Anna York developed a love of body modification as a young teenager in the punk community. She started stretching her ears at fourteen and got really into a wooden plug company, Esoteric (R.I.P.), and became a frequent visitor to the only studio in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina that ordered and carried them. She eventually lucked into a job at Immaculate, that same studio, as a counterperson. Sarah Wooten, the owner, took Anna under her wing and offered her an apprenticeship. She continued working there for six years until she moved to the Pacific Northwest with her band. There she worked at a few different studios until settling into Robot Piercing and Tattoo in Portland, Oregon. After a few years in Oregon, she moved to Philadelphia, PA to work at Infinite Body Piercing where she was able to further hone her piercing skills. From there she made Maine her home base but worked as a traveling guest piercer. Her desire to be in Maine full time has brought her to opening Gilded Pony Piercing in Waterville.

Anna volunteered at her first Association of Professional Piercers Conference and Exposition in 2008 as an apprentice, and she has continued to volunteer every year since. For the last few years she has been found working behind the registration booth, welcoming all other piercers into the conference. 

Her favorite piercings to do are nipples, nostrils, and lining up multiple piercings in the ear. She also gets very excited about stacking multiple pieces in stretched piercings and helping people choose jewelry—so feel free to ask her about recommendations for interesting jewelry.

Some of the things that make her the happiest include anything old and gilded, baby goats and lambs, vegan pastries, coffee-flavored anything, pretty flowers, and the smell of lavender. She is good at finding excuses to treat herself, and is currently saving up for gold teeth and more jewelry from Digby and Iona. Her future dreams include growing Maine hardy fig trees, fixing up her 1890s farmhouse with her partner, and watching Gilded Pony Piercing flourish.