Hi folks! I’m Esse (they/she), a fat, queer, mixed, autistic femme artist in Philadelphia, PA. Most of my work centers on empowering queer people and people of color to be comfortable in their skin. I’m currently working as the Front of House & Operations Specialist at Safe Harbor Body Adornment, a small Latino-owned piercing studio in West Chester, PA. I have a little over four years of experience in the body modification industry.

This year, I applied for and received the Front of House Scholarship to attend the Association of Professional Piercers Conference in Las Vegas, NV this June! The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) is a California-based, international non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination of vital health and safety information about body piercing to piercers, health care professionals, legislators, and the general public. The workshops I selected will help make me a more informed care provider for marginalized people in the body modification industry, and I’m excited to use this knowledge to give back to my community. The scholarship covers my attendance and classes, but it doesn’t cover my travel, hotel, food, or other expenses. I’m hoping to crowdfund support to cover the remaining costs.

I’m so grateful for this opportunity and I’m doing everything I can to raise these funds on my own. I’m incredibly passionate about the work that I do, I’m committed to ongoing learning, and I deeply wish to invest in my career in this industry. Please consider contributing to my campaign to help me reach my funding goal. Thank you so much for your support!

My Website: essekaye.com
APP: safepiercing.org

Current Class/Event Enrollments:
-The Art of Play Piercings
-Connected & Committed: Creating Customer Connections with Community Partnerships
-But We Are Like A Family Here: Breaking the Cycle of Toxic Supervision
-Going Under the Needle After the Pain: Trauma Informed Body Modification
-ATTB: Mixer: (POC) People of Color
-Staffing That Sticks: A Guide to Hiring & Training
-Transgender Cultural Fluency
-Misogyny in the Body Arts: Industry, Culture, and Change
-ATTB: Mixer: LGBTQIA+
-Jack Yount Centennial
-Design Fundamentals of Piercing