, of course, to say when the conch piercing was practised for the first time. The history of sadhus has been long debated. Some archeologists believe that asceticism was implicit in the teachings of the Rig Veda, written in the vedic language and part of what we know as the Vedas, holy texts which came to india with the “invasion” of the Aryan tribes around 1500 Bce. Others argue that yogic ascetic and other shamanistic practices can be traced much further back to the indus valley civilisation, already fully developed in 2500 Bce. As is often the case in history, the origins are probably a mixture of many things.
This article is meant to be a fun and brief introduction to the history of conch piercing and should not be considered an exhaustive history. i hope this writing encourages you to explore more examples of traditional practices and histories of the conch.
@bodypiercingarchive bodypiercingarchive.org
er S
p rivAT e l i M iT e D, 1991, pp.86-87
5 Sh IVa BY pA ul A F O uce A n D
Deni S e TOM eckO. B A ngkO k:
TAMA rin D p re SS , 1990, pp.95, 102.
6 a f RI ca a do R ned BY Angel A
Fi S her, hA rrY n . A B r AMS i nc. p u B li S hing, 1984, p. 79.
All im A ges A re from the Body Piercing Archive
Time for T echnique:
Ahead of her next appearance at the UKAPP Conference in September, expert piercer and teacher Helen Houg H ton is here to share her 15 years of experience with us, on the subject of macrodermal implants
Macrodermal implants are a larger, sturdier version of dermal anchors with fairly squared edges. t hey are a little more challenging to fit, but as a result of their size they do tend to be less likely to reject than a smaller microdermal.
i f you’ve never fitted a macrodermal before, be sure to first shadow an experienced piercer out of respect for your clients, as these do require some level of experience to fit. i t’s quite surprising how much pressure you need to use, but once you’ve got the hang of it they’re a really fun piercing to perform!
for microdermals, i like to use a 14g needle, but for macrodermals this would mean displacing too much tissue (in my opinion), so i use an o needle or 12g dermal punch.
Consider the legalities of using o needles or dermal punches in your area – you will need to check with your local
council and your insurance to ensure you can legally and safely use these items.
If your client wants a unidirectional top, consider this when selecting the macrodermal base from your stock. The threading on the base and top will mean the top sits in a particular direction, so consider this with your placement and insertion.
During the procedure, there are times where we have shaped a wound, and have not yet filled it with jewellery. This is unusual compared with most piercing practices. Therefore, these piercings do bleed during the procedure – be sure to have gauze to hand.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to take you through the process...
1. Clean the skin (here I used chlorhexidine instead of iodine to avoid staining the skin for photographic purposes) and drape. When marking for macrodermals I like to use the back of a sterile 12g needle blade to get an accurate mark that I am confident will be central. If using a small gentian dot, it’s easy for the O needle to be slightly off and this can mean the piercing sits off-centre.
2. Brace the skin gently to ensure the O needle sits flat on the skin and enters at 90 degrees – do not pinch the skin so much that it puckers, as this can cause the resulting hole to be a little too big. We do not want to remove tissue unnecessarily. The O needle usually takes the tiny core of skin out with it, but check to see if this has happened. If not, a gentle wipe/pinch with gauze usually does the trick.
3. If using a unidirectional top, the angle of the base may be extremely important to ensure the top sits straight. Even if not using a unidirectional top, you want to place the base in a direction that best matches the Langer lines of the skin.
Consider the direction of the base, and use your 12g needle to make a pocket on either side of the hole as shown. Take care to ensure you are under the dermis when making this pocket, and not too shallow.
4. Using a 12g dermal tool to support the base, insert the longest foot of the macrodermal base into one of your pockets. You will need a little lever tool to help you use the elasticity of the skin to pop the small foot of the base into the other pocket. Here, I am using a sterile taper that doesn’t have an overly skinny tip as my lever tool (a skinny tool could cheesewire through the skin). In one smooth motion, raise the lever and dermal tool at the same time – this should result in the base firmly popping into the skin.
5. You should now have a beautifully flush macrodermal base sitting perfectly level with the skin surface.
6. Carefully screw your dermal top onto the macrodermal base.
7. Admire your work! Ensure your client is happy with their piercing (get them to check it’s sitting flush).
8. Apply a dressing, and make sure your client fully understands the aftercare.
h elen h oughton has been piercing for 15 years, guesting across Europe (pre-Covid!) and running her studio, Holier Than Thou in Manchester for the past 10 years. She is a regular speaker at the
annual UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) Conference, and has taught at various other piercer meet-ups and educational events, as well as for online courses.
Elizab E th Moor E of b odyAlter in Worksop opens the floor for a frank discussion about neurodiversity and why it’s important to work with it, rather than against it, in your career as a piercer
sat down to read the previous issue of The Sharp End hoping for some inspiration for writing this piece, and the perspective I wanted to write it from.
Jess’s ‘Just a piercer’ article really resonated, so this is an accompanying piece to that, and an open letter to neurodiverse piercers.
n eurodiversity is spoken about a lot currently, and i ’m so pleased about that. b ut i hear piercers tell me all the time that they are neurodiverse and they didn’t realise there is a community of us out there dealing with the same things they are. You don’t need to keep this to yourself; you don’t need to hide it from your clients or your peers. i t’s who you are!
i t is really important to me that we open up the conversation around any health or mental health issues, but it’s also important to me that neurodiversities aren’t treated the same as mental health, because they aren’t a mental health issue, they are a neurological condition and have their own rules they love to play by.
What is neurodiversity?
