“Part of being sane is being a little bit crazy.†— Janet Long
PITTSFIELD — “Most people expect me to be weird. I am actually very normal,†said Christine Burke, owner of Crazy Chameleon, a professional piercing and tattooing business at 56 Elm St. “I go to parent teacher conferences. I do laundry. I even stand in line at the deli, just like everybody else. This business is what I do; it isn’t who I am.â€
Burke, a master body piercer, has tongue, eyebrow, lip, nose and ear piercings, as well as multiple tattoos, including one of a chameleon on her hand, which is only visible under black light. She also has red hair, green eyes, a few freckles, Irish charm, “infinite patience†and a phone phobia.
“I won’t even call the pizza guy,†she said during a recent interview. “I do much better face to face or with answering machines.â€
Conducting her day-to-day business, however, requires a lot of phone time. She has overcome her phobia as well as her inherent shyness, to deal with people as far away as Portugal and Japan.
“The language barrier makes me wish I had taken more foreign language classes, but somehow we manage to communicate,†she said.
Burke, withan associate’s degree in accounting, bought Crazy Chameleon almost six years ago and last fall expanded into a sideline business, as a distributor of UV ink, which produces tattoos that glow under black light.
“This is a relatively new development within the industry. It’s been very successful and a lot more work for us than we realized it was going to be,†she said. “I read somewhere that if you think owning your own business means three-hour lunches and copious amounts of time off, you’re crazy. I have never worked harder for anyone than I have for myself. I try to average six hours of sleep a night. Once in awhile, I even get that much.â€
On a typical day, she said, “I get up between 7:30 and 9 a.m. for two hours of computer work at home. When I go into the shop, I’m piercing customers, answering questions, taking phone calls, ordering inventory, packaging orders, running errands, fixing my broken shoe, cleaning the purple ink off my chair after a customer faints on me and my purple pen goes flying — you know, your typical day-to-day chaos.â€
She added, “I don’t sit down again until 9 or 10 at night to do another two hours of computer work. Sometimes I can even squeeze in time to escape into a book before I fall asleep. One of the advantages of working for yourself is that you can do some of your work while you drink your coffee in your fuzzy purple bathrobe. But there are disadvantages. too. When you work at home, you can’t ever really get away from the job, especially when your husband and kids work for you, too.â€
Burke’s husband, Bob, is a former tattoo artist and the Web master for Crazy Chameleon’s Web site, www.piercings.net. He gave Burke her first tattoo, which runs from the top of her thigh to her knee, isn’t completely finished yet and may not ever be “done,†she said.
“Most of the time, he works at home and I work at the shop, so we don’t spend any more time together than the average couple. That’s why it works so well and probably why he’s my best friend. People would look at him and think he would never be one of those supportive guys, but he absolutely is that guy,†she said.
“When I wanted to buy this business six years ago, I went home and said, ‘Bob, I’m taking a home equity loan on the house. I’m buying the business and a car.’ He said, ‘OK.’ A year later, he got hurt at work. When he was ready to go back, the company wanted to put him in a different position. He said, ‘Honey, I don’t think I can do that. I think I could work for you.’ I said OK.â€
Burke said her mother set the couple up on a blind date when she was 14.
“I didn’t like him right away. and I didn’t marry him until after the kids were born. We have our ups and downs, just like any couple, but we are always supportive of each other.â€
Burke makes it clear, however, that she and her husband don’t own Crazy Chameleon together.
“He works for me,†she said. “It was awkward at first, but now he and my boys line up to greet me at the front door every Friday night with their hands out — that’s payday,†she said. “I’m what people think of as the typical ‘dad.’ I get home, flop down on the couch, play with the kids, make a mess and hand out money.â€
The couple has two children, Andrew, 15, and Brendan, 11, and, according to her, “the luck of the Irish.â€
“We’ve been fortunate that we never had to put our kids in day care, in spite of the fact that we both worked full-time and sometimes more than one job at a time over the years. I haven’t spent as much time as I would have liked with my kids, but they’re growing up fine, and I still like my 15-year-old — how many parents of teenagers can say that?†she asked.
“I never thought this is what I would be doing at almost 35. I always pictured myself as a bookkeeper. I was the only child of a federal auditor and a teacher. My dad died suddenly when I was 17, my mom died after a long illness when I was 24. I have my family, including the people who work here, but I wish my father had been able to meet my children. I think that would have really rocked.â€
She said tattooing and body piercing are no longer considered rebellious but “a new family bonding experience.â€
“Mothers and daughters come in for matching navel piercings, or fathers and sons to get their first tattoos. My customers range in age from 10 to 75, but at least once a week I get the 40-50-year-old customer whose spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other ‘doesn’t know I’m here and I want a fill-in-the-blank tattoo or piercing.’ It’s now an acceptable way to mark life’s important milestones.â€
At 6 Friday night, a carload of customers called for directions. Vincent English gave Burke an update on the day’s events and handed over the cordless phone before leaving for the day. Jim Cichowski was tattooing flowering ivy on the top of a customer’s foot, while her friends, given permission, watched him work. Eryn Kelly had Friday off, but a list, decorated in pink hearts, hung on Burke’s bulletin board, a constant reminder that Kelly appreciated her as a boss and friend.
