We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jasmine Celestine. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jasmine below.
Alright, Jasmine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. 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.
I learned how to pierce through an apprenticeship in 2015 at the company that I currently manage, Bone Deep Tattoos and Piercings. Due to a variety of reasons, my apprenticeship was very rushed and I didn’t receive much mentorship. I tried my best to ask questions to those who I knew in my industry who I thought had the answers, but I spent a lot of my first year piercing winging it. Working as the only piercer in the studio made it very difficult to make improvements and learn anything new without outside help. Once I realized that the advice I was given was falling short, I started entering piercing forums online and talking to some of the best piercers all over the world. I very quickly realized that my technique, jewelry, and sterilization were nowhere near the industry standard. I slowly but surely started to overhaul my shop. It took years to make advancements in the studio because the best sterilization and jewelry are not cheap. The owner of my studio was hesitant to invest the money we needed to improve our studio because our piercing program was not very lucrative at the time. But in order to make money, sometimes you have to spend money. In the end of 2016, I brought on another piercer who was very interested in learning and growing in the same way I was which helped having two voices talking to the studio owner to assure him that the financial investments would be worth it. We started stocking better jewelry and the customers started flowing in. In 2018, we moved into a new building with 3 times as much room for our piercing department. This left us more space to take more clients, stock more jewelry, and our new sterilization system. I started attending classes virtually and in person and eventually went to my first conference of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) in 2019. The APP is a public health and safety organization that is the gold standard for piercers and after my first conference I made much larger strides in improving my studio. In 2020, I started guest piercing and working at shops with piercers who had more experience than I had. By 2022, my studio had 6 piercers and we ended up expanding to a new solo location, Bone Deep Piercings, that is over 3 times larger than our previous location and we could perfectly design it to meet the requirements of the APP for membership. In 2023, I was approved by the APP to become a member and had expanded our staff to 7 full time piercers. In 2024, I was promoted to studio manager and now have a ton of say on the ins-and-outs of the studio because my boss has so much trust in the decisions I have fought for over the years to improve our studio. He never hesitates when I ask to make changes because he knows I take the time to learn what we need to succeed. It was a marathon, but I am so proud of my growth as a piercer and leader in my shop. I still attend classes and constantly make improvements in my studio in order to always have the best technique, supplies, and jewelry.
After almost 10 years in the industry, if I were to change anything, I would’ve started asking for help sooner. I didn’t realize what I was being taught was outdated information and advancements had been made in my industry since my mentors/instructors had updated their piercing knowledge. I would’ve pushed for better jewelry sooner, I would’ve started attending classes sooner. I wish that my first couple years of piercing I was working to the standard that I hold myself to today. If I have any advice for aspiring piercers today it would be to really look into the studios you’re hoping to apprentice at and question your potential mentors about how often they’re still trying to learn new things. And to any piercers who are in sub-par studios still begging your boss to update your jewelry, keep fighting for what you know is right! I’ve been in your shoes, and it took me almost 8 years to become an APP member. My perseverance was my greatest skill in getting where I am today. I didn’t know how I was going to become a great piercer, but I knew I was willing to work three jobs to fill in the gaps in order to make piercing work. I was willing to keep putting myself out there to get guest spots to learn even if I got turned away. I asked the embarrassing questions online in forums that any piercer should probably already know the answer to. I was willing to work extra days and throw promotional events to save money to attend classes. I never gave up and will never stop learning.
Jasmine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I know my last answer was a bit long-winded, but I think it answered a bunch of the questions in this as well.
At work, I perform almost every type of body piercing, make custom jewelry for people, style existing piercings with new jewelry, plan studio events, do a majority of our social media marketing and marketing for myself within the business, and mentor the newer piercers within my shop. Making jewelry and curating piercing projects is what makes me feel the most creative within my job. I love making unique projects for each person that sits in my chair. It’s so fun to blend my taste with the individual clients’ style. I do a ton of research to stock only the top-of-the-line body jewelry in our studio that will last forever and heal piercings best.
One thing that sets Bone Deep apart is the huge selection. We have 6 full time piercers so clients can read our biographies on our website and select a personality/style that works for them. I don’t know any other studio with that many full time piercers and it really helps us connect with so many different types of people. Another form of selection we excel at is jewelry selection. We have the largest selection of quality body jewelry in Ventura County. People come from far because we stock so many different variations for every body part. We also have assigned each staff member to be in charge of ordering different styles of jewelry, so we have plenty of different personal styles throughout our jewelry cases.
I am incredibly proud of my shop for a variety of reasons, but I think I’m most proud of my staff. I have a hand in the training of all of the 6 women who pierce in my studio. Mentoring apprentices has been the most fulfilling part of my job the last few years, it brings me so much joy to watch the girls who started off knowing almost nothing about piercings become masters of the craft and incredible to their clients! Anyone who comes into Bone Deep can find a very talented piercer who they vibe with on a personal level, while using top tier jewelry and skill.
If I can have anything come across from this interview to the readers it’s that no matter how long you’ve been doing something, we should all always be creating, learning and teaching. That’s what creative jobs are all about! Never give up on improving yourself and your skills.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Consistency is key! I see this tip all the time in regards for social media, but it is so true. I watch other creatives I’m around be very self-conscious of promoting themself on social media and thinking that every post needs to be perfect. I grew a huge amount of my following while I was posting photos that weren’t edited and perfected, they were just posted regularly! I was always on my story advertising when I had availability until I was consistently booked up.
On Tiktok, I landed in a bit of a niche with my videos. I post videos of my performing piercings with song mashups as the audio. I was posting videos 3-5 times a week on there until I hit my first 10k. Having a recognizable format to my videos helped grow my following.
On Instagram, I stayed consistent with story and timeline posts. I became more proud of my insta once I started taking a bit more time to perfect my posts. I keep a personal goal of posting on the story every 12 hours and on the timeline 2-3 times a week. I also check my Creator page analytics regularly. More then 70% of my followers live within 30 miles of my shop, which has helped grow my business exponentially.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
One thing I see often is people low-balling artists on their prices. We all put a ton of work into our creative jobs yet sometimes people find it okay to barter prices for our work. I don’t go into any job asking for someone to work for less money, yet I get asked for discounts on my services all the time. I have spent years learning my craft and my prices should reflect that. Also, very rarely is the cheapest option also the best option. Rather than calling around seeing who will do it for less money, call around and find out who has the most experience and knowledge of the craft. You buy it nice, or you buy it twice! Creative work is still WORK!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bonedeeppiercings.com
- Instagram: jasminecelestine
- Yelp: Bone Deep Piercings
Image Credits
professional headshot photo by John Balk