523 From Dental Hygiene to Glam: The Story Behind Glam Studio

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My experience was years and years of just suffering, and there's a piercing that actually

has helped a lot of people feel relief from migraines, whether it's decreasing the intensity

of them or decreasing the amount of times you get a headache. And I had to go to a tattoo shop,

which like I said, there's great people piercing out there at these places, but it was very,

very intimidating for me. I felt very out of my element, and I got my piercing, and that's what

kind of brought that up to is like, that could be a better experience for a lot of people.

In my mind, before I had background on piercing, I thought, you just shove a needle through the ear,

and that's how you do it. But there's a lot of things that affect the way that things heal.

So just like angles with injections for dental hygiene, angles are very important for piercing

and the way that we get things to heal.

Welcome back to the tell of two hygienist podcasts. I am David Torres, and this is episode 523.

In this month of January, we are hosting dental hygienists. We're basically talking to them

about how they started their side gags, progyes, and businesses, all while practicing and hygiene.

And whether you've been here since episode 1 or just brand you, welcome to our conversation,

we're here with my co-host Jessica. Hello, podcast world. I'm Jessica Atkinson, and I have the

thrill of introducing two of my favorite hygiene pernoors, lunzi and Lorraine, and they have

offered a cute little bio, a combo bio, of where it all began. And I'm going to start with this

little bio and give you a teaser on what we're going to be talking about today. So back in 2016,

lunzi, a licensed dental hygienist, for more than 20 years. She does not look it. I wish you guys

could see your face. She's very young. Well, she met Lorraine who's been in the field for 16 years

at a dental office in Oram. Their shared passion for clinical excellence led them to become instructors

at my alma mater, the Utah College of dental hygiene, where something interesting started to happen.

They noticed that more and more students were sporting piercings, even if they weren't allowed in

clinic. But not always in the safest or most sanitary ways. And that observation sparked an idea,

and they started a business of piercing. Yes, a piercing business. In addition, they also do whining,

and I'll have them talk a little bit about that as well. In addition to the joint bio, I would like

to know what each of you individually would love to be known for. Like if you were to give your

elevator speech, and this was like what you're going to leave the world of to be known in your

professional space, what would it be? Oh, that's that's deep. If I was to give my elevator speech,

well, first off, I would I would for sure want people to know that the world of dental hygiene has been,

I'll just start Lindsay. You know, I had a lot to go to. The world of dental hygiene has been

something that's been valuable in my life. And I feel like I have had a role in that that's

fulfilled me. And that's one thing that I want people to know. And then the entrepreneurial

spirit in me has always been there, even before I I found hygiene. I do want to be successful at

whatever I do. And being able to start this business, honestly, has been just as fulfilling as

being able to graduate from dental hygiene school and go on and feel like I was successful in a

career. A biggest thing. I don't know if there's one main thing. I just I just hope I'm making a

difference. I hope I make a difference somewhere, whether it's in my hygiene career or in a little

girl that comes again in a piercing that they feel like it was a great experience. I love that.

And I would say I would say kind of the same thing. I mean, when I was going to high school,

I knew dental hygiene was for me. That was my ultimate goal. And I think for me,

it all kind of boils down to a patient experience. I think one thing that Lorraine and I do really

well here is the experience that people get. I love that they can come in and say, you know,

they feel like we're friends. They know that they're in a clean sterile environment. But just

the friendships that you build while running a business. And same thing from client perspective,

I think, you know, I just made my day when I could build those relationships over the years and

provide good dental hygiene care or services being an entrepreneur. You're going to go down in

history. I can feel it. I hope so. We're trying. Well, you've gone down in my own personal history.

So I had an opportunity to be one of their clients, which was so fun. It was so fun. Tell us,

tell us a little bit about how I became one of your, well, this actually, how I became your client.

It started our discussion about me getting a second piercing started way before I actually got

it, which I really appreciated part of that patient experience is that it was a process.

And, you know, with any, whether it's in your dental chair or your piercing studio,

sometimes people aren't ready for what maybe they want or what maybe they need. And so tell us

a little bit about how I came to sit on your piercing studio table with many other people. Do you

want to talk about that? So another co hygienist that we work with, she is a part of UDHA.

