Paul King has a B.A. degree with highest honors in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. He has been a professional Body Piercer since 1991 and an enthusiast before that! He is Gauntlet trained and certified with a one and half year apprenticeship under Elayne Angel, author of The Piercing Bible. He worked in all three former Gauntlet locations, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco and was store manager of LA and NYC. In 1996 Jim Ward, Founder of Gauntlet, awarded Paul King with the honorary title of Master Piercer. He apprenticed many piercers for Gauntlet as well as co-taught Gauntlet training seminars. He has lectured at universities, community groups, and conferences on various aspects of body modification since 1993.
In 1999, Paul King partnered with Grant Dempsey to create Cold Steel America, tattooing and piercing services in San Francisco, California. He is an active member of the Association of Professional Piercers. In 2005, he successfully completed a three year elected board position as Treasurer for the APP. In 2007, he received the APP’s President’s Award for contributions to the Piercing Industry. He has served as a board-appointed treasurer and officer of the APP since 2008. In 2014, with the support of the APP board elect, Paul King created the Body Piercing Archive:
„The mission of the Body Piercing Archive is to select, collect, document, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the personal, social, and material evolving histories of Body Piercing to ensure these artifacts are available to present and successive generations.”