The Decision Makers: Rossana

This is the first of what I hope will become a series of interviews with coffee entrepreneurs about the choices they make in creating, building, and positioning their businesses. We begin the series with sisters Randi and Maria Milton of Rossana, a mobile coffee business in northern Virginia.

Randi was previously interviewed by us when she served as General Manager of Northside Social in Arlington, VA.

How would you describe Rossana?

Maria: Rossana is the culmination of a long-time dream that Randi and I have had to own our own business, and our love for coffee and community. 

Randi: Rossana brings more than a mobile espresso experience to you. We are handcrafting espresso beverages, coffees, teas, and small bites with the same level of love and attention of a brick and mortar café, but in a mobile setting. 

What’s the meaning behind the name?

Randi: Rossana was our mother’s name. We went back and forth with different names and ideas that would fit into our concept and in the end, Rossana was perfect. Our mother impacted us in innumerable ways; our confidence in ourselves, our passion for life, and love of people, just to name a few. 

Maria: Pronounced ROSS-anna. Being from the south, there is a little twang behind the name.

What were your backgrounds before starting the business?

Randi: I worked in many positions in the hospitality industry, first as a prep cook at a local establishment in our home town near Atlanta, GA when I was in my teens, and most recently as the General Manager of both Northside Social Arlington and Northside Social Falls Church. Leadership and hospitality are my passions, and coffee became a surprising bonus. 

Maria: We both have had careers in the restaurant industry, and my background is heavily on the beverage side. I focused on craft beers and then moved into wine, followed by restaurant management. I worked in the Northside wine bar when I moved to Virginia, and that is where my love for coffee really started to blossom. 

What was the original concept for Rossana?

Randi: A mobile espresso experience. The vision became the reality, which was to bring a high quality café experience to the guest, whether in the form of the van pulling up to a park in a local neighborhood, a private event celebrating a personal occasion, community engagement, or a pop up café with a local establishment. 

How did the concept evolve from when you first settled on the idea, to actual business launch?

Maria: Rossana has always been a coffee business, but we started out thinking a brick and mortar location first. We were having trouble deciding on a location and decided going mobile would have lower overhead and we could move around. This would give us a better idea of what areas really need us.

Randi: We had partnered with a local art museum, MoCA, to have a pop up café along with their summer art series. We had originally planned to launch with the van, but it was delayed, so we pivoted, and with the help of our father built a coffee and espresso cart. We launched in early May 2023, and had a steady flow of events while we waited for the truck to be completed and delivered.

 

Is there anything you’ve found that has been different from your expectations when you launched?  Have you made any changes to address them?

Randi: I would say that what has been unexpected is needing to know the mechanics of our van. It is a 1960 Ford Grumman bread van that has been drastically modified for our use. We are thankful to have a good relationship with the team that built it, so we bounce a lot of questions off them. We are even more grateful for our fabulous and handy father, his ability to support us on the truck maintenance has been crucial to our success. 

Maria: I think our expectations have been met with the business aspects, though we are learning new things everyday when it comes to the intricacies of maintaining a vintage vehicle. I watch a lot of YouTube videos, and thank goodness for our father, who is a jack of all trades. 

Rossana has a unique visual identity. How much did you create yourselves, or did you have others helping?

Maria: We knew we wanted our personalities to shine bright within our business, and finding the right people to help us deliver that was huge. We chose the Morris Project, and we are grateful every day that we have done it. Amy Morris was able to capture endearing and creative aspects that we craved, while keeping the style that we loved of all things vintage. And a fun fact is our branding is inspired by the artist Joan Miró and his Surrealist work. We have the Morning Bird, the Night Owl, and Eustice (our coffee fiending friend).

Being co-founders, partners, and siblings, how do you come to a decision when you disagree on something related to the business?

Randi: Thankfully there are not too many disagreements. We are pretty in tune with each other on most things and we have our independent strengths, so if there is a topic where one of us is more knowledgeable or experienced, then they take the lead on the decision. 

Maria: Randi and I line up in so many ways on what we see for the future of our business and knew from the start that this would benefit us in the long run, but when we do run into slight curves in the road we talk them through logically and decide what would be the best outcome for Rossana’s future. 

What’s good and what’s not so good about working so closely together as siblings?

Randi: We love each other and we respect each other. No matter the disagreements or frustrations, in the end we are always going to have each other’s backs, because we both want the same thing, for the business to succeed. 

Not so good… We are very similar. Strong willed, independent, leaders, gregarious, and controlling. Having so many traits in common can cause us some friction. 

Maria: A vintage coffee van is tight quarters and navigating each other’s next moves has been a learning experience, but what is also great about these tight moments is we are always brainstorming and talking through what is coming. There are lots of ideas being brought into fruition and it’s where we’re doing our best work. 

How do you see the business evolving?

Randi: We would love to continue to grow as a mobile espresso business as well as a brick and mortar business. One of the big reasons we decided to start mobile was because our long term visions of a permanent location are blurry. Our big goals are to incorporate Rossana into a community in café form, and grow our presence with artistic spaces.

Maria: In addition to a brick and mortar with a couple of additions that bring you more than just a coffee shop, I see us having a few more trucks as well. 

What’s the one piece of advice you would give someone thinking about starting their own coffee business?

Randi: Almost everyone can brew a cup of coffee, so make yours stand out. Quality products, quality well-trained staff, and consistency should be the top priorities. And a genuine smile and love of people goes a long way. 

Maria: Making sure the guest can see your love for the quality of their coffee and their experience matters more than anything else. 

Rossana’s location schedule is updated weekly on its website, which also provides contact information for booking private events. Rossana’s also a great Instagram follow.