And she just what we were talking one day at lunch. And she's like, I want you guys to come

to the Utah Dental Hygiene Association meeting and do piercings. Be a vendor there.

And so we there, there's a lot of hoops to jump through as far as getting licensing from the

Salt Lake County Health Department each place that we go in pierce. We have to follow strict regulation

rules as far as getting our temporary permits, but we jump through all of the hoops. And we were

able to come as dental hygienists slash piercers and be at the dental hygiene convention.

We spent the whole day on our feet there. We did. You did. So I as a participant of this conference

was able to be on the vendor floor and got my ears pierced with all of my friends.

It was awesome. It was super fun. There was always an audience.

Yeah. One thing I thought felt was really great was, you know, people realizing we were hygienists

doing our second little side gig. But as we we use a peridonal probe to actually map out

mirrors and map out your ears and measure measure to make things look right. But it was so fun.

The hygienists as we were measuring, they were taking selfies, you know, because they were

excited that we were able to use a peridonal probe in our ear piercing business.

So I got to I got to ask those because I've noticed most of our listens are obviously

dental professionals. And me now thinking back about getting an ear piercing with a one I would have

paired on to probe, but like getting a measured. I'm inspired to get another ear pierced and you

know what I mean? Like I want to be able to kind of like relate that experience, but I am so

curious to hear you guys describe the main difference between getting ear pierced and traditionally

to what you guys provide and how you kind of tie that back into the dental world.

I think that's kind of what God is going is there's we teach sterilization. We teach at the school,

you know, how to keep bloodborne pathogens from entering places they shouldn't be. And just knowing

kind of what we know that there's there's a lot of education on that and then there's people with

little education on that. And possibly just taking an online test in the in the piercing world to

get a certificate isn't the same as living that every single day like you do in a dental office.

And so we felt that there's a lot of funky fun tattoo shops that do this kind of thing and to

each their own that's great. And there's a lot of groovy and funky piercing shops that don't do

tattoos, but are just kind of we noticed there were chairs in those shops that were cloth, which

was kind of alarming to say the least because you can't wipe down a cloth chair. And we just realized

that a lot of times when you go to the mall they're just piercing with a gun and it's actually

very traumatic for your tissue when you pierce with a piercing gun. So we wanted to do this hall

needle needle piercing. We wanted to get an autoclave. We wanted to make it the most health. It's

it you know if you think about it it it could be considered a medical procedure. And we didn't

want the place to feel like a doctor's office necessarily, but we also didn't want it to feel like

somewhere that was not appropriate for a medical procedure. So I think we have a good mix of that

and with the needle if you want to talk a little bit about why the needle is better? Yeah so the

hollow needle actually because it's a it's got a sharp edge and actually just slices right through

the ear, which it doesn't cause the trauma that the piercing gun causes. That's fascinating is

yeah, I never would have imagined that that was like a thing. Again, I'm I'm feeling inspired to

get an ear piercing guys and I know a great place David when you're in Utah. I know a really great

place. I will absolutely be in that chair and taking selfies probably blogging the whole experience.

I'll take a picture for you. I had I had a good friend. I have a I have a video of it. I have a

I have all the things. So with my experience something that's stuck with me is the earrings that I got

came in an autoclave bag. They opened the autoclave bag in front of me of my brand new earring that had

been sanitized, sterilized, all of the above eyes. And that had been that was a new experience for me.

I've had I have multiple piercings. So I've had multiple experiences. And this was the first time

I really felt that I I was being extra cared for. There was that extra layer. And it wasn't just

a layer of care. It was a layer of education that I felt that I was like, wow, this is something

that most people wouldn't think about when they're getting their ears pierced that these these

things are going into your body into an open wound. You know, I just had a hollow needle piercing. I

have exposed skin. And I to put something in there that's been autoclave. I think sets you apart.

