Your 14 year-old daughter has been begging. She just wants this one thing. Two actually. Holes. She wants her ears pierced for the second time. You finally realize “your 18 year-old sister doesn’t even have her ears pierced a second time” isn’t a logical excuse, so you decide to give her what she wants. When the day arrives, you drive her to the piercing place and are encouraged by what you see. Very clean, very professional. In one corner of the space a body piercing apprenticeship program leader is explaining the history of piercing.
You take a deep breath, maybe not as deep as the one the 14 is taking, but a deep breath all the same. Minutes later she has a second earring in each of her lobes. The younger daughter’s wish has prevailed, and you survived.
Though two children grow up in exactly the same environment, they can be quite different. While an older daughter never thinks about getting her ears pierced, for example, the youngest is chomping at the bit for the fashion trend she sees among her friends. The two girls, four years apart, get their first ears piercings the same day. You are surprised to see your younger girly-girl daughter encourage your sports minded older daughter to break out of her shell. Not so far out that the older daughter, who is now in college, also wants a second ear piercing, but as parents you enjoy watching how much the same, and at times, different the two girls can be.
Just as two siblings can be similar and different, so is the career road to becoming a piercing specialist both similiar and dissimilair to the path to many careers. Similar to the craft trades of the past, many piercing specialists begin with an apprenticeship. The oldest body piercing found was in a grave determined to be dated back to 2500 B.C. An instructional body piercing apprenticeship, though less formal, was likely involved.
If you want to start in this industry, you might begin with a “piercing apprenticeship what to expect” opportunity. Some parts of the industry you will anticipate, others you will not.
For example, you might enter this career thinking that you will have the opportunity to do much work other than ear piercing. Statistics show, however, that while 14% of Americans have a body piercing other than ear lobe, the greater majority come for basic ear piercing. For instance, 83% of Americans have had their earlobes pierced. If you truly want to take part in “piercing apprenticeship what to expect,” you need to be prepared for a broad learning experience. The true “piercing apprenticeship what to expect” course will not only include observations of a variety of body piercing experiences, but also just as essential studies of CPR/First Aid at the American Red Cross, anatomy and physiology classes at local community colleges, and business marketing techniques.
You do not want the mother of the 14 year-old coming in for a second ear piercing to jump to any conclusions about what she will experience, as an artist you need to realize that a body piercing apprenticeship will include a variety of opportunities, some you expect, and some that will take you by surprise. While you might go into your “how to become a piercing apprentice” first meeting with grand plans of creatively and accurately piercing many body parts, you also need to realize that you might also have a 14 year-old girl with a reluctant mother as a customer.