August 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Anna Harman, co-founder and CEO of Studs, is a former lawyer and startup operator who turned a personal need into a national brand redefining the ear piercing experience. Her company blends fashion, safety, and self-expression while building community among piercing enthusiasts online and in-store. On this episode of the Women on the Move podcast, host Sam Saperstein speaks with Anna about launching Studs, growing a team of 300, and creating pathways for talent through the company’s in-house apprenticeship program. Her story highlights how curiosity, bold leadership, and thoughtful design can create both culture and connection.
Disclaimer: The speakers’ opinions belong to them and may differ from opinions of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and its affiliates. Views presented on this podcast are those of the speakers; they are as of August 7, 2025 and they may not materialize.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
- I raised our first round of money
when I was pregnant with my first child.
- Congratulations.- And I raised
another round of money when Iwas pregnant with my second.
And I feel really proud thatI've been able to both do this
and have kids while doing it,
which I think is not onlychallenging to balance,
but also I think, you know,hopefully destigmatizes
for people that you can do this, right,
both as a working momand a pregnant person.
(00:28):
- Welcome to the "Womenon the Move" podcast.
I'm your host, Sam Saperstein.
This season, we're delvinginto how strong communities
create opportunities, foster belonging,
and empower leaders tomake a lasting impact.
In this episode, I'mspeaking with Anna Harman,
co-founder and CEO of Studs,
the brand that's re-imagining ear piercing
(00:48):
and turning earscapinginto a cultural phenomenon.
With a background in law and startups,
Anna is reshaping the retail experience
by blending fashion and self-expression
in a way that feels fresh,inclusive, and bold.
Anna, welcome to the "Womenon the Move" podcast.
It's so great to have you with us.
- Thank you so much for having me.
- We have to talk about yourfounder story for Studs.
(01:10):
What brought you to the realization
Studs needed to be in this world,
and why did you want to create it?
- So about six years ago now,
I went to go get another piercing,
and I went to a very fancy place
that's actually quite nearbywhere we are recording.
And I walked in on a Sunday afternoon,
and they told me
that I would probablyhave to wait two hours,
they didn't take appointments,
and I would've spent somewherebetween 750 and $1,000.
(01:31):
- Wow.
- And so I left and Iwent to a tattoo parlor
and I got pierced at the tattoo parlor,
and the piercing was done healthily
and safely with a needle.
And I really liked my piercer.
However, the jewelry was terrible,
and it was still expensive.
And so I left wondering,"Where do you go if you're me?
You want to have a piercingthat's done with a needle."
You want the jewelry tobe cute, but affordable.
(01:53):
You've graduated from the mall brands,
and the answer was, yougo to the tattoo parlor.
And I thought that wasn't a great answer.
- You know, before I'd reallythought about your company,
I really didn't think much about piercing.
I mean, I had my ears piercedwhen I was in fifth grade.
I went to my doctor,
it's my pediatrician withthat big gun, pierced the two,
and I have to tell youpart of my piercing story.
So a few years later, Idecided I needed another,
(02:15):
and I was in summer camp and I was 13.
- Oh-oh, safety pin is coming.
- Safety pin and a bunch ofice from the nurse's office.
- Woo wee.- Wow.
That took a while and I wouldnever do that again today.
But there I had my second pierce.
So somewhere in betweenall of those experiences
and your experiences, thereseems to really be a need.
- Yeah, I think, youknow, for most people,
(02:38):
if you got your ears pierced,
either at the doctor'soffice with a pediatrician
or at a local jewelry store,which was my experience,
I got them when I was eightat some very local place,
you graduate from that andyou want to go somewhere else.
And you also definitelywant to be being pierced
with a needle.
And in most contexts,
that means you're goingto the tattoo parlor,
which even if you are 13 andyour parent is bringing you,
(02:58):
is really not the placefor a young person to go.
And I personally felt very out of place
in the tattoo parlor.
And again, Studs was really born
out of feeling that need for myself.
- I love that.
Okay, so tell us about thebusiness now, six years in.
How big is it? Where are you?
- Yeah, so we're based in New York City.
We have 34 stores all across the country.
We have a team of about300 between corporate
(03:20):
and our field employees.
And we feel really lucky.
I mean, we started thefirst store in 2019 in Soho,
and we knew instantly that we had
what in startup world iscalled product market fit,
because there were lines,
celebrities were coming to the store.
And so, we felt like we knew
that this thing should exist in the world,
and then we made it and it really worked.
(03:42):
- And did you have atarget customer in mind
in the beginning
or even like throughout this whole time?
- Yeah, we really made thebrand for an 18 to 35-year-old.
And that's everythingfrom the positioning,
the product that we carry,
the influencers that we work with,
the celebrities that we court.
And I think it's really proven true
that that is also the core customer.
We made it for that customer
(04:02):
and then it worked out to be that way.
- So then thinking about,would you describe as the need,
would you say there's competition really
for what you're doing or?
- It's interesting.
I think when we do customer surveys,
what the customers say to us
is that the competitionis the tattoo parlor.
Like, if not for Studs, theywould go to the tattoo parlor.
- Right.- And there are 20,000
independent tattoo parlors in the US,
and so, it's obviouslya very saturated market.
(04:25):
- Yeah.
- And then I think interms of competitors,
otherwise, not really.
I really think we are thebrand that you graduate to
when you're on a secondpiercing and beyond.
- Hmm, that's so interesting.
And there could be very much beyond.
So when I walked into yourstore in Rockefeller Center,
I saw a picture of the ear
and all the many placesone could get pierced
(04:46):
and you only focus on ears.