And I'm wondering what your experience has been with the community on maybe experiencing something

that seems extra? I'll just tell what first came to mind mine when you ask that is how many people

have told us honestly and I didn't know any better either. Wow, I never realized what I was doing

when I just got my ears pierced as a teenager. And I showed up at this little hole in the

wall place. And some young girl had this device and they pierced my ear. I just thought I was

getting my ears pierced. There's nothing more to it. And I think honestly most of the people

that really watch for the care that we put into it are surprised at the difference just like you

are. You know, why do they need to be sterilized? What else, Livy? One king that kind of we did

an apprenticeship with an amazing piercer. And when we got there, she knew that we were dental

hygienists. And she said, you know, we're going to talk about some of we're just going to briefly

go over bloodborne pathogens and and how we do things here. But it got to the point where

Lorraine and I were kind of looking at each other. She she had her earrings all in a little plastic

tub that weren't sterile. She would dip him into barbicide before she would pierce with them.

And Lorraine and I just knew that that could be done a lot better. And so actually we have our own

dental grade autoclave that we have purchased. And we actually bag an autoclave and organize all

of those earrings. And it takes a lot of time. It's a it's a big step for us. But one thing that's

been great is the lady that did the apprenticeship with us. She actually reached out to us and said,

hey, can you guys help me get an autoclave? Can you guys show me what system you use to keep those

earrings sterile and organized? And so we've been able to collaborate with her and share our

expertise from a dental hygiene perspective with sterilization and and we've helped her out as well.

Collaboration is key. And that kind of that's amazing that you're able to kind of make an

industry change as well, right? Setting up those standards a little bit higher. Can you guys take

me back to who decided this? Who's ideas was this? Collaborating with each other. Like who

was the person responsible for saying we need to start a business? Wasn't me. Let's just say that

a present me. Well, Lorraine is very creative. Lorraine and I have worked together for about 10

years. But for me, I just I needed something more than just dental hygiene. And some of the students

came in and they had been to the lady that trained us getting piercings. And I just thought,

gosh, we've given I love injections. That's my favorite thing to teach, my favorite thing to do.

But I just thought we could be so good at that. And Lorraine and I carpooled to work and

Lorraine has struggled with some migraines and she I got talking to her about piercing and she's

like, you know, it'd be a great thing to have a great sterile environment with dental hygienists

doing these piercings rather than having to go into a tattoo shop. Or you know, we wanted to

provide us a safe space for little girls to be able to come in and have that great first experience

getting those piercings. So I kind of thought about it. And I said, I think I'm going to do this

apprenticeship. And the rains like, let's do it. And so that's kind of where it started.

And then going back to the migraines, my experience was years and years of just suffering. And

there's a piercing that actually, you know, has helped a lot of people feel relief from migraines,

whether it's decreasing the intensity of them or decreasing the amount of times you get a headache.

And I had to go to a tattoo shop, which like I said, there's great people piercing out there

at these places, but it was very, very intimidating for me. If I felt very out of my element and

I got my piercing and that's what kind of brought that up to is like, that could be a better

experience for a lot of people. And then on top of that, we thought, well, what else, if we're not

going to be piercing 24 hours a day at us at a studio to make money, what else could we do? And

that's why we added other expertise of whitening, which we do dental grade whitening in collaboration

with the dentist. So we have a dentist on our on our board that helps us to be able to do that.

And then we also started offering toothed gems, which also has collaboration with the dentist,

because people are putting those on with super glue. That's not, yeah, that's not good.

Yeah, we had a patient in the other day at the school that had been to Hobby Lobby and had their

grail all super glued up. Oh my gosh. Fascinating. Yeah. That I just cringed. Yes.

Just the implications. I just cringed the things that I see people do

with without a background knowledge of what that could be doing to your teeth. Have you experienced

people coming in that you think to yourself, oh my, if they were at a pop-up tooth whitening,

gem-placing mall situation, this could have gotten really sideways.

I think that's what's frustrating is, you know, be in a licensed dental professional.

There's people out doing whitening that have no dental background. There's people out doing

toothed gems that have no dental background. In fact, I've watched a lot of videos and you know,

there was one lady that I watched and she was etching the tooth and she's like, this is how we

clean it. And I'm like, that's not actually how etch works. But there's just no dental knowledge.

But the thing for me is, you know, we have to jump through a lot of hoops as dental professionals

to make sure we have that collaboration with the dentist and be regulated that way and do things

very well. But then there's people who don't have the dental knowledge that just do it all the time.

