"Why did I choose this career path?" It is a very important question, one that I've recently asked myself. This question has been asked of me by numerous inquisitors, mostly clients, though it is a popular question among interviewers for industry magazines. Every time I was asked I was able to answer. The only time I have great difficulty answering is when I ask it of myself.
At A Glance Author pat murdough IAM bob-omb When N/A Location brattleboro, vt I, personally, began piercing because I enjoyed the process, I enjoyed becoming more intimate with my clientele, and I enjoyed the freedom that only a job in the modification industry could offer. I simply loved to pierce, period. When I began piercing I was finishing high school and lived with my parents. I had few requirements or responsibilities, except for spending time with my girlfriend and putting gas in my car. Even when I was going through college I had plenty of money to pay for whatever I needed, and nothing fazed me or shook my interest in being a body piercer and being involved with the industry.
Now I have graduated from college, and this is my first Fall away from home. I live a few minutes from the shop where I pierce. My apartment is fairly expensive (my roommate and I each pay about $450 a month, utilities included, plus a phone and DSL internet line), my car has to be registered and inspected, not to mention filled with gas at $2 a gallon here in New England. I am paying for my own food, and this month I begin paying back my college loans ($165 a month for the next TEN YEARS). In addition to this, I buy all of my own supplies for piercing, including internally threaded, implant-grade jewelry, and pay for continuing my piercing education through seminars and various local courses.
People think that I make a ton of money off of piercing. They walk in and see, for example, that a navel is $50. They think that $50 goes directly into my pocket, which it most certainly does not. Let's go step by step:
*I pay one-quarter of my earnings to the shop for rent to go towards gloves and autoclave pouches, so that $50 goes to $38 right off the bat.
*Subtract the cost of the jewelry (about $10 minimum for a steel curved barbell, not including the cost of shipping, cleaning, and sterilization) from the reduced piercing price, which drops it to about $28.
*Because I didn't pay for my autoclavable supplies such as pliers and forceps, their cost is negligible. Take away the cost of my disposables (Techni-care, Gentian Violet, Toothpicks, Saran Wrap, Tape, Corks, Needles, Gauze) which is roughly $5 or so, and we're down to $23.
*Take into account the cost of my lunch and parking spot, I'm below $20.
*Factor in Federal and State taxes and I'm down to maybe $10-$15 per navel piercing.
So I make $10-$15 for a $50 navel piercing. A lot of piercers will say "Big deal. I only make $10-$20 per piercing too, and you don't hear me bitching." But (1) you don't have to pay for your supplies, and (2) you probably work somewhere with a stronger population than southern Vermont. At my busiest, I did about twelve piercings in one day, and that was on a Saturday, and to balance it out I did no other piercings for the rest of the week. I usually average about 1 to 2 piercings daily, and most of them are ear piercings, which are priced substantially lower than navels. But even if we high-ball it and say I did two navel piercings every work day for a week, and I made the high-end profit of $15 per piercing, that's twelve piercings per week, multiplied by $15, which totals less than $200 per week. That's a pretty shitty profit margin.
Other piercers will say that I pay too much for my jewelry, and they can go fuck themselves. I REFUSE to put a 50 cent dogshit captive bead ring or barbell into someone's skin. I did that for many years, citing profitability as my only reasoning. My ethics eventually took over and forced me to improve my standards, especially because I so desperately wanted my APP certification, and to be known as a piercer that had his clients' best interest in mind.
Unfortunately, people already have issues with my prices because, "[Insert name of scab-vending, incompetent pedophile here] is cheaper." I tell people why I'm expensive, and they don't seem to care. I have had clients tell me outright that they don't care, and they will take their chances elsewhere if it means they can get a deal, or get it done the way they want. They will go to a shop that they don't like, or they know does below par work, if they can get what they want.
I work hard to serve my clients, more so than any piercer in my area. I do not use shit jewelry. I continuously educate myself for the safety of my clients and the quality of my work. I do not molest my clients while they are in my piercing room, nor do I sexually harass them in an attempt to get sex in exchange for piercings. For some reason, I am in the minority, and many claim that I am the bad guy because I tell clients exactly what they can expect when they go to these places and what I have personally seen in those shops. People couldn't care less, apparently, and I feel as if I am wasting my breath.
Case in point: two girls walked into my shop just before we closed and asked if I had time to do two tongue piercings. I had done hardly any work over the weekend and sorely needed the money, and I agreed to stay late for them. I asked for their ID's so I could photocopy them for our release forms. One of the girls had only a college ID with no birth date on it. I told her that no reputable shop would accept her ID because we needed a valid license or something comparable. She retorted that, "[Name of dogshit shop in a nearby town that is notorious for their horrible work and their tendency to molest their clientele] will do it," and I told her outright that the shop was not reputable, and gave her several reasons why. The girl with no ID was noticeably pissed, and the girl who was smart enough to bring hers asked her friend what she wanted to do about it. They proceeded to converse quietly enough that we weren't supposed to hear, but I did. The girl with the license said she didn't like [Name of dogshit shop] and didn't want to go there, but her friend pressured her into leaving, but not before LYING TO ME about going to get her license from the car. They never returned.
At that point I was about ready to quit piercing altogether, as this was not an uncommon occurrence. These interactions happen on a daily basis in my area, and perhaps my locale is explanation enough. Perhaps other artists do not have such headaches and this is merely the backlash of the local yokels. Nonetheless, I was *this* close to packing up my tools and quitting piercing forever. I simply didn't see the point in it any more. It wasn't fun anymore, and it certainly wasn't lucrative. So why torture myself?
I suppose the only reason why I didn't quit was because one of my co-workers was honest enough with me to tell me that, no matter what, I'll never get ahead because that is the nature of our industry. The high-end shops place more emphasis on artistic value than on commercial success, whereas the shitholes are more concerned with making moneymoneymoney and that's what they do. They bring in insane amounts of money by capitalizing on the combination of (a) popular trends and (b) people's ignorance. If I went out of my way to exploit people I could make exceptional amounts of money as well. By being artists we live the "starving" artist's lifestyle, but we maintain that our integrity will pay off down the line. It's almost like a tortoise-versus-hare competition between businesses: they make money faster but will hopefully self-destruct, whereas we take in money slowly but will hopefully outlast them.
Now my reason for starting to pierce is not nearly as important as continuing to pierce. I began piercing because it was fun, but I keep piercing because I should. I have always thought that I had great integrity and determination, and by continuing my chosen path I am reinforcing my beliefs. I do my damnedest to tough it out, telling myself that I am better than them and that I can beat them. Honestly, this good-versus-evil situation has almost escalated to comic book proportions. I absolutely refuse to allow them to outlast me at this point, because people have a right to the option of healthy, quality, safe piercings, and if I quit they will have no options other than to go to any one of the lesser shops that will endanger their safety. I suppose that, in a way, the community has need for a positive and responsible alternative, and to rob them of that would be incredibly unfair.