I had no idea you could get pierced
in that many places on your ear.
So break it down for us
because I'm only familiar with the lobe
and maybe this upper part.
- [Anna] Well, soon I feel likeyou're going to be familiar
with more if your daughter asks.
- Maybe.
- So the main thingfor us is, as you said,
we only focus on the ear
and needle piercing allows you
to do much more intricatepiercings on the ears.
(05:08):
And so, while I onlyhave nine as an example,
we have customers thathave 20 to 40 piercings
on their ears.
My most intricate piercingis my rook piercing,
which is basically a piercing
that's on the shelf ofthe ear right up here.
But I really encouragepeople to go into the studios
and experience consultationswith the staff there
(05:28):
because they can tell youall about your ear anatomy
and what you should get pierced
and what will look good on you.
- I had no idea, butthank you, I will do that.
And so when you launched the company,
you came up with this term earscaping.
So what does that mean?
- Yeah, so we actually trademarked it,
which is really exciting.
It is the combined art and science
of getting multiple piercings on your ears
and then wearing manydifferent types of earrings
resulting in what wecall an extreme version
(05:50):
of self-expression.
- Love this.- But really what it is,
is that the point of getting ear piercings
is not to have holes in your ears,
the point of getting ear piercingsis just to wear earrings.
And every day, many peoplechange up what those earrings are
to reflect what they feel like that day
or something they're trying to say
about their style to the world.
And we really wanted toencapsulate that in a term,
and that's where earscaping was born.
- You can think about that inthe terms of like landscaping,
(06:13):
how you're trying to makeeverything look beautiful
and have a place.
So I really appreciate that.
When I went to the store,
I saw all the different jewelry you sell.
I actually picked this out
and I picked out something for my daughter
for her birthday with her birthstone,
just don't tell her that quite yet.
But there seemed to besomething for everybody.
And I was helped by avery nice male assistant
who also had many piercings,
(06:34):
and I think just felt very comfortable
showing me different things.
And so it was really nice
to be welcomed and explained things,
I guess in a way I really never-
- Had thought about.- Yeah.
- Yeah, we really valuehospitality at Studs.
And so when you're coming into a Studs,
you should feel very welcomed.
And in some ways you're havinga small medical procedure
(06:55):
if you're getting a piercing.
And so the environment should be one
that makes you feel bothexcited and calmed, right?
About doing that.
And we really focus a lot
thus on the hospitality experience
and training in order to have the staff
feel equipped to make you feel like that.
- So it's interesting you say that,
I really hadn't thought about it that way,
but you have to balancehealth and regulations,
(07:17):
which I'm sure there'scomplexity that comes with that,
with the experience andthe retail side of it.
So how do you innovate
knowing that you haveto follow certain rules?
- One of the things Ilike the best, frankly,
about the business is the rule.
So back in my former life, I was a lawyer.
And so when we learnedhow complex regulatorily
it would be to openStuds across the country,
(07:39):
I was sort of attracted to that.
I think other foundersmight have been put off.
But I liked that because I was like,
"Ooh, this is sort of complex and weird."
That was positive to me.
And I liked the idea of sortof being forced to innovate
with those constraints.
And so I think that'sbeen a benefit to Studs
and is a moat to our business.
- Hmm, I love that.
Okay, so you did startyour career as a lawyer,
(07:59):
went to law school, youwere at Bridgewater,
very different business,
and not an easy place to be.
I mean, a really intense culture.
Did you bring any of that into Studs,
or just what learnings Ithink did you capture there
that you brought into the business?
- So first of all, I loved Bridgewater
and I spent almost five years there.
And to your point, it's not for everyone,
but it was really for me.
(08:20):
And I went there because of two things.
One, I was actually veryattracted to the culture
and very direct, very feedback-oriented,
very transparent by my nature.
And then secondly,
I really wanted to learn whatRay talked about at the time
as the management principles.
And then, you know, subsequentlypublished the book on.
And I liked learning about those things
because they teach you how tothink about running a company,
(08:41):
and he thought about Bridgewater
not as running an assetmanager, but running a company,
like an operating business.
And so, that was really valuable to me.
And then in terms ofwhat I brought to Studs,
very feedback-orientedand transparency-oriented.
And we have actually now
one of my former Bridgewater colleagues
works with me at Studs,
which has been really helpful to me.
- That's great.
You also had time at theincubator at Walmart,
(09:02):
which I imagine reallyhelped you understand
how products come to market,
how a big retailer sells those products.
What were some insights therethat you also took away?
- I think the two things thatI really learned at Walmart
were one, how big companies worked.
I'd never worked at a big company,
and obviously here I was
at the biggest company in the US, right.
Walmart, for those who don't know,
(09:22):
employs 2.3 million people.
Like, that's the population ofmany cities in the US, right?
And so, I loved learning about that
because I always sort of wondered
that if I started my own company
and I ever wanted to sell it,
it was going to be importantto understand how big companies
that could be acquirers worked.
- Absolutely.- The other thing
I really learned about waswe saw a lot of businesses
(09:42):
that had raised capitalfrom outside investors.
- Yeah.- And so I learned more
about that process
and that network having been at Walmart.
And so I liked that interms of how it set me up
to go raise money for Studs.
- That's great.
That's so helpful down the road.
So when you think aboutas an entrepreneur,
the people, the communitythat you need to succeed,
(10:03):
how did you build that
when you decided to go out on your own?
And what would you sayyour community resulted in?
- Yeah, the first thing was Ithink you have to be willing
to get to know everyone,and talk to everyone,
and sort of be unabashedly networky
is one way I guess to put it.
