When I was an early teenager, I came across a caricature in a BMX and downhill mountain biking magazine, and I instantly fell in love with it.

The character had dreadlocks, an eyebrow piercing, a navel piercing, and even a little scar — it completely captivated me.

Up until that moment, I’d never really seen body piercings before. I didn’t even realise things like that were possible. Nothing like it had ever been in front of me, and it genuinely opened my eyes to a whole new world.

From that moment, I was completely drawn to body piercing and the individuality and self-expression that came with it.

My journey into body piercing began around 1998, when I was about 16 years old and managed to secure an apprenticeship at my local piercing studio.

In the early 2000s, I moved to Belgium and worked with Wildcat, where I was introduced to different piercing techniques and a much wider international community.

After some years traveling and working across Europe, I returned to the UK and continued building my experience in studios in Berwick-upon-Tweed and later Newcastle upon Tyne.

In 2009, Adam and I opened Blue Lotus Body Piercing — a dedicated piercing studio built around safety, professionalism, and a calm, welcoming experience.

I can never answer this with just one, for me, it’s my septum and my industrial.

My septum was pierced right at the end of my apprenticeship, and it still feels like a marker of the beginning of my professional journey. I wear a simple rose gold clicker in it and will probably always keep it classic.

My industrial has a different kind of meaning. It was done at the very beginning of my apprentice Seb’s journey.

I talked him through it step by step, built entirely on trust and communication.

As it turned out, he did it beautifully. I still wear a 10-gauge Anatometal gold bar with hammered ends, and I love that it carries that memory.

If I could change one thing about the piercing industry, it would be the idea that clients should ever be treated as part of an experiment.

Body piercing has a long professional history, and every generation should build safely on the knowledge of those who came before them.

For me, every client deserves informed judgement, appropriate jewellery choices, and techniques based on experience rather than guesswork.

Safety, education, and long-term healing should always come first.

If we’ve never met before, you might not expect that two of my favourite hobbies are decorating and gardening.

I love changing spaces, making things beautiful, building things, and watching them grow.

I think, at heart, humans are here to create — whether that’s a home, a garden, a business, or helping someone feel more like themselves.

I seem to be happiest when I’m creating something.