Age: 34. Owner of: Fig Leaf, 345 Bluff St. Years owned: 29. (Her mother, Ellen Liberg, owned it prior to McQuillen taking it over.) What does your shop offer? We are a lifestyle shoptique, which is a blend of items to peek the curiosity of many — clothing goods, bath goods and home goods. We...

Age: 59. Owner of: Shamrock Imports, 391 Bluff St. Years owned: 11 years. What your shop offers: Irish gifts from Ireland. Family: My husband name is Mike. We have four children together and seven grandchildren. What inspired you to open your business? My mother-in-law started the store. We took it over when she wanted to...

Age: 36. Owner of: Monk’s Kaffee Pub, 373 Bluff St. Years owned: 7. It has been Monk’s for 12 years and a coffee shop since the 1990s. What your shop offers: 80-plus craft and domestic bottles and cans of beer, 30-plus liquors, three rotating taps of local craft beers, coffee, espresso, smoothie drinks, prepackaged snacks...

Age: 33. Owner of: Kate & Co, 409 Bluff St. Years owned: 10. What your shop offers: Salon services, beauty and wellness products. Family: Two boys — Peyton, 13; and Oliver 10. What inspired you to open your business? My children. I wanted the flexibility while raising my children. What do you believe is the...

Age: 39. Owner of: Spark On Bluff Hair Studio, 441 Bluff St. Years owned: Co-owned at 441 Bluff St., with Marlo Goodrich, for four years — prior to that on Central Avenue, which opened in 2011. What your shop offers: A large variety of hair services, such as haircuts, colors, perms, smoothing treatments and facial...

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Sarah Ellis has had the rare fortune of carving a career out of a passion that has driven her since childhood. Setting the stage with both parents as music educators, the Platteville native cut her teeth as a dancer with the Dubuque Academy of Ballet. She then combined it with her loves...