- And curious?- And curious.
- Yeah.
- And so, what I haddone really at Walmart
(10:23):
was I had met a lot of peoplein the investment community,
the startup investmentcommunity in New York,
in particular in consumer investment.
And I really facilitated,
and I guess continued those relationships
as we were thinking about starting Studs.
I stayed connected to those people,
I kept them updated onwhat I was working on.
And so I used these connections
(10:44):
I'd made through my former job to help me
when we were going to raiseour first run of money.
- I love that, and did they help you too,
in thinking about theexperience you wanted to deliver
and how you would rethinkthe piercing experience?
- You know what's interesting?
I would say that was really myco-founder and I on our own.
And one of the thingsthat I liked about Studs
(11:04):
was, on the one hand, weweren't reinventing the wheel.
Of course, if you'dwanted to go get pierced
the day before Studs opened,
you could have gotten pierced.
The point was that we had to envision
what we thought our idealexperience was going to be,
and then make that come to life.
And I liked being able todo that in real white space.
Because it really didn't exist.
- Right, right, right.
(11:24):
And so, what did you wantthat customer to feel like
from the minute they walked into the door
till when they left?
- So I think, first of all,
we were really focused froman environment perspective
on combining what lookslike a chic medi spa,
because you're obviously having a needle
put through your ear,
with a place that feels really fun for you
to go with your friendsto take pictures at.
(11:45):
And so, we really wantedthe design to evoke that.
Separately, we were very interested
in combining the ideaof getting ear piercings
and wearing earrings,
whereas in the past,
most people would go to a tattoo parlor
and they would get their ear pierced,
and then they would goto a mainstream brand
to buy earrings.
And we were really focused
on creating a combo of thosetwo experiences in one place.
(12:05):
- Oh, I love that.
And you can see that right away.
You know, you can see the store design
as experimenting, creative.
It's very open.
And with the choicesI think that you have,
it was interesting, like, hadI gone forward for piercings,
I probably would've come out
with a million more choicesthan things I wanted to get.
So you could see that off the bat.
(12:26):
- Yep.- So you launched
the business right before COVID.
I can't imagine that was easy to do
when you are a retailin-person experience,
can't pierce ears over the internet.
So what happened during this time
and how did it helpyou pivot the business?
- Yeah, so we had closed our series A
literally two weeks before COVID.
- Wow.- We were very lucky
in retrospect to havebeen able to do that.
(12:47):
And then we only hadtwo stores at the time,
we closed both of themfor about six months,
and we were forced almost immediately
into focusing on the e-commerceside of the business,
which I think we would havegotten to, but for COVID,
but all of a sudden it became top priority
because we had to make money,
and we didn't have studios to make money.
- Right.- So we spent really,
(13:07):
what I would say is a year and a half
very focused on e-commerce,
even though we started toopen stores again in 2021,
really not until 2022 were we opening at,
I would call it a fast clip.
- Hmm, so you werefocusing on the jewelry,
designing it, producing it.
- And figuring out how wewould differentiate ourselves
in the market.
And one thing that I thinkhas been interesting to learn
(13:28):
as Studs has evolved
is that the jewelry that we sell the best
is the jewelry that is what Iwould call piercing adjacent,
meaning things that people
who have a lot of piercings want to buy.
And so, we've really startedto focus in on those categories
as things have evolved in the business
in order to meet thecustomer where they are.
(13:48):
- That's great.
I mean, that's anexpansion then of the brand
into places where you'rekind of being invited
into by the customer.- Exactly.
- They see you legitimately being there.
So in thinking aboutthe product, piercings,
how has that opened up for you
what community really means,
and how have your customers
actually expanded on this community?
- It's interesting.
You know, I think whenwe started the business,
(14:08):
we didn't know
how much of a communityelement there would be.
But what has proven interesting to us
is that we have verylarge social followings
on Instagram and on TikTok.
And you see that there are
really piercing enthusiasts out there
that want to communicate withother piercing enthusiasts.
And so, when we post something like,
"Oh, I have 20 piercings on my ear,
(14:28):
let me tell you about them,"
all of a sudden we areflooded with comments
about people communicating with each other
about how many piercings they have,
comparing piercings.
"This one hurt me a lot.
This didn't hurt me, this healed well,
this didn't heal well."
And so, I think there'san inherent interest
for people in communicating with others
about their piercing experiences.
(14:49):
- Yeah.- In a way
that I don't know that we knewwould exist prior to Studs.
- I never would've thought of that.
And so, when you talk aboutpiercing adjacent businesses
or expansion opportunities,
do you think the communitywill go there too?
Do you think you'll have justmore people in the community?
What's your?
- I think at the end of the day,
when you get your earpierced, you know, it's funny,
when we started the business,
(15:10):
I think we thought maybeit was sort of going to be
more deep than it wasto get your ear pierced.
And as we've evolved and learned,
I think we've done a lotof customer surveying
and we now equate getting your ear pierced
to like getting bangs.
It's like a little bit of a thing.
- Right.
- [Anna] But it's not likegetting a tattoo, right?
- Yes, yes, it's notlike getting a tattoo.
(15:30):
- And I think when you thinkabout talking to your friends
about what haircut you're going to get,
or, "I think I'm going to dye in my hair,"
or, "I think I'm going to get bangs,"
that's what piercingevokes in people, right?
They want to talk aboutit with their community.
- Yes.- And so,
I think we've been really lucky
because we have these small communities
where people are talkingabout it amongst their friends
and these bigger communities
where our following is talkingabout it amongst themselves
(15:51):
because they're piercing enthusiasts.
