Out of 79 full-time employees at PainfulPleasures, 41 of them identify as women.
Founded by Marc Gagnier in 1999, PainfulPleasures has expanded into a diverse team of people with a commitment to serve the tattoo industry — the women on our team are an integral part of the services we offer.
In honor of International Women's Day, we’d like to highlight those hardworking, resourceful, and creative women. We’d also like to celebrate the female tattoo artists who have revolutionized the tattoo industry with their distinctive visions.
Women’s Leadership at PainfulPleasures
Have you heard of the leadership gap? 
Here’s the lowdown: While women represent a majority of the United States population, their representation is still lagging in leadership positions when compared to men. Really not cool, guys.
At PainfulPleasures, our employment history defies that statistic.
Marc Gagnier runs this company alongside his two sisters: Michelle Gagnier, our HR Manager, and Melissa Gagnier, our COO and President of the Body Art Alliance. Michelle is a constant source of optimism and support here at PainfulPleasures, while Melissa is a true powerhouse who’s guided us from humble beginnings to new heights in this fast-growing industry.
Women also occupy leadership positions here in Marketing, Operations, and Warehouse. As we continue to grow, we’ll continue to hire and entrust leadership responsibilities to hardworking, diverse, and innovative women.
The Day-to-Day
It isn’t just leadership positions that make a difference here (or anywhere).
We’re also proud to employ women as representatives, creatives, and hard workers in all our integral departments. Women answer our phones in the customer service department, pack and fill orders with care, write creative content for our blog, and reconcile our checkbook. These positions are key to our infrastructure and success.
And let’s not forget the talented female artists who have taken the tattoo industry by storm. In a male-centric, counterculture industry, female tattoo artists are now thriving, showing their skills, and tattooing their way to success.
While female artists (and women everywhere) are still met with adversity, the stencil of the future looks promising. Learn from female artist perspectives in our artist spotlight feature on Mandy Fabrizi, or in last year’s International Women’s Day feature, where we highlight several female tattoo artists who have broadened tattooing horizons. Celebrate your favorite female tattooists and piercers today by giving them a shout-out on Instagram; or, better yet, book an appointment!
There’s Always Room for Progress
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has unfortunately been an overall decline in workplace gender parity due to furloughs and unemployment.
Looking toward the future, we see an opportunity to cultivate more leadership positions for women, and job opportunities in general. At PainfulPleasures, we look forward to helping the statistics move in the right direction again. In addition to employing a diverse and talented team, we will continue to empower our employees with opportunities for growth. We’ll also continue to spotlight, admire, and supply talented female tattoo artists and piercers around the world.
Happy International Women’s Day!
Sources:
Leadership gap information via https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/11/20/461273/womens-leadership-gap-2/
