Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael ‘Bambi” Held. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael ‘Bambi”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
My path in learning professional body piercing started with an official apprenticeship for 2 years under a veteran piercer, Shane Post. He took is time with me to insure that I had to knowledge and confidence to take on any client and unique anatomy that may come through. He started me with getting familiar with the jewelry I was using, having me organize hundreds of pieces into gauge and diameter only to shuffle them up over and over until I could pretty much do it by sight with no measuring tools. Along with months of studying jewelry designs, cuts and placements before I ever worked on a client to make sure I was confident that I was giving my future clients the best jewelry choice and placement for their anatomy. My apprenticeship was a bit longer than most in my field, and for the first few years I was frustrated with the slower pace of learning, but now after being in the industry for 12+ years I’ve grown to appreciate that detailed education by seeing how well my work has healed and looks on my clients years down the road and how I’m able to help unique anatomy clients to pick out appropriately sized pieces and placements that otherwise might’ve been overlooked at a lesser educated studio that only cares about the money and not the clients. Over the years I was lucky enough to be able to travel all over the country and guest spot at some of the best piercing studios out there, including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, and Denver just to name a few. During those travels I was able to collaborate with some amazingly talented piercers who helped me hone my piercing abilities and step up my game.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hey folks, my name is Michael “Bambi” Held and I’m a professional body piercer of 12+ years and I’m grateful to have the chance to tell you my story! I got into the piercing industry out of curiosity back in 2010, and was fortunate enough to be offered an apprenticeship under a very knowledgable veteran piercer who took me under his wing for 2 years teaching me all the ins and outs of the industry. In that time I’ve learned the skills to provide the best possible piercing experience for my clients with top notch body jewelry choices, specifically in implant grade titanium and solid 14k & 18k gold, along with providing playful and friendly bedside matter to help ease the potential fears a client may have. But most importantly I learned the ability to choose properly sized jewelry and placement for my clients so that I’m giving them a piercing that will heal properly and with little to no issues during healing.
Every client I see I make sure to look at their specific anatomy and go over every detail of what they’re trying to achieve with their piercing and I help guide them to pick out what’s best for them initially and what we can do to make sure they can get the right look down the line if they may have to wait to wear a certain style of jewelry. I want clients to know that body piercings can be an art form when done properly, and your body is the canvas so let’s adorn you appropriately!
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
One of my favorite lessons not just in business, but in life as well is “never judge a book by it’s cover”, and there is one client in particular that is a perfect example of this. Within the last year I had a client come through the studio, a middle aged modest looking gentleman with no visible tattoos or piercings, asking if I could order a very specific piece of body jewelry for him. He was looking for a solid white gold piece w/ a genuine diamond set inside, quite a large piece at a 4 gauge. He had mentioned to me he had already gone to another piercing studio in the area to get a quote for the piece and said they took a full month getting back to him on the qoute, and didn’t seem to take him too seriously assuming he may not have the money for a piece like this. I talked with the gentleman for about 30 minutes making sure I had all the details he was looking for in the jewelry and even showed him size comparisons so he had a visual of what he was getting, along with measuring him so I could get the appropriate size. I was then able to get him a price quote within 4 days at a quote of $15,000 ($3k less than the first shop) and when I told him that price he didn’t bat an eye and came through with a deposit within the same day. It is easily the largest single jewelry sale I’ve ever had in my career, and all because I treated the client with respect and urgency rather than dismissing him because he may not look like my average client. Since the client has received it, he has reached out multiple times to thank me for how quickly and professionally I helped him and how spectacular the jewelry looks!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to see how my visions for jewelry placement can help a client build self confidence they may not have previously had. To see them look in the mirror after a nose piercing and immediately they smile because now they no longer worry about that mole off to the side or a navel piercing that helps my clients feel more confident to show off their beautiful stomachs no matter their size! To provide a service that is more than just a piercing, but a self esteem boost for most is the most rewarding part of my career.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Bambibodyarts