Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010

Skin Deep: Jenna Pakosta on Body Piercing

Jenna Pakosta first visited the Grand Strand from a suburb of Chicago, Ill., at the behest of her best friend who had come down to attend Coastal Carolina University. "It was Halloween and 85 degrees," she says. "We were lying on the beach and had a great time. She told me she needed a roommate for the next semester, so I went home, packed my bags and was back here by January." Pakosta is going on her fifth year as a Myrtle Beach resident.

Four years ago she became a professional body piercer, the protégée of former registered nurse Jackie Chattaj, whose business, Professional Body Piercing by Jackie on Seaboard Street in Myrtle Beach (www.myspace.com/piercingbyjackie) has stood the test of time for 15 years. "Everything I know about piercing I learned from Jackie," says Pakosta.

"Like many people, my mom said I couldn't have any facial piercings while I was living with her - so within a day or two after moving here I was like, 'I have to get my nose pierced,' and everybody told me not to go anywhere else but Jackie's place, and from the first time I went she treated me like a part of the family."

Soon Pakosta became addicted to body piercing, quickly becoming a VIP at Professional Body Piercing by Jackie and taking many of her friends along for piercings. The time came when the business was short of help. "Jackie told me that I was a really good customer and she knew I was really into this, so she asked me if I'd be interested in a job. I was like, 'uh, yeah - I'm all about doing something a little different, and I started a week later."

Because she was already familiar with the process as a customer, the transition to piercing professionally was seamless. "I'm not squeamish - like some people are afraid of needles - I have no problem piercing people at all. It's not like going to the doctor for a shot. People come in here wanting to get the piercings and they leave happy with a good experience."

Pakosta says the business offers pain-free piercings - accomplished with the use of a numbing agent - and that the atmosphere is clinical. "Everyone who comes in says it looks like a doctor's office - very clean and well-lit." Although the dress code is casual, Chattaj strongly suggests medical smock tops. "Jackie always wears white, but I try to spice it up with a little color. If I'm not wearing my smock, some people don't want me to pierce. I was resistant at the beginning, but I started to realize that wearing a smock gives you a much more professional appearance."

Weekly Surge asked Pakosta about the strangest request she had received lately. "With the 'Twilight' kick and all of the recent vampire movies, the strangest request was from a girl who had me put a surface piercing on her neck so it looked like a vampire bite." Her most challenging work to date involved a customer's design involving five piercings. "The barbells were in the shape of a star and very close together. A barbell is straight with two balls at either end, and it goes through the skin, revealing only the balls - so there were ten of these balls forming the star. It was a very complicated design, and it came out perfect." Because Pakosta routinely handles the de rigueur navels and nose piercings - she says she really loves the challenge of something completely off-the-wall. Obviously, there are also piercings that people only reveal behind closed doors. "Of course, we do all piercings, so - you know..."

Outside of work, Pakosta says she and boyfriend Marvin Skipper are really big into mixed martial arts. "I've been dying to get into a cage match but there are no girls out there willing to take the fight," she asserts, adding that she has been involved with the sport for six years. "That's pretty much what I do in my off time besides playing with my dogs or taking them to the dog park. A good friend I train with owns the Corner Pocket - so we try to give him a little business."

Although she loves the beach, Pakosta, 25, admits that wanderlust could easily set in. "I consider myself a person who would one day become a world traveler," she says. "I'd like to see everything I can, live in new places and experience different cultures."

Know of anyone with an interesting job or career that should be given the Working 4 A Living treatment? Contact Roger Yale at rograt@verizon.net.