Yeah, I think for us to, at first, we're like, well, do we want to off for tooth gems? Because

there's a little controversy in your mind. Like, do you want to put that on someone's tooth?

It can't be possible, you know? No, that was super good. And that's why we decided, you know what,

there's people that are going to do it. Why would we not offer to have that done with dental

grade supplies on a tooth that a dental professional has looked at and agreed whether they can see,

you know, a reason to visit a dentist first before you approve something like that. I just feel like

people were going to do it anyway. And it's not, it's not our, our baby. Like we said, the piercing

is our baby of our, our business. But, you know, where it all started was the piercing and it's

just kind of grown. When you guys are talking, I keep on having this clip from, oh my heck,

the, the name of the sitcom just went out of my head with Amy Poler and it's Ron. And why can't I

think of it's a, it's, it's arts and a wreck. Thank you. Thank you, David. I was gonna ask that.

I was like, I don't know. Well, the thing that kept on coming my head is 30 rock. I'm like, no,

no, not Tina. Hey, Amy Poler. I'm like, I'm not getting the right lane. Anyway, but there's this time

that Ron is in like a home depot as, you know, and the guy comes up and is like, hi. Is there anything

I can help you with? And Ron looks at him. He goes, I know more than you. And walks up.

And I think, I think so, I think so often we, we hear of these situations or experiences where

you go, you know what? I have a knowledge base that is deep and wide and can be applied

to these situations and make them more, you know, health conscious, make them more effective,

make them safer. And I really love that you two have taken that opportunity and said, hey,

you know what? Piercing's a deal. Whitenings a deal. Toothgems, that's a deal. And people are

doing it. And we can do it in ways that will preserve tooth structure. We can do it in ways

that will be more conscious of sterilization. We can do these things with our knowledge base that

makes it better. And that's amazing listeners. This is super important to understand. I mean,

Lindsay made a comment. I love giving injections. There's a lot of us that were like, yep,

that's me. And there's a lot of us who were like, no way. Like injections is the toughest part

of my job. Lindsay, obviously you mentioned that injections was this part of your passion.

Do you guys have like a favorite procedure slash what you like doing with your personal business?

And you know, tell the listeners how being able to find a passion of giving an injection

and translating to a business. You know, the word might think so. Follow Needle I A's. Yes.

Follow Needle. If we're going to talk about I A's, yes, that's my favorite injection to give

because of challenge, right? If I had my perfect job all day, I would give injections room to room

to room like that. I love it. But there's a lot of similarities. You think in my mind before I

had background on piercing, I thought, oh, you just shove a needle through the ear and that's

that's that's how you do it. But there's a lot of things that affect the way that things heal.

So just like angles with injections for dental hygiene, angles are very important for piercing

and the way that we get things to heal. If things aren't parallel, it leaves earrings on a slant,

which can cause trouble with aftercare with the healing and then also with trying to get your

earrings in. For me, one of my favorite procedures here at the studio, I like to do date piercings.

They're challenging just like the IA injection. It's not just poke a hole through the ear. It

sexually feels like a procedure and there's certain things that you have to do as far as making

sure your needle is in deep enough so that the earring doesn't reject. So angles and depth,

there's a lot of knowledge more than what you think, oh, just put a needle through the ear.

Yeah, and I would add, just even when you're trying to translate the knowledge that you have,

for me, what comes from dental hygiene is when that person walks away and feels aware,

just like you said, Jessica, I left knowing things I never knew about getting a piercing and

aftercare that I never had been taught. I love with dental hygiene when someone walks away

with more information than they came with the delus and I think that I have a lot of pride in

knowing that when someone leaves, I've given the opportunity for them to ask questions. I've given

them the opportunity to be confident before we ever pierce their ear. Just I think that

translates for me in some sense. I do like injections, but that would be more of where I think it

translates. Your motivational interviewing skills. Ty Kess. That's why you call it. That is, I love

that. One big thing that has stood out to me as we've done this business, we have a lot of studios

that do aesthetic grade whitening and it's always interesting. We've had a couple of different cases

that they've came in and they've spent a lot of money trying to whiten their teeth and they

get in here and we look at them and we can see that they've got a dead tooth and on vital tooth.

