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An Ode to Rogue

This is a difficult blog entry to write but one that I feel necessary to have as a small testament to my time at Rogue Piercing.
I started in January 2022, after a conversation explaining that I wanted to progress and grow as a piercer but felt limited in my current work space. I was welcomed with open arms immediately and guided through a journey into an industry that I’d teetered on the edges of for over a decade. I’d grown up in the alternative scene and started collecting piercings of my own free will around 13. I’d spent time hanging out with piercers and tattoo artists in the typical early 2000s studios, getting silly piercings and tattoos to pass the time.


I never planned to be a professional anything, never mind a piercer. I was destined for office work and technical support jobs, keeping my alternativeness to just about a socially acceptable level. Then the pandemic hit.
A lot of people think I’ve been in the industry longer than that but my career started completely by chance in October 2020 when I agreed to help out at a piercing studio by covering the front desk. I’ll blah blah through the ins and outs because it’s not my story to tell but in 2021, I had been piercing for a few months in Derbyshire and I came to Rogue because Aiden was the only person I knew of who was offering high nostril piercings and had the portfolio to showcase his results. So I booked the appointment for after my shift one day and headed to Nottingham.

If you’ve ever felt bad about showing up to an appointment not looking/feeling your best – I’m about to make you feel a lot better.
I’d never driven to Nottingham before, I raced in rush hour traffic, took 2 – 4 wrong turnings and parked at the car park on the opposite side of the city centre. It was the hottest day of the year for 2021 and I walked for 20 minutes in a leather skirt to get to my appointment. Not only was I late, I was SUPER late, covered in sweat, trying to catch my breath and past the point of anxious. Despite all of the stress of the journey, and the magnitude of the embarrassment I felt, Rogue immediately eased my worries. The atmosphere was calm, I wasn’t treated like an inconvenience and after apologising profusely for my lateness and grossness, I eased into the appointment. I soaked in everything, hanging on every word I was told and following each step of the process so I could absorb as much information as possible. “How high do you want to go?” “In the brain if possible”. Aiden pierced my high nostrils super high and they healed like an absolute dream. I’ll never forget taking his calm bed side manner to heart and implementing that at every opportunity I could. Oh, throughout all this, I had a bug in my hair that I brought into the piercing room by accident. I was convinced that I’d never be allowed back again for leaving sweat, blood and tears (also a bug) in the studio.
But Aiden continued to support me while I navigated my introduction to piercing. Answering all of my questions and never making me feel silly for learning.

APP Las Vegas 2023


Let’s jump to January 4th 2022.
I was vaguely aware of the term ‘imposter syndrome’ but never actually realised how hard it can be to manage. My very first piercing at Rogue was a septum piercing and holy shit was I scared. Septums are notorious for being a technically difficult piercing to perform and I am sure I almost sweated through my gloves during the process but I’ll be damned if that wasn’t a super straight, super shiny septum that I am still proud of nearly 3 years later.

My first year was a whirlwind of education. I honed and expanded my skills exponentially and had my mind opened to so many new experiences. There are not enough words (you’ll read this phrase a lot in this blog) to express how thankful and grateful I am to have been mentored under Aiden and Breo. They shared so much information and experience with me that I would not be half the piercer I am without their endless guidance and patience. I got to join the UKAPP and attend my first ever UK conference, I opened up my appointments to offer intimate work and met a whole new bunch of incredible people!

Anna is one of the most talented, strongest women I’ve ever met. And bloody lovely too!


2023 didn’t slow down for me at all. I was honoured to receive the Legacy Scholarship for the APP and attend my first international conference as a volunteer. That experience absolutely changed my life. You can read all about my adventure to the APP here. My second UKAPP conference gave me so much more confidence and it was amazing to see how far I’d come in 12 months. I completed my supervised intimate piercings and expanded my skillset even further, offering larger gauge piercings and much more advanced placements. My personal highlight of 2023 was experiencing body suspension for the first (and second and third) time. I’ll always struggle to find the right words to describe that first time but I owe it all to Alicia, Aiko and Aiden. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me something that I knew I needed – you opened up a world to me that has changed my brain for the good.

Moving right on into 2024.
Some more firsts for me! First time in Edinburgh with the team to visit the very first Wee Scottish Piercing Expo. This was an amazing few days and such a beautiful event. Huge thank you to the Bold and Gold team and the Bliss of Pain suspension team for all their hard work.
And then I turned 30! I took myself out to Leipzig for a well earned break to visit two of my favourite people, Andre and Maxim (and their puppies!) It was a magical trip and I loved, loved, loved every single second. Thanks for hosting me and letting me hang out in your amazing studio! I will absolutely be back soon. Once my solo trip was over it was time to get ready for APP again but this time I was joined by Breo and we had an unbelievable time. It was so fun to watch Breo experience Vegas and the APP for the first time and I was so happy to be reunited with my Volunteer Family of ducklings. You can read about our trip from Breo’s point of view here. On top of my piercing role, I stepped into the position of studio manager at Rogue and had the pleasure of telling our newest Rogue, Gwen that we were ready for them to join us! I’ve loved working with Gwen and I can’t wait to see what they get up to in Birmingham.
Speaking of, it was so cool to watch the Birmingham studio transform from an empty unit to a luxurious piercing space in a matter of weeks! Aiden and Gwen worked really hard to get everything up and running and now there are two Rogue studios across the East Midlands. I’m so excited to see Rogue grow and expand even more and continue to offer top quality, premium piercings to all of our clients!
2024 also saw the very first UKAPP conference in Nottingham. We had hundreds of piercers from all over the globe, meeting up in our little city and popping in to see our studio. No pressure! My favourite part of the UKAPP conference this year was knowing that Breo got to pierce in front of industry icon Brian Skellie, who left a glowing review and really made everyone’s day with his presence and kind words. The conference was such a busy time for us but well worth all the work.

Thank you for being one of my best friends Jay <3



And so here we are, at the end of October 2024. I’ve re-written this section at least forty times. I have a whole bunch of feelings and thoughts that I can’t articulate very well. As of Halloween 2024, I will be leaving Rogue Piercing to head back to my home city of Sheffield and pierce with the lovely team at The Owl and The Pussycat. On a personal note, I have a lot of not super fun memories tied to the city where I grew up but the opportunity to create new, beautiful memories in a gorgeous space, doing what I love the most, is super duper exciting for me. Leaving Rogue is of course incredibly bitter sweet. So many pivotal moments in my career have happened here and I have been fundamentally changed as a person thanks to the team and the clients that I’ve been privileged to meet.

Dream Team baby!


It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later. I’ll see you in Sheffield and I’ll see you across the world. I wouldn’t be Gemma without Rogue. Without the guidance, care and patience of the team. Without the trust and commitment of the clients. Without the experiences I have been so, so thankful to have.

To Aiden, Breo, Jay, Gwen, Anna, David and Armelle, I love you and I am eternally grateful for the time we’ve spent together.
To the clients that I’ve met over the past 3 years, your trust in me has been life changing and I appreciate every single one of you from the bottom of my weird little heart.
To Lisa and Chloe, I can’t wait to join your team and grow with you. Thank you for believing in me.

And lastly, to Elizabeth. I love you and I like you. I wouldn’t be writing any of this if you hadn’t saw something in me over a decade ago and brought me on this mad little journey with you into the world of body piercing.

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