Matt Weir is the general manager of Liberty Station Madison, which opened in Summer 2020. The smokehouse and tavern is known for its delectable smoked meats, local draft beer lineup and award-winning cocktail program.
Author: Fabulous Wisconsin
Fabulous People: Kate Bast
Kate Bast is the founder and certified nature and forest therapy guide of Shinrin-Yoku Madison. “It’s all about immersing in the atmosphere and pace of nature to open and activate the senses (there are more than five!) to find stillness and yet be fully alive and awake to the moment.”
Fabulous People: Araceli Esparza
Araceli Esparza is the founder of Wisconsin Mujer, a multimedia social engagement company, who has more than 15 years of nonprofit and diversity experience. “I’m a poet first, speaker, content producer, with a side of a culture connector diva for good measure.”
Fabulous People: Jacquelyn Ikonomov
Jacquelyn Ikonomov is the founder of Wisconsin Dells-based Rooster Calling Running, in which she provides habit-formation tools, group accountability and weekend running challenges with other like-minded and supportive walkers/joggers/runners. “I empower walkers, joggers, trotters, sprinters or those who run many miles to love their whole self. “
Fabulous People: Takeyla Benton
Takeyla Benton is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion analyst by day–but her long list of talents doesn’t stop there. The self-described “melanated mystic mamma” is also a tarot reader, Reiki practitioner, guided meditation coach, ordained minister, writer, poet, storyteller and head of Key Transformations, a personal empowerment practice.
Fabulous People: Sujhey Beisser
After starting a food blog to document recipes, Sujhey Beisser of Five Senses Palate decided to explore becoming a personal chef after she successfully donated a five-course dinner for a fundraiser. “I still share recipes from time to time, but my main focus is cooking for dinner parties and special occasions.”
Fabulous People: Shawna Jade Enright
Shawna Jade Enright is the owner of West Bend’s Kalon Salon + Extension Bar and Kalon Extensions, a 100-percent cruelty-free mink eyelash line. In the spring, Enright even added “bicoastal hairstylist” to her resume, flying from Wisconsin to Phoenix every few weeks to provide services to Arizona-based clients.
Fabulous People: Kelly Kussman
Kelly Kussman is the founder Cayla Gray, a luxury clean fragrance company that was named after her first child, who tragically died in 2017. “I really wanted to create a legacy that not only honored the beauty and heartbreak of this bittersweet experience, but also fueled my personal passion for fragrance.”
Fabulous People: Dominique Lenaye
Dominique Lenaye of Stoughton-based Itty Bitty Bookstore, the only Black-owned bookstore in Dane County, hand-selects books with the community in mind. “Itty Bitty Bookstore was created to diversify each and every one of our book collections with authors and characters from different marginalized groups.”
Fabulous People: Grace Wang
Grace Wang is the founder (and self-described “petrepreneur”) of three-month-old Petphoria, which specializes in delicious and nutritious luxury dog treats. Plus, the company is committed to providing people living with disabilities the opportunity to learn basic job functions as they make all Petphoria treats by hand.