And it's interesting to me that people will go and spend money and people can whiten teeth with no

dental education, but then come to us and it's almost life-changing because hey, I can't get this

start tooth in the front to whiten. Then when Lorraine and I can educate them on what's happening,

why all of this money that they spend, it's not helping to change the whitening or the aesthetic

results of their smile. But just having that dental knowledge and being able to get them in the

right hands is a great thing. Being in the right hands and you are the right hands to get piercing

and you're the right hands to get whitening. You're the right hands. I love that. We hope so.

Well, they sent a little article, not little, this is a great article, not little, this is a big

deal that you have hanging in your studio and the I'm looking for the author of who wrote it so I

can give credit where credit is to. So Tiffany says something that I really loved and I want to

read it from her article. She said, glam studio prose isn't just a place to get piercings or why

in your teeth. It's a business built on trust and professionalism. In a world where beauty services

can sometimes feel rushed or risky, Lindsay and Lorraine offer something rare, a place where science

meets style and where your health and healing are always prioritized. And I really think that

that encapsulates who you are as professionals and what you will be known for is that patient

experience of recognizing in someone that they deserve to be cared for and cared for really well.

And I just want to give a huge shout out and thanks to you for taking dental hygiene knowledge

and showing that it can be applied in so many ways that really elevate the human experience.

I have a lot of friends in this industry, in the dental industry, that they think about doing

things like this all the time, but there's a lot of hesitation. If you guys just listen to what

Jessica said about the article and you feel like you have goosebumps on how enlightening it was

and inspire, I want you to remember that sometimes we hesitate starting because of our fears,

but sometimes you wake up one day and there's an amazing article written about your business

and how far you've taken it and how you can inspire others to do the same.

Lindsay and Lorraine, what words of wisdom and inspirations do you have for that one person

who's like 2026 is the year where I'm going to get it going?

I would say do it. I am so grateful for this business and what it's brought for me

and my family. It's amazing working with a partner. We feel like we really balance each other out.

We have different strengths, but I would say don't wait. I wish I would have done it sooner.

And I mean, that rings to me too and maybe for me it was, I don't know if I'm ready to stop

doing one thing and start doing something else. And like Jessica said, we still teach at the

college and we've made this business happen at the same time. If you think that you're going

to have this day where you're like, today's my ready day. I'm ready. That day may never come.

And in fact, the day that it does is probably something no one's ever experienced because really

you just have to take the step. You just have to go. Being ready isn't a thing.

Yeah, Mike dropped, but I won't, I won't drop my mic because it's brand new.

But I am just really grateful to be able to associate with fellow professionals that have a vision

for how dental hygiene can be applied in so many different ways. And thank you for my beautiful

second piercing. And if you guys are looking for any any inspiration or how-to's, you can contact

glam studio pros. We will link all of their information in the show notes. So if other people

want to reach out to you, which is for what you've given us, what is the best way do you think

if they want to reach out to you? Probably if they see the phone number on our website or

Instagram. We always watch Instagram for messages. And then there is a contact or a chat

on our website as well. So any of those we're always watching and ready for and David, we're ready

for you. Oh my gosh, I got to be in town. And we will record and document this whole experience.

I am down. You will leave a permanent mark in me. Like, good. As you have and all of our

listeners today, thank you so much for joining us. And we will see you having us. Yeah, and I

will see you later. And I would about to say, we'll see all you listeners later, but I won't see

you, but I will, I will in the ether list, listen to your ears, listening to me. That's not

making sense. But until next time, thanks for coming to a tele to a genus. We appreciate you being

here with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's a wrap on today's episode of a

tale of two hygienist podcasts. If this conversation made you feel seen, inspired or even just a

little bite up, share it with a fellow hygienist or fellow dental professional, share it with

your neighbors, your friends, share it with everyone. That is how this community grows.

Make sure you subscribe, even to review and connect with us on social media so that we can keep

on going with this conversation. Remember, you career, your voice and your story matter here.

We're David and Jessica. And until next time, keep learning, keep laughing and keep showing up

for yourself and for each other. This has been a production of Endeavor Business Media,

a division of Endeavor B2B.