~ Ms. Fe

     Felicia Peterson was born in Bloomington, Illinois on November 11, 1978 and she was raised and educated in Central Illinois. She married at 18 and had her first child at 20 and divorced at 25. She is the  mother of three children herself.

     She has over 15 years experience in fine dining management and has worked it from the bottom to the top and the front to the back and at times while doing two jobs and raising her family.

     Multi-tasking has always been an asset for her. She has this energy that is abounding, if there is not room to put another iron in the fire, she will build a bigger fire. 

She Exclusively Features her journal , Body Art Insider here at  Woman's Mojo Risings, all while working as a body piercer partnered with a tattoo artist, John "Badseed" Day. They currently work as featured artists through out Illinois together as they focus on learning all the business aspects of opening their own physical shop under Badseed Ink.

She also has a new website herself, Just a Bowl of Cherries 

     "I was raised by a creative single mother. I spent a lot of time as a child in college classes at my mother's side. (Guess I was well behaved :-) ) I was always surrounded by work in progress whether it be a painting, hanging dark room photos, sculpture, or just items set-up for a still life.

     It gave me a great appreciation for art and a good eye that brought that creative flair out for me in everything that I do. Mom was always baking and the smell of cinnamon rolls and fresh baked bread fills my childhood.

     Among the few memories of my father, the strongest are in the garden planting marigolds or vegetables and helping care for ferrets and dobermans he raised and bred. He was an award winning Electrical Engineer, that took to night club management later in life and was dedicated to his work no matter what he applied himself to.

     My strongest male influence was my grandfather. He openly accepted me assuming my mother's childhood role of following him around to farms and lending a hand in the field or barn. Later as a young teen, when he left retirement to become a park ranger at the Easter Seals Camp on Lake Bloomington I followed him through the forests, bombarding him with questions of plants, animals, and any other thing that piqued my curiosity."

Restaurant Experience

     I started working at, The Grill on Fulton, a well-know Peoria fine dining establishment at 17 as a back-waiter or glorified busser and hostess. Love of the job and the fact that I get easily bored lead to working different positions in the restaurant as they opened up. I moved on to waiter, bartender, closing manager, and learned each station in the kitchen enough to assist if needed.

     In 2003 I was asked to transfer by the company to their family restaurant, Vonachen's Old Place, as Assistant Manager.

     In 2004 I stepped down to focus on having my third child. After her birth, I went to work for a private dining club as head waiter and bartender.

     When VOP closed to reopen as a fine dining steakhouse, I was approached by owners to train an entirely new staff and managers on customer service, "proper" service etiquette, wine service, inventory and assist in interaction between kitchen and front house staff until the soft open completed and the owners felt confident about their staff.

     Eventually I faded out of the steak house and was able to give full focus on the needs of the Club. I found many learning opportunities at the small, high maintenance, low staffed Country Club. The entire place was run with 4 full time staff members: a general manager, waiter/bartender, busser, and chef and a handful of 1 or 2 shifts a month employees.

     A typical day for me was to open the doors, check emails and voice messages, sort mail, code invoices, give run down to GM when she arrived, set-up waiter's line for service, set-up dining room for service, take orders, make drinks. On busy days when it was too much for the chef I would jump on the line to help with prep, working wheel (calling orders, plating, and mediating between the Chef and the other 2 staff members) and making all cold service items. Delivery of food if possible otherwise calling for other staff to deliver, and then printing checks. After service, break down, set-up for any evening functions, check out, daily and weekly financials, inventories, publication of newsletters.

     I ended the day with meetings with staff, caterers, or personal favorite liquor and wine distributors to taste the newest flavors. I was the unofficial assistant manager. It was a new challenge everyday.

     We were a family, our ability to work as a team allowed us to pull off events and services that any other place would have had at least three times the staff and we still maintained full service fine dining. It also open doors to meeting interesting people like John McCain and Barbara Walters. As well as special moments of completely private anniversary dinners.

     In 2008 I was approached by a past co-worker and friend to assist in the opening of his new bar. Five years at the club and two years of working both jobs brought a need to slow down and a return to rural community with a more basic home life.

Body Art Experience

     I started the study of the art of piercing at the age of 17. At the time jewelry was made by the artist and I lacked the hand strength to bend the grade of surgical steel used. So focus was put on learning placement, health and safety, inventory, and ordering. The career itself was put on the back burner.

     At the end of 2009 the idea of opening and running a tattoo shop, Bad Seed Ink, with John "Badseed" Day, an amazing tattoo artist, emerged. The original plan being office and pattern sizing as my part it.

     By mid 2010 it had evolved into breaking out my piercing equipment again, brushing off the dust and learning all the advancements in the field over a 10 year stretch. Amazing what can be done safely and easily now. Excited to continue my education with branding and scarification classes in the upcoming year.

     While the realization of our own shop is still in blueprint stage until we can get a strong financial foundation established, we work as a team and as Badseed Ink in guest spots at studios around the state. All state and federal requirements met. We are saving a nest egg to make sure that when we open the doors to our shop we are set-up for complete success. Working at guest spots is having a shop without the higher rent or mortgage. It is a great experience that allows both of us to meet, work with, and learn from other amazing artists.

     I work strictly by appointment only on piercings and handle patterns, sizing via the lovely Internet unless it's an extensive custom design. In those cases I go in for the consultations.

     Working with your relationship partner of five years as a business partner is a job all in itself. Luckily we compliment and balance each other with our various experiences, combined we make for a well rounded and informed collaboration that leads to beautiful art in skin whether it be with ink, rings, dermals or a combination.

     At the beginning of 2012 ~Ms. Fe is content with life. Finding a wonderful balance between her goals and years of ADHD and collecting what to some may be useless information, to others just what they were looking for.