- Right, oh, I love that.
I never thought about that.
But it's very much aself-expression mechanism.
- Exactly.
And you know, when I went to get the one
that spawned this all,
I'm sure at some level I wantedto feel a little younger.
I was 34 when I did that, right,
like, there was animpetus for me to do it,
and it wasn't as deep,like I said, as a tattoo,
but it was that I wanted to do a thing.
(16:13):
- Right, right.
So you're very intentional
about the self-expressionpart of the business,
and you want that to show up to customers.
How does that translateinto, you know, internally
and your employees andwhat they see that they do?
- Well, first of all,all of the employees,
the irony is people come to Studs
and one of, you know, themain things I say to them is,
"You don't have to get a lot of piercings.
Like, don't feel pressure."
- The average number is.
(16:34):
- But they all have so many now.
So I think it makes you reallyenthusiastic about piercings,
which is great.
So they're doing it themselves.
And I love that because that means
that they're also customers of the brand,
meaning they can give feedback
if they think there are things
we should fix or improve, et cetera.
- That is great, I love that.
And as you think abouttraining your employees
and growing them for the future,
what are the things thatyou're focused on doing?
(16:55):
And have you taken anythingyou learned in prior companies
and put that in particularlyto the development side?
- Well, I think one ofthe most important things
that we do is we train allof our piercers in house,
and we actually just launchedwhat we call Studs Academy,
which is a dedicated training studio
in our meat packinglocation in New York City.
And so we began the company knowing
that we would have to buildan apprenticeship program
(17:16):
for piercers specifically.
And so they train with us for six weeks,
they're paid while they're training.
- [Sam] That's great.
- Many of the people that enterthe apprenticeship program
formerly were front of house folks
that worked at the studios.
And so, we are very,very invested in training
because we believe that ifwe can train excellently,
we will provide excellentoutcomes to customers.
(17:37):
- Did this skill set just not exist
in large enough degree to kind of hire?
- Yeah, so it was interesting.
One of the things we learned
that we didn't realize beforewe had started the business
is that there is nobeauty school of piercing.
And because there is no beauty school,
there's no obvious place to recruit from.
Right?- Yes.
- And so, we had to basically effectively
create our own beauty school.
- Right, right, okay.
(17:57):
Was that hard to do or did you?
- I wouldn't say it was hard,
I would say it was anecessity for our business.
And so, we knew very early on
that we would have to do that
in order to basically create
and manage our own talent funnels.
- So that's clearlyimportant to your growth
and you're on this really nice expansion.
What have been some of the moments
that have really beenmost meaningful to you?
(18:17):
You know, the first store, the 10th store,
what was it that was the big ones?
- I think what is so cool always
is when I go see any new store
and you're just like, "Man,before me this didn't exist."
And I love that, right?
I remember, I think really distinctly
when I also started getting pictures
from friends and family
that would see stores in the wild,
(18:39):
because now there areso many of them, right?
And they're all across the US.
And I love that because I think you forget
that you made something
that didn't exist priorto you working on it.
And that I feel proudof that all the time.
- I love that.
And so, as you think of the next chapter,
where else do you seeadditional opportunities?
Is it more store expansion?
Is it more accessories?
(18:59):
You know, where's Studs-
- I think we're really interestedin more store expansion.
We think we can have hundredsof Studs across the US,
which is nothing to say for international,
and so that's really where we're focused.
- That is great.
And so, on the innovation front,
where else can you take this experience?
You know, is it still aboutthe piercing making that core?
Or do you think there'ssomething else to experience?
(19:20):
- I think we've always reallybeen interested in tattoos.
And so that's interesting for us.
But I think, like I said, wehave a lot of wood to chop
in the existing experience andbringing that to more people.
- And as you look back on six years,
which can feel like a long time,
but frankly, really isn'tfor a successful business.
What would you say yourmost proudest moments
and accomplishments have been?
- I think, you know, I did,
(19:41):
I raised our first round of money
when I was pregnant with my first child.
- Congratulations.- And I raised
another round of money when Iwas pregnant with my second.
And I feel really proud thatI've been able to both do this
and have kids while doing it,
which I think is not onlychallenging to balance,
but also I think, you know,hopefully destigmatizes
for people that you can do this,
both as a working momand a pregnant person.
(20:03):
- Well, and I think many founders
and many women who are in this situation
wonder if they're goingto go into those meetings
and the pregnancy or fact ofbeing a mother will come up,
will they get asked the questions?
Did you have any trepidation around that?
- I didn't
but I'm also not really oneto be worried about that.
But we also never got askedabout it, which is interesting.
- That's fantastic.
So if you were to talkto other entrepreneurs
(20:25):
who have ideas,
but they're not sure
and they're a littleworried about what to do,
what would you tell them?
- I think I would say go for it.
I think the most important thing
is to not let any preconceivednotion that you have
about how someone is going to react
to your personal situation be a barrier.
Because that could happen,
but it also just as easily could not.
- Right, right.
And I think a lot of timespeople anticipate the worst
(20:46):
or something that they mightnot be able to deal with,
but you have to put yourselfin that situation first.
- Exactly.
- So, well, we are so excitedto see the growth of Studs.
- Thank you.- We can't wait
for more stores and more rollouts.
And maybe there will be morepiercings over time for me.
- Yeah, so pretty.- Note to self done.
But thank you, Anna, it'sbeen great to have you here.
- I appreciate it.Thank you for having me.
(21:11):
- Thank you for listeningto my conversation
with Anna Harman.
