Struggling in my apprenticeship
Hello! I’m a piercing apprentice with 7 months of experience in total. I’ve been studying piercing/s on my own for years. I utilize the APP website, The Piercing Bible, and other APP piercers on social media. I’m incredibly passionate about this career and I want to do it right. The problem is that my boss is not really a mentor, rather she gave me a space to practice on a commission only basis at a 70/30 split. Originally it was 60/40 before I took a hiatus. I am only able to get a majority of my sale (not on a 50/50 split) if I purchase all of my own supplies and am at the shop for at least 28 hours per week.
I have to work another job on top of this, which I expected. However we do not get a ton of business for piercings. With both jobs combined I’m in a situation where I’m unable to pay my rent. She doesn’t offer a lot of advice and I have never seen her perform a piercing. I understand that I am being exploited but unfortunately this was my only option in terms of making any more income to be able to afford rent. I took a hiatus to work a regular job and focus on trying to pay my bills. After job hunting for about 5 months, I ran out of time to find a decent paying job and had to come back to my original shop. I’ve been reaching out to local shops. None have responded. A few piercers have responded to me with some advice luckily. However I’m struggling to implement said advice.
I don’t have any spare money to get work done. I’m trying to focus on building relationships with others in the industry. How do I pivot in this situation? Is there anything else I can do in order to move forward in this process without losing my home or my career path? I’m just not sure how to go about this when every shop I’ve reached out to has been unresponsive. I don’t lack passion or drive. I’m proud of the work I’ve done especially since I’m 100% self taught. I haven’t expressed that to shops or other piercers because I’m afraid that will ruin my chances with a new shop.
How can I pivot? Is there anything I’m not doing that I could be? What was your journey like? How were you able to get shops and piercers work with you let alone respond? I’m at a loss. Thank you for any who respond. I could really use the advice right now.