It has been a hard few months for me. Infinite Baltimore closed suddenly and my DM’s, emails, and texts are full with clients and industry professionals asking what happened. The staff collectively decided to take a break, and take a few breaths before speaking on our experience. We’re now ready to share our experience with you.

How it all started for me

I joined Infinite Baltimore in February of 2023. I visited for a guest spot the previous December and the opportunity to learn under Kookie and James was one I really felt I shouldn’t pass up. More than anything else, I joined because of the staff. I walked in on the first day of my guest spot and for the first time saw a staff of people who were like me. Gentle, kind, caring, queer people aren’t always the baseline standard in our industry. I had endured so much abuse previously and the idea of getting to work with a talented and diverse staff was a dream.

I believed that our team could make a big impact on our community in Baltimore, and in the industry.

The time I spent at Infinite was predominantly focused on raising morale and building trust between the staff, and cultivating an environment that felt safe for us and our clients. We tried to include management in this but were treated like silly little children. We were a staff that cared deeply about the well being of our clients and our coworkers, and this is what I am proudest of when I look back at my time at Infinite.

Racism

My first day as a staff member we had a meeting, and it was spicy. It was a hard fast glimpse into the issues the staff had been dealing with, long before I came along. We talked about systemic issues with white supremacy. Staff member’s asked why the management team had brought on another white piercer. I felt that was a fair question. We were told the management team was receiving very expensive anti-racism training. We were told it was not an issue that was being ignored. I know now that this was a lot of lip service. It’s far easier to say you care and to pay for the expensive training, than to take a cold hard look at the system you’ve built and make radical changes.

That was always our problem at Infinite Baltimore. It didn’t matter if it was a big issue or a small issue, all we ever did was “talk” about it. Tangible action towards bettering the work environment was far and few between.

During BLM Infinite was very loud about supporting anti-racism. Infinite opened a studio in 2020 in a historically black city and hired staff of color. Every June the studio posted for Pride, boasting about our diversity and inclusion. Our diversity was being used a tokenism, as a shield against charges of impropriety.

Gaza

Our staff came to James asking why the studio wasn’t making statements in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. And we were met with hostility. If the studio didn’t support race based murder in the states why would it support genocide over seas? We were confused and disappointed. I understand individuals having personal opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and beliefs. But the studio had made such a strong stance in support for Black Lives Matter, and our staff was in agreement on a ceasefire.

Our question for James was, “Does our voice on social media reflect you as an individual or the studio as a collective?”. As uncomfortable as it is, I personally felt this was a fair question to ask.

Eventually we were told yes, the studio is working on a post in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, and then suddenly we were told no. That one staff member wasn’t in agreement and the post would not be happening.

When I think about asking for what I want, I am always open to hearing, “No”. That is how asking a question works. However, I found it inappropriate to go back and forth on an issue as important as genocide. If I had heard, “No” initially, I would have been given the opportunity to re-evaluate my level of comfort working for someone who is unbothered by innocent people dying. Yet again, we were given false hope that our voices mattered and would be heard.

When it comes to promises and commits to dismantling white supremacy, I will not tolerate people in power making their choices based on their own comfort. I imagine it is seldomly “comfortable” for someone with an excess of power, control, or privilege to relinquish it. That is the point. The system that has been built is not equitable and needs to be restructured and there can be pain in that. But it is important and necessary work. There was no action or integrity coming from Infinite’s upper management to dismantle white supremacy or re-evaluate the structures within the company that were hurting marginalized groups.

The Robbery

In October of 2023 we were robbed at gunpoint. We had been at the studio early for yet another meeting where we were being told that management was working on the issues we’ve been having. It was a slow morning and we didn’t open the front door until 12:20, (we normally opened at noon). Two minutes later a man rushed in and threatened our staff with a gun demanding money. I was lucky to not be in the lobby when this happened. The fear and helplessness I felt as I crouched down behind my piercing table on hold with 911, wondering if my friends were going to die is something I will never be able to forget. As I sat there trying to make myself as small as possible I realized then and there that I didn’t know where the emergency exit was. That we had never been trained on what to do incase of a robbery or violent incident. That I had no power to protect my coworkers or myself.