From redefining retail piercing
to furthering self-expression,
Anna Harman is proof thatleading with vision and heart
can change the game.
As you reflect on today's conversation,
consider how you mightcreate new communities
amongst your customers.
And if you're thinkingof starting a business,
I hope you found the inspiration today
(21:32):
to take the first step.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to like, share,
and subscribe to it on yourfavorite podcast platform.
- I raised our first round of money
when I was pregnant with my first child.
- Congratulations.- And I raised
another round of money when Iwas pregnant with my second.
And I feel really proud thatI've been able to both do this
and have kids while doing it,
which I think is not onlychallenging to balance,
but also I think, you know,hopefully destigmatizes
for people that you can do this, right,
both as a working momand a pregnant person.
(00:28):
- Welcome to the "Womenon the Move" podcast.
I'm your host, Sam Saperstein.
This season, we're delvinginto how strong communities
create opportunities, foster belonging,
and empower leaders tomake a lasting impact.
In this episode, I'mspeaking with Anna Harman,
co-founder and CEO of Studs,
the brand that's re-imagining ear piercing
(00:48):
and turning earscapinginto a cultural phenomenon.
With a background in law and startups,
Anna is reshaping the retail experience
by blending fashion and self-expression
in a way that feels fresh,inclusive, and bold.
Anna, welcome to the "Womenon the Move" podcast.
It's so great to have you with us.
- Thank you so much for having me.
- We have to talk about yourfounder story for Studs.
(01:10):
What brought you to the realization
Studs needed to be in this world,
and why did you want to create it?
- So about six years ago now,
I went to go get another piercing,
and I went to a very fancy place
that's actually quite nearbywhere we are recording.
And I walked in on a Sunday afternoon,
and they told me
that I would probablyhave to wait two hours,
they didn't take appointments,
and I would've spent somewherebetween 750 and $1,000.
(01:31):
- Wow.
- And so I left and Iwent to a tattoo parlor
and I got pierced at the tattoo parlor,
and the piercing was done healthily
and safely with a needle.
And I really liked my piercer.
However, the jewelry was terrible,
and it was still expensive.
And so I left wondering,"Where do you go if you're me?
You want to have a piercingthat's done with a needle."
You want the jewelry tobe cute, but affordable.
(01:53):
You've graduated from the mall brands,
and the answer was, yougo to the tattoo parlor.
And I thought that wasn't a great answer.
- You know, before I'd reallythought about your company,
I really didn't think much about piercing.
I mean, I had my ears piercedwhen I was in fifth grade.
I went to my doctor,
it's my pediatrician withthat big gun, pierced the two,
and I have to tell youpart of my piercing story.
So a few years later, Idecided I needed another,
(02:15):
and I was in summer camp and I was 13.
- Oh-oh, safety pin is coming.
- Safety pin and a bunch ofice from the nurse's office.
- Woo wee.- Wow.
That took a while and I wouldnever do that again today.
But there I had my second pierce.
So somewhere in betweenall of those experiences
and your experiences, thereseems to really be a need.
- Yeah, I think, youknow, for most people,
(02:38):
if you got your ears pierced,
either at the doctor'soffice with a pediatrician
or at a local jewelry store,which was my experience,
I got them when I was eightat some very local place,
you graduate from that andyou want to go somewhere else.
And you also definitelywant to be being pierced
with a needle.
And in most contexts,
that means you're goingto the tattoo parlor,
which even if you are 13 andyour parent is bringing you,
(02:58):
is really not the placefor a young person to go.
And I personally felt very out of place
in the tattoo parlor.
And again, Studs was really born
out of feeling that need for myself.
- I love that.
Okay, so tell us about thebusiness now, six years in.
How big is it? Where are you?
- Yeah, so we're based in New York City.
We have 34 stores all across the country.
We have a team of about300 between corporate
(03:20):
and our field employees.
And we feel really lucky.
I mean, we started thefirst store in 2019 in Soho,
and we knew instantly that we had
what in startup world iscalled product market fit,
because there were lines,
celebrities were coming to the store.
And so, we felt like we knew
that this thing should exist in the world,
and then we made it and it really worked.
(03:42):
- And did you have atarget customer in mind
in the beginning
or even like throughout this whole time?
- Yeah, we really made thebrand for an 18 to 35-year-old.
And that's everythingfrom the positioning,
the product that we carry,
the influencers that we work with,
the celebrities that we court.
And I think it's really proven true
that that is also the core customer.
We made it for that customer
(04:02):
and then it worked out to be that way.
- So then thinking about,would you describe as the need,
would you say there's competition really
for what you're doing or?
- It's interesting.
I think when we do customer surveys,
what the customers say to us
is that the competitionis the tattoo parlor.
Like, if not for Studs, theywould go to the tattoo parlor.
- Right.- And there are 20,000
independent tattoo parlors in the US,
and so, it's obviouslya very saturated market.
(04:25):
- Yeah.
- And then I think interms of competitors,
otherwise, not really.
I really think we are thebrand that you graduate to
when you're on a secondpiercing and beyond.
- Hmm, that's so interesting.
And there could be very much beyond.
So when I walked into yourstore in Rockefeller Center,
I saw a picture of the ear
and all the many placesone could get pierced
(04:46):
and you only focus on ears.
I had no idea you could get pierced
in that many places on your ear.
So break it down for us
because I'm only familiar with the lobe
and maybe this upper part.
- [Anna] Well, soon I feel likeyou're going to be familiar
with more if your daughter asks.
- Maybe.
- So the main thingfor us is, as you said,
we only focus on the ear
and needle piercing allows you
to do much more intricatepiercings on the ears.
