We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Raechelle Gabrielle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Raechelle below.

Raechelle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was me becoming a piercer in general. I had attempted before and it just never seemed to work out right. It was quite discouraging and left me feeling like I was never going to be able to break into the career that I wanted. I had been working a desk job and knew that it wasn’t going to make me happy or fulfilled. I decided to start looking into getting back into the industry as a piercer. This meant I was giving up my stability in pay and the consistency in hours I had become use to. I had solidified a job working the desk for Steady Tattoo and Body Piercing. It wasn’t much when I first started but it meant everything to me. It was a risk that I was taking for me happiness. It paid off, I now have a career that I love and is fulfilling to me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I am a body piercer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I believe it to be that I am one of the few black body piercers in the area and I am the only one to be apart of the Association of Professional Piercers. Within my practice, I like to focus on curating piercings and jewelry that my clients feel makes them feel more like theirselves. There’s no better feeling than having a client walk away satisfied with their new jewelry or piercing. Another big portion of my job is working towards making my clients feel comfortable. When you’re getting a piercing it can sometimes be scary and nerve wracking. I want my clients to feel at ease and comfortable with me. As well as that they’re going to love their jewelry and how it brings out their inner joy.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Within my career it was probably the same situation for most people in the world, covid. Everything had shut down and that was really discouraging after I had just gotten to a point where I wanted to be in this field. I will say that having my mentality pivot during this time really benefited me for the best. I got to slow down and just really look at things from a different perspective when it came to learning. That way when things opened up for business I had a new base of learning.

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

I think one of the most effective or one that I would like to think has my clientele coming back is that I want to always make it known that we’re all simply people. Coming into get a piercing or new piece of jewelry can be overwhelming. I strive to help each client feel a little bit at ease during it so we can have a conversation that relates to each other to ground us within our appointments.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @raechelle.gabrielle