We were lucky to catch up with Melody Novack recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Melody , thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission as a body piercer is to create a safe, inclusive space for clients to celebrate their bodies and identity. There’s plenty of reasons as to why someone would want to get a piercing, like getting it to reclaim their body, celebrate culture, express themselves, or just because it looks cool. Being true to yourself and your identity takes courage, and I’m honored I get to walk people through the process.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I believe I got my start in the industry in either 2016 or 2017 (I’ve never been good with dates) in Sacramento, CA. I was a 21 year old who happened to buy some body jewelry at a shop one day and noticed the book collection they had on Buddhism and Spirituality. I was so excited to see other people interested in body modification and spirituality, I went back almost every other week for a couple of months to talk to the owner about spirituality. This apparently piqued the owners interest, so they started asking around town about me. At the time, I was working three jobs and in an abusive relationship with someone who forced me to volunteer any spare time to community art events that he hosted. From everyone else’s perspective, I was just a hard working kid who valued the art scene. I was exhausted and hurting, but I still tried to bring positivity everywhere I went. My future mentor saw all of this and liked it enough offer me an apprenticeship.

I started working under her a couple of weeks after her offer. I was naive and excited to get my foot into the closed world of body modification, but that didn’t last long. The positive, supportive space my mentor offered me was actually a disguise for emotional abuse, but I didn’t recognize that until later. My coworkers and I were constantly walking on eggshells, being humiliated, and threatened for asking basic questions that related to our jobs. We were also discouraged from reaching out to other people in our industry. Throughout my time there, every single one of my coworkers either quit or was fired. I was too stubborn to quit, so I figured I was next on the chopping block. To prepare for this I started saving every cent I could and left my abusive partner. Shortly after that decision, I was promoted to head piercer at the studio and then fired the next day with no real explanation why. I knew my values didn’t align with other studios in my city from listening to my clients feedback about them. I also knew I wouldn’t be safe living in the same city as my abuser.

Being fired was a blessing in disguise. After I was fired, I immediately went home and made my self a website featuring my portfolio and sent it to the lovely folks at Icon in Nashville, TN. They had me fly out for a guest spot so they could see my work and see if I got along with the rest of the staff. I worked along side some important pillars in our industry that week and they liked my work enough to offer me the job.

I moved to Nashville a month later on February 1st 2020 and I’ve been here ever since. Im grateful for Icon for giving me the tools and knowledge I needed to further my education and technical skills with piercing. My work is a reminder of healing, strength, and integrity. I work hard to provide my clients with a safe place to be and appreciate themselves, because I’m very aware that not everyone is lucky enough to have the opportunity.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Awakening From the Daydream by David Nichtern and Shambhala by Chögyam Trungpa are my go to books when it comes to my business philosophy. It’s easy to get caught up with ourselves and our own patterns that are negatively serving us. When that happens we can negatively affect the people around us. I’ve seen someone’s bad day ruin an entire teams day. I’ve also seen someone’s good day bring an entire team up. If we’re not all doing the individual work to heal ourselves and grow then we put each other at risk. I believe that knowing yourself and loving yourself unconditionally first will benefit your business and your clients in the long run.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I think being an authentic human has grown my clientele a lot! Every client walks in to get a body piercing for a different reason. Some people want a piercing because it looks cool, for cultural purposes, for celebrating life goals, for gender affirmations, or to reclaim their body after assault. Being able to provide emotional validation for people or to support their search for identity is huge! I’m lucky I get the opportunity to witness whatever my client is willing to share with me. The type of energy exchange that happens in a piercing room is a special bond that can only be created by showing up and being authentic. When people experience that type of closeness and they get cute jewelry out of it, it’s hard not to come back!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.icontattoo.com
• Instagram: @toy.christ

Image Credits
Rob McConnel June Bug