(05:08):
And so, while I onlyhave nine as an example,
we have customers thathave 20 to 40 piercings
on their ears.
My most intricate piercingis my rook piercing,
which is basically a piercing
that's on the shelf ofthe ear right up here.
But I really encouragepeople to go into the studios
and experience consultationswith the staff there
(05:28):
because they can tell youall about your ear anatomy
and what you should get pierced
and what will look good on you.
- I had no idea, butthank you, I will do that.
And so when you launched the company,
you came up with this term earscaping.
So what does that mean?
- Yeah, so we actually trademarked it,
which is really exciting.
It is the combined art and science
of getting multiple piercings on your ears
and then wearing manydifferent types of earrings
resulting in what wecall an extreme version
(05:50):
of self-expression.
- Love this.- But really what it is,
is that the point of getting ear piercings
is not to have holes in your ears,
the point of getting ear piercingsis just to wear earrings.
And every day, many peoplechange up what those earrings are
to reflect what they feel like that day
or something they're trying to say
about their style to the world.
And we really wanted toencapsulate that in a term,
and that's where earscaping was born.
- You can think about that inthe terms of like landscaping,
(06:13):
how you're trying to makeeverything look beautiful
and have a place.
So I really appreciate that.
When I went to the store,
I saw all the different jewelry you sell.
I actually picked this out
and I picked out something for my daughter
for her birthday with her birthstone,
just don't tell her that quite yet.
But there seemed to besomething for everybody.
And I was helped by avery nice male assistant
who also had many piercings,
(06:34):
and I think just felt very comfortable
showing me different things.
And so it was really nice
to be welcomed and explained things,
I guess in a way I really never-
- Had thought about.- Yeah.
- Yeah, we really valuehospitality at Studs.
And so when you're coming into a Studs,
you should feel very welcomed.
And in some ways you're havinga small medical procedure
(06:55):
if you're getting a piercing.
And so the environment should be one
that makes you feel bothexcited and calmed, right?
About doing that.
And we really focus a lot
thus on the hospitality experience
and training in order to have the staff
feel equipped to make you feel like that.
- So it's interesting you say that,
I really hadn't thought about it that way,
but you have to balancehealth and regulations,
(07:17):
which I'm sure there'scomplexity that comes with that,
with the experience andthe retail side of it.
So how do you innovate
knowing that you haveto follow certain rules?
- One of the things Ilike the best, frankly,
about the business is the rule.
So back in my former life, I was a lawyer.
And so when we learnedhow complex regulatorily
it would be to openStuds across the country,
(07:39):
I was sort of attracted to that.
I think other foundersmight have been put off.
But I liked that because I was like,
"Ooh, this is sort of complex and weird."
That was positive to me.
And I liked the idea of sortof being forced to innovate
with those constraints.
And so I think that'sbeen a benefit to Studs
and is a moat to our business.
- Hmm, I love that.
Okay, so you did startyour career as a lawyer,
(07:59):
went to law school, youwere at Bridgewater,
very different business,
and not an easy place to be.
I mean, a really intense culture.
Did you bring any of that into Studs,
or just what learnings Ithink did you capture there
that you brought into the business?
- So first of all, I loved Bridgewater
and I spent almost five years there.
And to your point, it's not for everyone,
but it was really for me.
(08:20):
And I went there because of two things.
One, I was actually veryattracted to the culture
and very direct, very feedback-oriented,
very transparent by my nature.
And then secondly,
I really wanted to learn whatRay talked about at the time
as the management principles.
And then, you know, subsequentlypublished the book on.
And I liked learning about those things
because they teach you how tothink about running a company,
(08:41):
and he thought about Bridgewater
not as running an assetmanager, but running a company,
like an operating business.
And so, that was really valuable to me.
And then in terms ofwhat I brought to Studs,
very feedback-orientedand transparency-oriented.
And we have actually now
one of my former Bridgewater colleagues
works with me at Studs,
which has been really helpful to me.
- That's great.
You also had time at theincubator at Walmart,
(09:02):
which I imagine reallyhelped you understand
how products come to market,
how a big retailer sells those products.
What were some insights therethat you also took away?
- I think the two things thatI really learned at Walmart
were one, how big companies worked.
I'd never worked at a big company,
and obviously here I was
at the biggest company in the US, right.
Walmart, for those who don't know,
(09:22):
employs 2.3 million people.
Like, that's the population ofmany cities in the US, right?
And so, I loved learning about that
because I always sort of wondered
that if I started my own company
and I ever wanted to sell it,
it was going to be importantto understand how big companies
that could be acquirers worked.
- Absolutely.- The other thing
I really learned about waswe saw a lot of businesses
(09:42):
that had raised capitalfrom outside investors.
- Yeah.- And so I learned more
about that process
and that network having been at Walmart.
And so I liked that interms of how it set me up
to go raise money for Studs.
- That's great.
That's so helpful down the road.
So when you think aboutas an entrepreneur,
the people, the communitythat you need to succeed,
(10:03):
how did you build that
when you decided to go out on your own?
And what would you sayyour community resulted in?
- Yeah, the first thing was Ithink you have to be willing
to get to know everyone,and talk to everyone,
and sort of be unabashedly networky
is one way I guess to put it.
- And curious?- And curious.
- Yeah.
- And so, what I haddone really at Walmart
(10:23):
was I had met a lot of peoplein the investment community,
the startup investmentcommunity in New York,
in particular in consumer investment.
And I really facilitated,
and I guess continued those relationships
as we were thinking about starting Studs.
