Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Buonantuono.
Hi Matthew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my body piercing career 22 years ago initially from curiosity and an urge to learn about body modifications throughout history from a cultural perspective. Over the years, the piercing industry has grown away from the more intense and heavier body modifications and flourished into its own in the fashion world.
Piercings and tattoos have always been grouped, and I personally never understood why as these are two completely different things with different procedures, techniques, and healing. After working at a few tattoo studios over the years, I decided to open my own piercing-only studio up.
I wanted to create an environment that is family-friendly and friendly to all walks of life. My goal has always been to bring the best to every client, whether customer service, jewelry quality, or just the overall experience. We have been open since January 3, 2019, and have no plans of going anywhere.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to where we are now has been anything but smooth. The biggest struggles have been with legitimizing the industry (so many business owners doing business under the table or not paying taxes, etc.) and studio owners, while being great artists, not necessarily the best business owners.
In my last studio, we left under stressful circumstances and had to create our business within a 2-3 month process.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are a body piercing, the only studio specializing in all body piercings that are safe to perform and heal. We only use implant grade titanium that has been certified by the ASTM (The American Society for Testing and Materials) and 14k yellow, rose, and white gold that is non-nickel-based.
We only use materials known to be safe for the body and cause allergic reactions or other issues. We are members of the APP (the Association of Professional Piercers). We are proud to say that we not only meet but are far ahead of the minimum standards set aside by not only the APP but also by OSHA. We are most known for our customer service, our quality of jewelry and service, and our urge to make sure that everything we do is as safe for our clients as humanly possible.
We specialize a lot in children’s earlobes (Starting at five years old and up) and curations, where we work with our clients to come up with a group of piercings that work with their anatomy and their aesthetic.
I would say that there isn’t one thing I’m more proud of over another; however, I do become very proud when we have clients that are smiling ear to ear when they look at their new piercing or tell us how we’ve helped improve their lives even in the smallest of ways.
I think what sets us apart is our standards. We say no to many of our clients who want certain piercings that their anatomy is not suited for. We say no to clients playing sports that will negatively affect the piercing during the healing process. Health and safety are always our number one concern, and then everything else falls behind that.
Many studios will take your money, do the piercing and not for one moment think about how they may be harming you. We also offer assistance through the entire healing process – our jobs are done mostly after the piercing is finished and has started to heal.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risks are a huge part of the business. There’s no way to tell the future, so you’re taking a risk anytime you invest in yourself or a business you want to create. When building out our studio, we spent every single penny we had. We lived month to month and sometimes had to pull loans to make it through.
We eventually got past that and are now very successful and moving towards building another business. It could have gone the other way, and without the hard work, dedication, and continued faith in ourselves, it probably would have. I’ve always been a calculated risk-taker, listening to my gut instincts and reacting when I need to – so for me, it’s all about the right risk at the right time.
Pricing:
- Our piercing fees start at around $50
- Our jewelry also starts at around $50
- We carry a large amount of gold jewelry that starts at around $90
Contact Info:
- Email: info@freyjapiercing.com
- Website: www.freyjapiercing.com
- Instagram: @freyjapiercing
- Facebook: Freyja Piercing and Fine Jewelry
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChxUlpuhB00znzoA0OnlWgQ
