From a Sierra Leonean medicine woman's needle to founder of Piercer's Choice: Frances Sesay's story

This story traces Frances's journey from her earliest piercing experience as an infant in Sierra Leone through a resistant, boundary-pushing childhood in Toronto's West End. It follows her early instinct for standing by her own decisions even when it cost her socially, her pushback against a school system that didn't reflect her identity, and the humbling series of jobs that eventually led her toward piercing.

The piece then covers her deliberate 30-day deep dive into piercing after her partner Cal first suggested it — including working through The Piercing Bible twice — and the strategic, sacrifice-filled path to her apprenticeship: leaving a stable corporate job, taking unpaid shifts, and accepting a steep pay cut to learn the craft. It closes on how she now views her work as facilitating healing for clients, and her message to the next generation of Black women pursuing unconventional paths: stay intentional, and don't wait on outside validation.

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