I stayed connected to those people,
I kept them updated onwhat I was working on.
And so I used these connections
(10:44):
I'd made through my former job to help me
when we were going to raiseour first run of money.
- I love that, and did they help you too,
in thinking about theexperience you wanted to deliver
and how you would rethinkthe piercing experience?
- You know what's interesting?
I would say that was really myco-founder and I on our own.
And one of the thingsthat I liked about Studs
(11:04):
was, on the one hand, weweren't reinventing the wheel.
Of course, if you'dwanted to go get pierced
the day before Studs opened,
you could have gotten pierced.
The point was that we had to envision
what we thought our idealexperience was going to be,
and then make that come to life.
And I liked being able todo that in real white space.
Because it really didn't exist.
- Right, right, right.
(11:24):
And so, what did you wantthat customer to feel like
from the minute they walked into the door
till when they left?
- So I think, first of all,
we were really focused froman environment perspective
on combining what lookslike a chic medi spa,
because you're obviously having a needle
put through your ear,
with a place that feels really fun for you
to go with your friendsto take pictures at.
(11:45):
And so, we really wantedthe design to evoke that.
Separately, we were very interested
in combining the ideaof getting ear piercings
and wearing earrings,
whereas in the past,
most people would go to a tattoo parlor
and they would get their ear pierced,
and then they would goto a mainstream brand
to buy earrings.
And we were really focused
on creating a combo of thosetwo experiences in one place.
(12:05):
- Oh, I love that.
And you can see that right away.
You know, you can see the store design
as experimenting, creative.
It's very open.
And with the choicesI think that you have,
it was interesting, like, hadI gone forward for piercings,
I probably would've come out
with a million more choicesthan things I wanted to get.
So you could see that off the bat.
(12:26):
- Yep.- So you launched
the business right before COVID.
I can't imagine that was easy to do
when you are a retailin-person experience,
can't pierce ears over the internet.
So what happened during this time
and how did it helpyou pivot the business?
- Yeah, so we had closed our series A
literally two weeks before COVID.
- Wow.- We were very lucky
in retrospect to havebeen able to do that.
(12:47):
And then we only hadtwo stores at the time,
we closed both of themfor about six months,
and we were forced almost immediately
into focusing on the e-commerceside of the business,
which I think we would havegotten to, but for COVID,
but all of a sudden it became top priority
because we had to make money,
and we didn't have studios to make money.
- Right.- So we spent really,
(13:07):
what I would say is a year and a half
very focused on e-commerce,
even though we started toopen stores again in 2021,
really not until 2022 were we opening at,
I would call it a fast clip.
- Hmm, so you werefocusing on the jewelry,
designing it, producing it.
- And figuring out how wewould differentiate ourselves
in the market.
And one thing that I thinkhas been interesting to learn
(13:28):
as Studs has evolved
is that the jewelry that we sell the best
is the jewelry that is what Iwould call piercing adjacent,
meaning things that people
who have a lot of piercings want to buy.
And so, we've really startedto focus in on those categories
as things have evolved in the business
in order to meet thecustomer where they are.
(13:48):
- That's great.
I mean, that's anexpansion then of the brand
into places where you'rekind of being invited
into by the customer.- Exactly.
- They see you legitimately being there.
So in thinking aboutthe product, piercings,
how has that opened up for you
what community really means,
and how have your customers
actually expanded on this community?
- It's interesting.
You know, I think whenwe started the business,
(14:08):
we didn't know
how much of a communityelement there would be.
But what has proven interesting to us
is that we have verylarge social followings
on Instagram and on TikTok.
And you see that there are
really piercing enthusiasts out there
that want to communicate withother piercing enthusiasts.
And so, when we post something like,
"Oh, I have 20 piercings on my ear,
(14:28):
let me tell you about them,"
all of a sudden we areflooded with comments
about people communicating with each other
about how many piercings they have,
comparing piercings.
"This one hurt me a lot.
This didn't hurt me, this healed well,
this didn't heal well."
And so, I think there'san inherent interest
for people in communicating with others
about their piercing experiences.
(14:49):
- Yeah.- In a way
that I don't know that we knewwould exist prior to Studs.
- I never would've thought of that.
And so, when you talk aboutpiercing adjacent businesses
or expansion opportunities,
do you think the communitywill go there too?
Do you think you'll have justmore people in the community?
What's your?
- I think at the end of the day,
when you get your earpierced, you know, it's funny,
when we started the business,
(15:10):
I think we thought maybeit was sort of going to be
more deep than it wasto get your ear pierced.
And as we've evolved and learned,
I think we've done a lotof customer surveying
and we now equate getting your ear pierced
to like getting bangs.
It's like a little bit of a thing.
- Right.
- [Anna] But it's not likegetting a tattoo, right?
- Yes, yes, it's notlike getting a tattoo.
(15:30):
- And I think when you thinkabout talking to your friends
about what haircut you're going to get,
or, "I think I'm going to dye in my hair,"
or, "I think I'm going to get bangs,"
that's what piercingevokes in people, right?
They want to talk aboutit with their community.
- Yes.- And so,
I think we've been really lucky
because we have these small communities
where people are talkingabout it amongst their friends
and these bigger communities
where our following is talkingabout it amongst themselves
(15:51):
because they're piercing enthusiasts.
- Right, oh, I love that.
I never thought about that.
But it's very much aself-expression mechanism.
- Exactly.
And you know, when I went to get the one
that spawned this all,
I'm sure at some level I wantedto feel a little younger.
I was 34 when I did that, right,
like, there was animpetus for me to do it,
and it wasn't as deep,like I said, as a tattoo,
but it was that I wanted to do a thing.
