SHELDON WILLIAMS, STAFF REPORTER

At age 22, Candice 'Needlez' Davis is already her own boss and exemplifies the success of a young entrepreneur who willingly accepted the risk of starting her own business in an area once considered taboo.

The third-year law student at the University Of Technology (UTECH) now operates a piercings and tattoos shop called Needlez Body Candy Services located at shop number 7 Clocktower Plaza.

It transitioned from her home to a booth in a jewellery shop In January 2010 to her own shop.

At her age, it is customary for young professionals to occupy their time drafting job application letters in an effort to secure employment in traditional companies, acquiring work experience and eventually becoming subordinates under the stewardship of their employers.

However, Davis makes the decisions for herself and has no regrets that she chose to become a sole proprietor rather than just another employee doing a regular nine to five.

her role model

She attributed her desire to venture into tattoos and piercings to the influence of her role model whom she has been admiring since she was in high school.

"I know a lady who does tattoos and piercings. I'm really close with her and she was pretty much my role model and I wanted to be everything that she is. So, I had been pulled from then. I was also really good at art so that was right up my alley," Davis said.

However, Davis admitted that the earliest disapproval came from her mother who was averse to her dabbling in such artistry.

"I went to a traditional high school. Initially, my mother wasn't for me doing tattoos and piercings and of course it's taboo in Jamaica and in the work world and parents still have a problem with their kids coming home with tattoos."

"So in high school when I first brought up the idea to my mother, she wasn't having any of it but once I got into university and she realised that I still planned on finishing my degree, she warmed up to the idea," Davis remarked.

Interestingly, Davis revealed that her mom gave her an helping hand when she was starting the business as she was short on capital.

"Piercing equipment and tattoo equipment are very expensive so when I wanted to start, I really didn't have the capital so I ended up getting some money from mommy and two friends offered to help me, " Davis said amid chuckles.

Davis told STAR ACHIEVERS that her own tattoos and piercings attracted persons who eventually became her clients after she revealed that she was the artist behind the image.

" I'm heavily pierced and so that attracted a lot of persons and I'm tattooed as well. In 2010, tattoos and piercing weren't as popular as they are now. I used to get a lot of attention from persons who would say, I like your piercing and asked, who did it and that would give me leeway."

Davis has seen her clientele grow from less than ten clients in the beginning to an overwhelming number that she described as innumerable and joked that being a woman makes clients more comfortable.

"For the first three months, I probably had eight clients; then the eight became 16 until now it's pretty much uncountable. Now I'm well pass the thousands," she said.

"It doesn't hurt that I am a woman. Persons like to tend to bare it all in front of a woman.The majority of tattoos I do requires that you remove at least one item of clothing and my largest clientele is females. Females tend to feel more comfortable with other females and men like that I'm a female so that I can touch them," she joked.

As business continues to boom, Davis told STAR ACHIEVERS that she has long abandoned the idea of working for someone else even though she is pursuing a law degree.

"I do enjoy law but I don't think I will be using my degree for a source of income, I doubt that very strongly. I am a rebel and I am very opinionated and I won't work for someone who won't allow me to express myself. "

"When you go to a regular job, you work to feed somebody else and you get pretty much the brunt of it.There's always someone to answer to but when you have your own business, you answer to yourself," she expressed.

business and studies

Davis also assured that she is balancing operating a business and her academic studies well as both are priorities that must be fulfilled.

"It's difficult but the way I look at it is like someone in university who parties.You know you're going to be tired as hell but you know you also don't want to resit anything, so you make sure you pass."

" I need to have a degree because a degree is necessary for social stratification even if I don't plan on using it. It can't hurt to have a law degree," Davis added.

When asked what advice she had for potential entrepreneurs, she advised "you need to figure out your niche. You need to find out what exactly you want to do and when you figure it out, you think about if it makes sense, is it in demand and then you figure out your target market and stick to it."

"Never you jump out of the market you have been catering to unless you are 90 per cent sure that the other market will be interested in you."