Piercing Wizard Podcast

Please be aware this episode ends with a memorial to Canadian piercer Deacon Matheson who recently passed. Starting at 46:00 will be some thoughts from Ryan and Lola about mental health. Starting at 57:30 there will be some highlights from episode 232 featuring Deacon's voice.

The majority of this episode will be Ryan and Lola talking about their regular piercer bullsh*t. Walk ins are starting to creep back in to both of our studio...

In this episode Lola and Ryan talk about how to manage jewelry repairs in the studio. It may seem like a simple thing to get broken jewelry fixed, but like many other aspects of the studio we pick apart all the little complications. We also talk about Lola's experience of having scarification performed by Ryan, and we have some exciting news about BME activity!!

Ryan also has a new video breaking down his method for piercing earlob...

Who knows what secrets lurk in the heart of piercers? The Shadow knows. On this episode Ryan and Lola talk about setting healthy boundaries and expectations for shadowing (typically, observation outside of your home studio). We discuss some of our experiences with shadowing and how they can helpful for others, either as the host or as the shadowing piercer. We give our opinions on chamomile tea bags for aftercare. We also chat abou...

During Lola & Ryan's holiday Lord of the Rings marathon, somewhere between the battle of Helm's Deep and the battle for Minas Tirath, we recorded this episode for you. We talk about fair compensation in the body piercing industry as well as a few other subjects. We chat about pubic piercings, labret piercings, if clamps still have a place in the modern piercing studio, apprenticeship progress, a short recap of piercing in 2023,...

Join Lola and Ryan for another q&a episode where we discuss some questions submitted by our listeners. Is this everything you have for jewelry? Do you really need two needles for an industrial? Can you pierce around creases and wrinkles? How do you maintain good physical and mental health as a piercer? Should you pierce immunocompromised clients? How do you report bad shops?

Join Ryan for a live seminar in Dallas, Texas on Sun...

Eden Thomson from Absolution Piercing in Christchurch, New Zealand comes on the show this week. Eden and Ryan sat down in Sydney during the AUPP conference and talked about piercing, access to suspension, and the BME vibe. Eden is fantastic piercer from the other side of the world and I'm glad I could finally get him on the show.

I have a new seminar coming up in Dallas, Texas on Sunday January 28th 2024. For more info visit www.r...

For this episode Lola and Ryan do a deep dive into surface piercings (about 3/32" in most cases). We talk about surface piercing methods in 2023 and all the various methods we tried out going back into the late 90's. Surface bars, body placements, and a range of techniques from clamps and plastic jewelry up to punch & taper and wound shaping. We also discuss a common issue related to surface work, rejection, and how to tal...

I was really happy to have been invited to teach at the first Australasian United Professional Piercers (AUPP) conference in Sydney, Australia. While I was there I sat down with Suzanne Hallett, from the AUPP's board of directors, and one of the event's key organizers. We talk about how a local organization can push standards higher in ways that might not be feasible on a global scale. The AUPP's first conference was an impressiv...

Lola and Ryan went to all the conferences and all you got was this lousy podcast. We recap some of our favorite parts of the BMXNET conference in Berlin, the Professional Piercers Poland conference in Gdansk, and the UKAPP conference in Manchester. Every conference has its own personality, community, and benefits. We share our experiences to help you decide which conference might be right for you. Stick around for some honest advic...

Lola Slider recently released a video presentation titled "Predicting and Preventing Predatory Behaviour". On this episode she discusses the importance of the topic with Ryan. You can watch the full video presentation for free at www.patreon.com/ryanpba.

Ryan and Lola also discuss the upcoming piercing conferences they will be instructing at. BMXNET in Germany, Pro. Piercers Poland, UKAPP, and AuPP in Australia!

Ryan wi...

Tongues and Cheeks and Dermal Punches, oh my. Ryan made a new video about tongue piercings and it sparked off a whole thing. Lola joins in for a conversation about common practices that have become less common, why, and what we're going to do about it. We approach tongues as a staple piercing that is making a comeback post-facemask-life. We approach cheek piercings as something we really wanted to like, but just don't. And Dermal P...

The final interview in my APP 2023 series will be with a piercer who goes by Wikilea on ig. Wikilea was a POC (piercer of color) scholar for this year's conference, she is a piercer who might describe herself as an American piercer and as a Chinese piercer. Lola and I sat down with Wikilea to talk about the current state of the Chinese piercing scene. This is another fascinating conversation that helps to shed a light on internatio...

Its pretty obvious when you need to leave a bad workplace, but what about when the workplace is mostly fine? Sometimes a piercer may plateau in a studio for various reasons, and it can be time to think about finding growth elsewhere. Canadian piercer Deacon Matheson sat down with Ryan and Lola during the 2023 APP conference to talk about what lead him to move on from a comfortable situation. Lola shares her thoughts from the perspe...

J'son D'souza is a piercer and studio owner from Mumbai, India. I met J'son at a conference in Germany and was happy to see him apply for, and receive, a legacy scholarship from the APP to attend their 2023 conference. Lola and I sat down with J'son to talk about some of the cultural history of jewelry and piercing in India. You'll find some fascinating details about how similar, and how different, the Indian piercing community is ...

Ryan and Lola are getting ready for the 2023 APP conference! We talk about our classes and what we'll be doing in the expo. After our conference chat we talk a little about industrial piercings and our opinion(s) on if they should be healed with one piece of jewelry or two. We wrap up by talking about some of the progress Lola has made with her apprentice recently.

If you are an active subscriber to my $15 arch mage tier at www.pa...

Surface anchors (aka microdermals, dermal anchors, single point piercings) were the coolest thing ever at one point... but many piercers, Ryan and Lola included, have either scaled them back or eliminated them altogether at this point. We discuss their inception, the innovations for jewelry and techniques, and also their limitations and common problems.

If you'd like to know more about surface anchors I just published 20+ minute na...

Lola and Ryan discuss one of the most common issues facing today's piercing studios, and its not even about using a needle! Downsizing backings, changing out jewelry for retainers, and handling referrals from other studios is a daily occurrence for many of us. Sometimes this can be a quick service to fit in, but sometimes it becomes a speed bump to studios with limited time and resources. If you don't take the time to develop your ...

Back at the grind in 2023 but Ryan and Lola want to start off with a quick vibe check. We talk about the balance between the energy we give to our clients and the energy we keep for ourselves. Lola will be performing a Talk APP session about self care at this year's conference so its at the front of her mind lately. We touch on bedside manner, silent appointments, transparency in relation to pricing, and more.

We also talk about ou...