A 29-year-old mum from Sudbury is giving a new lease of life to a police station by opening her “dream” body piercing shop, after years of caring for her late grandmother.
Jenna-Lee Fourie-Cook is taking on the challenge of owning her own shop after wanting to pursue her passion for piercing since the age of 17.
The 29-year-old, owner of JEMZ Professional Body Piercing at the former Clare Police Station in Harp Lane, decided to take the plunge after being inspired by her late grandmother Eileen - who Jenna says "would have wanted her to do it".
"This has always been my dream job," said Jenna.
"I gave up work five years ago to care for my nan full-time. It was really hard but it was my nan's wish to be at home."
Jenna originally trained as a phlebotomist before working as a pharmacist - but has since decided to follow her passion after her grandmother's death in August 2019.
"Now is my time," said Jenna. "I had kind of been putting my life on hold for the last few years, but now I'm really excited to be doing what I love."
Jenna officially opened the shop today - which is the first of its kind in Clare - after passing her training in December 2019 with 100%.
She said: "I wanted to bring something new to Clare, as there's already a piercing shop in my hometown in Sudbury."
The former police station in Cavendish Road was transformed into a physiotherapist centre in 2017, with a clinic and rehab centre among the businesses inside.
At her new shop Jenna will be providing body piercing from the waist up, and is also fully DBS checked so can pierce all ages.
Speaking of the new venture, Jenna added: "The whole thing is quite daunting really and I don't think it's completely sunk in yet.
"I couldn't have done all this without the help of my family, especially my nan and grandad."
Jenna has secured a number of bookings already, with eight clients today and 19 scheduled in the first week.
She is holding an opening offer where most piercings will be priced at £15 in the first week.
The shop will be open from Monday to Saturday - for more information see here.
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