I am known as a pioneer in the field for innovating techniques, aftercare, and piercing placements. I am credited (by Jim Ward in his book, "Running the Gauntlet," BMEzine, Pain Magazine, and others) with the popularity of the tongue piercing; and inventing, naming, and popularizing a number of specific piercing placements including the fourchette, and lorum. I also perfected and popularized the triangle piercing.

Since 1996, I have been a member in good standing of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP), a non-profit health, safety, and education organization. In my ongoing involvement to advance the field and to promote safe piercing, I served a three-year term on the APP Board of Directors as Outreach Coordinator. Following that I was elected to a second term with the organization as Medical Liaison. After a three-year hiatus, I repeated another term in that same position. From June 2011 to June 2014, I served as the Association's President, and I remain a "Business Member at Large." I was honored in 2006 with the President's Award for a Lifetime of Contributions to the industry.

While working for the APP, I spearheaded the production of a number of brochures for the organization that have helped to distribute information and professionalize the field. These include the Aftercare Guidelines for Facial and Body Piercings, Aftercare Guidelines for Oral Piercings, Oral Piercing Risks and Safety Measures, Jewelry for Initial Piercings, and Jewelry for Healed Piercings. I also oversaw the production of Troubleshooting for You and Your Healthcare Professional, which provides valuable information for piercees and for medical professionals, who often have no piercing-specific training. My most recent addition to the APP brochures was Preparing for Medical and Dental Procedures.

Additionally, along with a great team of other volunteers, I headed-up the rewrite and revision of the APP Procedure Manual, 2013 Edition, which is still used throughout the industry as the definitive guide for safe, sanitary piercing practices.

I undertook further volunteer duties with the APP, serving as Editor of the APP's quarterly journal, THE POINT. I produced four publications per year, from issues #17- #31. For issues #46-59, I served in the position of Co-Editor with former APP President, James Weber, and was Editor in Chief of Issue #60. 

Further, I've taught classes at the APP conferences in Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and Mexico City. At Conference, I have covered topics such as Grounding and Bedside Manner, Anatomy, Aftercare and Healing, Basic Piercing Techniques, Advanced Piercing Techniques, Female Genital Piercings, and Male Genital Piercings. I've also taught piercing-related courses at seminars in Italy, Germany, and Sweden.

I have spoken to groups of medical professionals about body piercing, including the Association of periOperative Nurses (AORN) at their World Congress, HIV/AIDS Health Educators of Louisiana, ER staff at Tulane Hospital, Louisiana State University, and the American Urological Association. I presented a course on the safe care of patients with piercings at their 2015 conference. I have also educated both students and staff at Colleges and Universities, including Yale and Northwestern University.

I contributed to the state of Louisiana by assisting in the promulgation of the laws on body art, and also by assisting in training the health inspectors who enforce the regulations I helped to draft.

I have also participated with Doctors at the University of South Alabama in a fascinating research study, specifically about the Vertical Clitoral Hood (VCH) piercing and female sexual satisfaction!! Positive results were published in the prestigious (and conservative) American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

I am renowned throughout the industry as a pioneer and consummate professional, revered for knowledge, skill, and ethics on the job. And I feel like the luckiest human being with the best job in the world, because I retain my enjoyment and passion for piercing, even after all of these years.

In 2021, the Revised and Expanded second edition of my book, The Piercing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Safe Piercing was published by TenSpeed Press, a division of Penguin Random House. The original edition (2009) had been reprinted approximately 10 times prior to the new release.