Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Remy Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Remy, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
So I have anxiety, and depression with a splash of adhd to ramp everything up. I’ve been on an upswing this past year working on amazing projects. Unfortunately on the rare occasion when all 3 combine I’m out for the count. I don’t work because it’s effected, and need to work on myself to get back to baseline. I use a mixture of nature ( usually beach ), animal cuddles and medication ( preferably nature made ) to help get out of my funk. I don’t think anyone truly overcomes mental illness, we learn to cope with it and hope it doesn’t win.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a body piercer with 17years of experience. I specialize in abnormal anatomy and curations. My job focuses on designing body parts with jewelry in ways that captures the client’s personality and healing trauma. People don’t realize how cathartic a piercing can be. From healing a childhood trauma, to changing the way someone views their body. It’s something that took me years to understand, but am glad that I did otherwise I might’ve gone to another career.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Confidence seems like a good place to start. It’s also one of the hardest things to gain, but believing in yourself is a great way to start the journey. It’s allowed me to put myself into my work and design peoples bodies in ways that are uniquely them. But it also allows me the ability to not be afraid to tell a client when an idea is bad. Understanding anatomy is clutch in my line of work. Knowing that there are natural body lines and understanding how to follow them to make the piercing look as natural as possible is key. I came up in the time of blogs, and piercers had BME which was a body mod blog that we all talked with each other on and discussed the business. Sadly this glorious tool no longer exists.
Having your own style helps a ton in trying to stand out. Creating something that’s different from the norm but still within the lines of conventional fashion is a difficult task. Stop trying to create something new before you understand the it’s history. I’m influenced by pop culture, being a 80’s/90’s kid I can’t help it.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My favorite people are the ones that look at me and ask me what would look best. Usually what we do is sit down and map out the area with options that match the body lines as well as fits the jewelry chosen. We want it to look as natural as possible, almost like you’ve always had it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @piercingsbyremy
- Facebook: @piercingsbyremy
- Other: TikTok @piercingsbyremy
Image Credits
Photo of me – Lexi Delgado
