Conversations with Casey Hosch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Hosch.

Hi Casey, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am where I am because of Alicia Cardenas and an incredible community of amazing people. She took me on as an apprentice in 2010 and I worked for her and with her and at Sol Tribe for 14 years. She taught me so much more than I could have ever fathomed being real and I’m forever grateful for the 12 years I got to spend at her side. I miss Alicia and Alyssa every day and I opened Cold Moon in part to make them both really proud. Sol Tribe will always be home to me and a lot of us, even though it may not be there physically anymore.

Cold Moon opened September 15 2024 and we are all pumped to have hit the 6 month mark recently. I opened the shop for me, I opened the shop for the amazing people that asked me to and came with me, and most definitely to service our community. This team of people is so awesome. I am so pumped to get to work with the folks I work with. I’ve been piercing for 15 years as of this coming May and I am so blown away by this crew. Feeling a lot of gratitude since we’ve opened. It’s been a wild ride for sure.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh it was and is challenging for sure. But it’s supposed to be right? I definitely hear the voices of al the business owners I’ve ever talked with about how wild business ownership is. They are all right. I am enjoying every second, even the bad and the scary ones and I am very lucky to have a community of friends and family to turn to.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a piercer first, long before business ownership. I have been piercing for 15 years and a shop owner for about 6 months now. I am an APP (Association of Professional Piercers) member and have been for 13 years and past volunteer for the organization. I am a 9 year conference volunteer from 2011 to 2020, I have attended 14 conferences, and have attended an LBP (Latin American Body Piercing) Association conference in 2023. I specialize in large scale projects/ear curations and all genital piercing work, but enjoy piercing in general. I really enjoy getting weird, elegantly.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Safepiercing.org has great information about apprenticing. I’d say that you have to first find someone that is looking to fill an apprenticeship position and be willing to move out of state for it. That website is a great resource.

I answered a myspace as that Alicia had posted about looking for an apprenticeship and I answered it. We emailed back and forth a lot and then she offered me an interview. I got to meet with her and convince her that it was me that she was looking for and then she taught me and gave me a beautiful, very hard to get, gift. Pretty incredible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coldmoondenver.com
• Instagram: @coldmoondenver

Image Credits
Photos taken on Casey’s phone.