It was a hot day in the summer of 2013 when a close friend stabbed a 16-gauged hollow needle into the thin layer of skin inside my nose called a septum. A month shy of being an adult, a do-it-yourself project led me to the slow-healing process of a slightly deviated piercing.  A year and a half later, my quest for a second chance led me to Apogee Body Piercing, one of San Diego’s most professional body piercing shops.

Located in the heart of Ocean Beach, the beautiful shop leaves the customer feeling connected with their own unique reasons for their modifications with its decorations of various collections of jewelry, pictures of indigenous people depicted with traditional piercings, and representations of ancient tribal statues.

Apogee’s ideals in customer care and the use of high quality materials explain the rationale for paying more its professional service, Apogee employee Luis Pingarron said.

“Regretfully, most of the time we end up helping people because they got messed up somewhere else,” he said. “What I try to do is get people on the right track to choose quality service that will be more beneficial to their healing process.”

Instead of following traditions, Apogee tries to get people to create a journey of their own, Pingarron said.

“A lot of the times we get people who think, ‘I think it’ll look cute but I’m scared,’” he said. “They’re worried that it’ll hurt and I tell them: f–k yeah it hurts, but that’s what freedom feels like. Make it a reminder to yourself that you’re trying to learn how to deal with challenges.”

Pingarron’s 16 years of experience as a piercer encouraged me to fix an amateur job which I had been waiting to let go of. Visiting Apogee showed me the importance of professional advice and experience needed when modifying your body. I went into Apogee carrying a mistake from the past and came out with a better understanding of piercing practices and a culture that is sometimes given little notice by other shops — or in my case, a close friend.