(16:13):
- Right, right.
So you're very intentional
about the self-expressionpart of the business,
and you want that to show up to customers.
How does that translateinto, you know, internally
and your employees andwhat they see that they do?
- Well, first of all,all of the employees,
the irony is people come to Studs
and one of, you know, themain things I say to them is,
"You don't have to get a lot of piercings.
Like, don't feel pressure."
- The average number is.
(16:34):
- But they all have so many now.
So I think it makes you reallyenthusiastic about piercings,
which is great.
So they're doing it themselves.
And I love that because that means
that they're also customers of the brand,
meaning they can give feedback
if they think there are things
we should fix or improve, et cetera.
- That is great, I love that.
And as you think abouttraining your employees
and growing them for the future,
what are the things thatyou're focused on doing?
(16:55):
And have you taken anythingyou learned in prior companies
and put that in particularlyto the development side?
- Well, I think one ofthe most important things
that we do is we train allof our piercers in house,
and we actually just launchedwhat we call Studs Academy,
which is a dedicated training studio
in our meat packinglocation in New York City.
And so we began the company knowing
that we would have to buildan apprenticeship program
(17:16):
for piercers specifically.
And so they train with us for six weeks,
they're paid while they're training.
- [Sam] That's great.
- Many of the people that enterthe apprenticeship program
formerly were front of house folks
that worked at the studios.
And so, we are very,very invested in training
because we believe that ifwe can train excellently,
we will provide excellentoutcomes to customers.
(17:37):
- Did this skill set just not exist
in large enough degree to kind of hire?
- Yeah, so it was interesting.
One of the things we learned
that we didn't realize beforewe had started the business
is that there is nobeauty school of piercing.
And because there is no beauty school,
there's no obvious place to recruit from.
Right?- Yes.
- And so, we had to basically effectively
create our own beauty school.
- Right, right, okay.
(17:57):
Was that hard to do or did you?
- I wouldn't say it was hard,
I would say it was anecessity for our business.
And so, we knew very early on
that we would have to do that
in order to basically create
and manage our own talent funnels.
- So that's clearlyimportant to your growth
and you're on this really nice expansion.
What have been some of the moments
that have really beenmost meaningful to you?
(18:17):
You know, the first store, the 10th store,
what was it that was the big ones?
- I think what is so cool always
is when I go see any new store
and you're just like, "Man,before me this didn't exist."
And I love that, right?
I remember, I think really distinctly
when I also started getting pictures
from friends and family
that would see stores in the wild,
(18:39):
because now there areso many of them, right?
And they're all across the US.
And I love that because I think you forget
that you made something
that didn't exist priorto you working on it.
And that I feel proudof that all the time.
- I love that.
And so, as you think of the next chapter,
where else do you seeadditional opportunities?
Is it more store expansion?
Is it more accessories?
(18:59):
You know, where's Studs-
- I think we're really interestedin more store expansion.
We think we can have hundredsof Studs across the US,
which is nothing to say for international,
and so that's really where we're focused.
- That is great.
And so, on the innovation front,
where else can you take this experience?
You know, is it still aboutthe piercing making that core?
Or do you think there'ssomething else to experience?
(19:20):
- I think we've always reallybeen interested in tattoos.
And so that's interesting for us.
But I think, like I said, wehave a lot of wood to chop
in the existing experience andbringing that to more people.
- And as you look back on six years,
which can feel like a long time,
but frankly, really isn'tfor a successful business.
What would you say yourmost proudest moments
and accomplishments have been?
- I think, you know, I did,
(19:41):
I raised our first round of money
when I was pregnant with my first child.
- Congratulations.- And I raised
another round of money when Iwas pregnant with my second.
And I feel really proud thatI've been able to both do this
and have kids while doing it,
which I think is not onlychallenging to balance,
but also I think, you know,hopefully destigmatizes
for people that you can do this,
both as a working momand a pregnant person.
(20:03):
- Well, and I think many founders
and many women who are in this situation
wonder if they're goingto go into those meetings
and the pregnancy or fact ofbeing a mother will come up,
will they get asked the questions?
Did you have any trepidation around that?
- I didn't
but I'm also not really oneto be worried about that.
But we also never got askedabout it, which is interesting.
- That's fantastic.
So if you were to talkto other entrepreneurs
(20:25):
who have ideas,
but they're not sure
and they're a littleworried about what to do,
what would you tell them?
- I think I would say go for it.
I think the most important thing
is to not let any preconceivednotion that you have
about how someone is going to react
to your personal situation be a barrier.
Because that could happen,
but it also just as easily could not.
- Right, right.
And I think a lot of timespeople anticipate the worst
(20:46):
or something that they mightnot be able to deal with,
but you have to put yourselfin that situation first.
- Exactly.
- So, well, we are so excitedto see the growth of Studs.
- Thank you.- We can't wait
for more stores and more rollouts.
And maybe there will be morepiercings over time for me.
- Yeah, so pretty.- Note to self done.
But thank you, Anna, it'sbeen great to have you here.
- I appreciate it.Thank you for having me.
(21:11):
- Thank you for listeningto my conversation
with Anna Harman.
From redefining retail piercing
to furthering self-expression,
Anna Harman is proof thatleading with vision and heart
can change the game.
As you reflect on today's conversation,
consider how you mightcreate new communities
amongst your customers.
And if you're thinkingof starting a business,
I hope you found the inspiration today
(21:32):
to take the first step.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to like, share,
and subscribe to it on yourfavorite podcast platform.
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