We were lucky. We were Lucky that Max and Gill were smart and just gave the robber what he wanted. But they were given no safety training. James and Infinite are incredibly lucky no one was hurt. That the only damage was to our psyches and a loss of less than $1000 cash.

After the Robbery

After the robbery we were told that management was going to help us. That there would be a mental health stipend to help us pay for the therapy we now needed. That never happened. James kept asking us “What do you need?”. We asked to tint the windows so we weren’t sitting in a fish bowl where both the tile and safe were visible for the whole world to see. We were told no. That it was bad for business for people to not be able to see in. We asked about putting a lock that could buzz clients in on the door and that was also shot down. We asked for monthly tests of our silent alarm and evacuation drills. There was no commitment to do so. We had to press on, traumatized and working in a space that felt unsafe. Staff members were having panic attacks on shift. Yet again unsupported by the people whose main job is to manage the staff.

In November we had another meeting. We brought our group complaints about security, about inappropriate communication between the management team and staff. We brought up the issue of two of the managers dating. A fact we were told in July, but that the Philly location had been left in the dark about. The power imbalance of two out of four managers dating was affecting both locations, though I can only speak to its effects in Baltimore. We had been told over and over again that James and the management team were dealing with these issues. That they cared and they would not be ignored. But at this meeting James told us he’d do nothing about the dating managers. That it’s just how it is.

The following week we arrived at the studio early for a class on genital piercings. Something we were all very excited about. We even had a guest piercer in town who was joining for the class. Upon arriving we were told the class would not be happening. James recorded this meeting on his phone. He said, “So there would be no ambiguity”. That should have been our sign to record as well, but we didn’t because we trusted him. He has since refused to share this video with the staff. Refused to share it with the people he was recording.

He told us that we had an hour to decide if we could respect him and the management team, and continue working there, or we could quit. No one bit. We were not going to be coerced into quitting our jobs. We had bills to pay, mouths to feed, and clients to care for. That statement was emotionally violent and privileged, and frankly childish. We spent that hour and a half explaining to him why that wasn’t a reasonable thing to ask of us. We spent that time explaining to him why we hadn’t quit, which we could have done at any time. We spent that time trying to de-escalate him.

We were not there to ride the ego of working at Infinite. We certainly weren’t there for the money. We were there because we love the community we served and we valued our shared mission of, “piercing is for everyone”. That it should be accessible for all walks of life.

Kookie said it best, “We pierce for the People.”

James left that meeting upset. And we decided that day that we could not open the studio. That we could not give our clients the best or safest experience that they deserved when our day had begun with such emotional violence. We went home. And we returned the following day with our heads on straight, ready to care for our clients. And we did, all weekend.

The Closure

Tuesday morning, 3 hours prior to our opening time we received emails saying the studio was closing due to financial reasons. This was the first and last we had heard of any financial issues. James was always saying “We have the money” when it came to things we needed around the studio. So this felt like a flimsy and cowardly excuse for him to be done with us. He couldn’t bully us out of the studio, so he nuked the whole thing.

We were told we would get paid our base salary through the end of the year ( that’s half my income, as the other half came from tips) and that our healthcare would stay active through Dec 31st.

We had 60+ appointments scheduled for that week. If they could afford to pay us through the end of the year, they could have stayed open through the end of the year and actually made money. It was incredibly careless and callous towards our clients.

Moving Forward

Our industry must change. We can not continue to operate in systems that oppress workers. Whether it’s piercers, front of house, or apprentices everyone deserves to be treated with basic human dignity. For their group concerns to be met with caring and thoughtful ears. We are not pons in a money making game. And I promise you, we are making the few at the top a lot of money.

We can change the shape of our industry to be a safe place for queer people, poc people, disabled people, for apprentices.

I believe in abundance. That there is enough to go around for us all. And that the more we invest in caring for each other the better our lives become collectively. That dismantling white supremacy will not only better our experience but our client’s as well. That we can remove the huge divide in both power and pay to strengthen our industry.

Radical change is on my horizon and I hope yours as well.

How you can help

**Boycott companies who are supporting genocide**

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What happened to Infinite Baltimore?