Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Ronna Trosper, Mia Bella Interiors
At a glance: Having worked in retail,Ronna Trosper found shopping limited when she moved to Waterville, Kansas. So, she opened her own store called Mia Bella Interiors, featuring home décor, gifts, coffee and laser engraving.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Ronna and Tony Trosper
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Oct. 2, 2024
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
“Mia Bella.” Those words mean “my beautiful” in Italian.
Today we’ll meet a Kansas rural-preneur who is bringing beautiful home products to her community and serving other community needs. She chose to name her business Mia Bella.
Ronna Trosper and her husband, Tony, are founders and owners of Mia Bella Interiors and MBI Laser Engraving in the Marshall County town of Waterville, Kansas. Ronna is from western Oklahoma originally. She married a Kansan and moved to Waterville.
At right: Ronna and Tony Trosper | Download this photo
“I had worked in retail,” Trosper said. She found the options for shopping in Waterville were limited. “There was no place in town to get a nice gift for a wedding or a special birthday.”
Instead of complaining about it, she chose to do something about it. “I’ve always wanted to have my own store,” Trosper said.
She and Tony, a disabled veteran, founded a home interior products business in Waterville. Because of her interest in beautiful, quality products, they named the business Mia Bella Interiors. Mia is also the name of their youngest daughter, who is a seventh grader.
In March, 2022, the Trospers opened Mia Bella Interiors. As they looked to expand, they purchased the former restaurant building in town and made an interesting find: A non-working espresso machine had been left behind by the previous owners.
The Trospers looked into it and found that the machine could be fixed. Now the business operates as Mia Bella Interiors & Coffeehouse. It has a full espresso bar and a seating area where people can work or relax with an iced or hot coffee. This has become a gathering place for the community.
Mia Bella Interiors & Coffeehouse offers an extensive line of home décor and self-care products plus much more. There are baskets, candles, vases, frames, mirrors, pillows and throws, rugs, signs, tray décor and wall decorations. These hand-picked items are truly beautiful.
As the company’s website says: “We love having the opportunity to style any home with a mix of industrial farmhouse and boho style with hand-picked vintage items.”
In addition, the store offers bath and body products, kitchen items, gifts and a variety of books, including devotionals. Mia Bella Interiors & Coffeehouse also supports other local entrepreneurs. The store offers handmade gift cards made by an artisan from Riley and snacks, soups and dips from another local small business.
In January 2024, the Trospers launched another enterprise and bought a laser engraver. Using the initials of Mia Bella Interiors, this business is called MBI Laser Engraving. The business offers personalized and customized projects, made right in the store. They use acrylic, wood, metal, stone, glass, leather and other materials to create unique products.
“We’re both creative people,” Trosper said of she and her husband. “He is really good at designing things and we can engrave all types of items.”
For example, MBI Laser Engraving designs and produces custom products for a lodge in Colorado. “We put their logo on their cutting boards, wooden magnets, tumblers, cups, wine glasses and other things,” Trosper said.
MBI is also an affiliated licensed vendor for K-State materials, so they can create items for Wildcat fans. They support local fundraisers as well.
“Being in a small town, everybody knows you and you can count on each other,” Trosper said. “If we’re closed on Sunday afternoon and somebody needs a last minute gift, we can open up for them.”
For customers, that’s a benefit of being in a rural community such as Waterville, population 658 people. Now, that’s rural.
What does Ronna Trosper enjoy most about the business? “I think it’s the happiness that we can bring to our customers,” she said. “It’s wonderful when we can design just the right thing or help someone find just the right gift.”
For more information, see www.miabellainteriors.net.
Mia Bella means my beautiful, and it’s an appropriate name for this business that has brought beautiful items to small town Kansas. We commend Ronna and Tony Trosper for making a difference with their creative entrepreneurship.
I think it’s a thing of beauty.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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