First thing’s first. What do i mean when i say neurodiversity? i ’m talking about my personal neurodiversities, which are
autism, ADHD and dyspraxia, but it is an umbrella term covering lots of other conditions too, including but not limited to Tourette’s, dyscalculia and OCD.
e veryone with a neurodiversity is going to be different, with different needs and requirements. For yourself, it’s a long road to understanding what they are and accommodating them in your day-to-day life, whilst for your clients it is so important to listen – and to hear them – when they express their needs. Don’t make assumptions based on the last neurodiverse person you saw, because the next neurodiverse person is likely to be completely different.
My autism and ADHD have helped shape me into the piercer i am now, but at the start of my career they really didn’t. i was so burnt out pretending to be someone i just wasn’t. i was working a huge number of hours in an environment that wasn’t bringing me any joy – just to be piercing. i went to work every day miserable, but telling myself that ‘at least i was piercing’. i love piercing, so doing it every day is the dream, right? i really thought everyone felt that way – that the act of piercing, talking about jewellery and helping clients was where the joy was.
Piercing was (and still is) my special interest, but it took over my whole life. i didn’t talk or think about anything else – for five years, if i didn’t have my work, i didn’t have anything. i t was affecting my personal relationships and my mental health was deteriorating rapidly, to the point where i made three active attempts on my own life.
The universe forced me to take a step back and reassess. I quit – I was done, never to pierce again.
I know, however, that my neurodiversity means that I make big, final decisions impulsively, and clearly I did not end up quitting piercing! I spoke to Paddy [Kielty] and we discussed a position at BodyAlter. Here’s where things get more positive: I talked to him and the rest of the team at length about my needs and my neurodiversity – and we found a way to make it work!
Now, I work four days a week (which is proven to be good for your mental health) and feel comfortable discussing my needs, which change frequently! I have got so much better at embracing the parts of me I tried hard to suppress. I know I am a little bit odd, and that’s fine. I know that sometimes I am direct and that means some people find me rude, stand offish or intimidating, particularly online, but I have accepted that there isn’t much I can do about that, and I can’t control someone else’s perception of me. I can control who I am and how I react to a situation, that’s all.
Listen to them! Everyone’s needs will be different.
Be prepared to make adjustments where you can – could you offer an appointment out of hours? Turn the music off? Help choose jewellery online before the appointment?
Don’t treat them like children. Neurodiverse adults are just that – adults.
Spend some time learning – learn what things like meltdowns are and how to handle them.
I also acknowledge that things like burnout and sensory overload still happen to me –they haven’t gone away – but I work with people I am happy to explain that to, and who are supportive and understanding. I am so happy here, and, two years later, let me tell you, I am flourishing – my career is going from strength to strength and my technical abilities continue to improve.
p
It is so important to be comfortable and happy in the environment you work in, for the sake of you, your mental health and even your clients! They are going to be much more receptive to you if they can tell that you are confident and settled, otherwise they’ll pick up on your anxieties.
You are worth so much more than your career – so much more. I know trying to fight to improve a situation feels like it’s worth doing at the time, but sometimes you must accept that it won’t change. So, to anyone who is in an environment that is toxic for you, in a place where you can’t grow, in a place where you are trying to implement positive change but are being ignored – leave, please. There is something out there that’s better for you, where your drive and passion will be appreciated, so don’t destroy who you are for the sake of piercing.
My other big piece of advice to anyone struggling
with burnout is to make sure you have other meaning in your life. For me, that’s reading (at time of writing I have read 137 books this year – this might be a whole different problem!). Tudor history? Please let me talk to you about Henry VIII’s wives. And for a piercing-adjacent hobby, I am studying anatomy and physiology. These are also really great things to talk to my clients about, because I am useless at small talk, and most of my clients just aren’t that interested in bevel theory, surprisingly.
For anyone who is at the start of their journey exploring neurodiversity, or if you are already on that journey, please feel free to get in touch with me – I am always happy to chat and share my experiences. And I know that there are tonnes of piercers who have been through and are currently going through that journey. You are not alone in this; I know how difficult it is.
Hi, my name is Sid. I’m currently doing my piercing apprenticeship, which I officially started in January 2023. I have been passionate about the world of piercing from my early teen years and started working as a frontof-house jewellery specialist in early 2021 at Sacred Gold in London.
I’m proud to have been given the opportunity to be mentored by the amazing Nicole and Gemma, who I have admired for a long time. Also, to be blessed by working in BVLA studios and being able to use their jewellery for my first piercings!
My first piercing ever was an ear lobe and I used a Marquise V Prong with a Mercury Mist Topaz, which is one of my favourite pieces of jewellery. I’ve adored Body Vision for many years, and I’m forever grateful to work so closely with the team and have a great relationship. Body jewellery is something that I have a huge passion for, and I love being able to use it in my day-to-day.
Doing my first few piercings gave me the excitement to learn more about piercing.
incredibly grateful for the trust that both my mentors and clients have given to me.
Since doing more and more piercings, I have developed a confidence in my ability and knowledge of piercing, and I think it comes across to my clients. In my opinion, this builds trust.
I’m furthering my education every day, spending time in the presence of Nicole and Gemma, as well as my other colleagues at Sacred Gold. It’s a unique opportunity to be surrounded by the professionals who work here, and I’m forever grateful to start my career in such a well-established studio. In addition to this, I’ll be attending my first UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) Conference this year, which will provide me with even more knowledge.
I’ve been working hard on both the technical aspects of piercing and also the bedside manner and communication with clients.
On top of my experience and opportunities, I feel
The main thing I’d want to be taken away from this is to always work hard and continue education, as there are always opportunities around you to learn something from others. @sid_piercing Starting
out strong at the Sacred Gold studios in Soho and Covent Garden in London, piercing apprentice Sid Brigg S tells us about his career journey so far