Brittany Daly, 17, was Burke’s next customer.
“It’s not a special occasion,†she said. “I had my belly button pierced, and I’ve wanted to get my nose pierced for a long time, so I’m finally doing it.â€
Daly picked out the nose stud, and Burke led Daly to a curtained room with a chair similar to those found in doctors’ examining rooms. Cleaning and sterilization commenced — soap and water for Burke’s hands, a Q-tip and antiseptic for Daly’s nose, inside and out.
“Ever had your nose professionally picked before?†Burke asked her. “You have now. …You’re going to feel me tap the needle, and then it will all be over.â€
She inserted the 2-inch needle to open the hole for the stud, and Daly’s eyes immediately began watering.
“That hurt really bad,†she said.
Burke agreed.
“I thought the nose was probably the most painful of all the piercings I’ve had,†she said. “But the hardest part is going to be figuring out where to put your thumb to blow your nose.â€
For perhaps the hundredth time that week, she continued with a series of directions and handed Daly a list of instructions, with a stern admonition: “Read these because I mean them.â€
“I am a very patient person, except when it comes to people who pierce thinking they know how but don’t and I have to clean up their mess,†she explained. “But I almost always see the good in people and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, along with fifth, sixth and seventh chances.
“I’ve been burned but I’ve also been extremely lucky,†she said. “Good help is hard to find, and you can’t teach good customer service. Everything else is teachable, but you can’t teach people how to be nice. I am exceptionally fortunate with an amazing crew right now. Luckily, I’ve never made a mistake that couldn’t be easily corrected.â€
Unlike chameleons that have the ability to change the color of their skin with the temperature, light and their emotional level, Burke, being fair skinned, doesn’t have the ability to hide how she really feels most of the time.
“It takes a lot to make me blush, but I always turn red when I’ve been crying,†she said. “When you’re in business for yourself, some days are easier than others. The best part of this job is that it’s way more responsibility and I’m much more in control of what happens. …The worst part of this job is that it’s way more responsibility and I’m much more in control of what happens.â€
Color it happy or label it crazy, but patience, optimism, hard work and being nice are clearly working at the Crazy Chameleon.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
BRPC Submits Grants for Berkshire County
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission recently submitted grant applications on behalf of the county's municipalities.
On March 5, the BRPC agreed to submit four grants to the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grant Program.
One was for the Clarksburg Bank Stabilization Project in partnership with the town. This will address the aggressive bank erosion where the former Briggsville Dam was removed, mitigating property loss for residents in the Carson Avenue area of Clarksburg. The area was graded and naturalized on the removal of the old dam but was scoured out by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Another is for "Ghost Dams Inventory Mapping." This will help address numerous unmapped nonjurisdictional dams throughout the county, many of which are not maintained and no longer serve a purpose. "Ghost dams" can often be an unknown safety hazard and are a barrier to fish and wildlife.
The Housatonic Road Stream Crossing Management Plans grant will help to complete a fully mapped and assessed inventory of culverts in the towns of Lee, Cheshire, Hinsdale, Dalton and possibly Lanesborough. Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Greenagers, Housatonic Valley Association and Mass Audubon will also work with the towns to identify priority culvert replacements based on culvert condition, environmental priority, and climate risk.
The Berkshire Climate Career Lab in partnership with Ethos Pathways, a climate readiness coach, to create a High School career program to prepare students interested in climate careers, explore opportunities, and build skills.
Also submitted were two applications to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's EmPower Implementation Grant Program.
A $150,000 Housing Energy Efficiency Rehabilitation grant would create a more cohesive pipeline for residents within the Community Development Block Grant housing rehabilitation program to receive funding and support through the MassSave Program, which supports energy efficiency, and Berkshire Community Action Council.
A $150,000 Air Quality Monitoring grant would fund the rest of the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality monitoring grant. It will help to ensure that the indoor and outdoor air quality sensors will provide valuable data not seen before in Berkshire County.
The BRPC board also accepted $25,000 from The Nature Conservancy, which will be used to help support culvert replacements for municipalities in the county.
Qwanell Bradley scored 33 points, and Adan Wicks added 29 as the Hoosac Valley boys basketball team won a Division 5 State Championship on Sunday. click for more
Adan Wicks scored 38 points, and the eighth-seeded Hoosac Valley basketball team Saturday rallied from a nine-point first-half deficit to earn a 76-67 win over top-seeded Drury in the Division 5 State Quarter-Finals. click for more
Caprese Conyers scored 22 points, and Kyana Summers had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds to go with eight assists as Pittsfield got back to the state semi-finals for the second year in a row. click for more
