RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – With Mother’s Day almost upon us, we appreciate all those mothers and daughters cultivating a homegrown business partnership.
Working together strengthens their bond.
At a young age, Uptown Dish (Beckley) and The Dish Cafe (Daniels) general manager and chef-in-training Bella Rotellini was exposed to her mom’s entrepreneurial spirit. She caught the restaurant bug and never looked back.
“Got in the groove of things, you know, I went off to WVU, got my bachelor’s in business and entrepreneurship,” Rotellini said. “And now that I’m back, we’re full-force business partners.”
Some might say that going into business with family could be troublesome.
“She’s right there, a call away if I need her,” the chef-in-training said of her mom. “I love her, so it just makes it easy.”
Michelle Rotellini says she is super proud of her daughter.
“Of course, she does an amazing job,” said the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce executive director. “I can’t think of a better person to have brought this to Beckley for our community.”
According to Bella, the Uptown Dish location gives her creative freedom, and her mom is often game for her ideas. She calls Michelle her best friend.
“We get along great and are both excited, eccentric about all the things happening downtown,” the general manager said. “I think our personalities are what we need down here to get this whole area going. We want it to be like Lewisburg and Fayetteville. It’s what sparked this idea.”
Michelle lost her mom 20 years ago.
“So my aunts, who are my business partners, stepped in to fill that void for me,” Michelle said. “I feel like they’re a part of that legacy. Then there’s me and Bella.”
This is a multi-generational journey. the BRCCC executive director says it would make her mom proud.
“It would make my grandmother, my mom’s mom, proud,” said Michelle. “She came to Beckley in the late sixties, and she and my grandfather opened a business here. We’re looking now at four generations of being entrepreneurs and doing the best business in Beckley.”
