DALLAS — Most people remember getting their ears pierced for the first time – a rite of passage – typically performed in a retail window at a neighborhood mall.
Alysa Teichman’s passion for piercings sparked a business idea after joining her family’s fine jewelry company, Ylang23. The entrepreneur is using her retail expertise and creativity to help women express themselves.
"I was enamored by piercings and just how fun it was the feeling of adding another piercing and commemorating a moment in time with a friend or by yourself. It was just something I couldn't stop thinking about, dreaming about," Teichman said.
Teichman sports seventeen piercings!
"People ask me a lot, so I know," Teichman said.
Teichman owns Wildlike, a piercing studio in Dallas; her earlobe accessories are a walking billboard.
"I want to give people that are coming into the studio a judgement free zone, to have a safe experience and a vehicle for self-expression," she said.
Wildlike represents the broad appeal of piercing and expressing yourself. It starts with professionally trained piercers.
"At the core of everything we do is our company culture, we spend a lot of time as a team coming together talking about our mission, vision and core values. For us to provide that service our employees must all be on the same page," Teichman said.
Perceptions about piercings are changing, Teichman wants Wildlike to be a force in the cultural shift.
"When I started it was like, can I hide this with my hair if I'm in a meeting or something. Now, people who are in very traditional jobs like banking or law are getting piercings all over their ears," she said.
And many of them are self-purchasing women, who make up well over half of all jewelry purchases.
"Buying themselves jewelry, it's no longer where it's like I need to ask for this from my partner or my husband. It's like, I'm doing this because I want to mark an occasion, celebrate a birthday or remember that I got promoted," Teichman said.
An empowerment trend that Teichman intends to make the most by duplicating her piercing studio experience to decorate more ears in Texas.
"We feel like we have a special sauce thing going on," says Teichman.
Teichman's ability to lean into her piercer’s expertise is part of what sets her studio apart; she's invested in state-of-the-art sanitation equipment. She also designed a line of jewelry that optimizes the healing and swelling process.
You can learn more about Teichman's piercing studio experience at her website.