October 17, 2024 • 20 mins
Winnebago chef Reggie Frazier started his culinary career whipping up dishes on a hot plate at Ho-Chunk Village Farmer’s Market — or Nį̄šoc Wahāgi Hoci in the Ho-Chunk language. He quickly turned his passion for cooking into a thriving brick-and-mortar restaurant and, now, a new food truck with loans from Ho Chunk Community Capital, a Native CDFI. Learn how R-Eatz is feeding the community and inspiring other Native entrepreneurs on the Winnebago reservation.
Plus, we asked Reggie and Ho Chunk Community Capital's Tony Wood what advice they'd give to aspiring Native entrepreneurs about starting a business.
Tony Wood's Advice:
- Native CDFIs like Ho Chunk Community Capital are available resources that many people don't know about, but can provide crucial startup capital and support.
- The most important thing is having the drive and determination to follow through on your entrepreneurial dreams, even when things get challenging.
- Talk with successful Native business owners like Reggie to share their stories and inspire others in the community.
- Highlight the importance of continuing to support and promote Native-owned businesses.
Reginald Frazier's Advice:
- If it's your passion, take the risk and go for it - no one can take that passion away from you.
- Don't be afraid to ask for help - there are programs and people like Tony who can guide you in the right direction.
- Supporting one another in the community as fellow Native entrepreneurs.
Difference Makers 2.0 is a new yearlong series that highlights how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) work alongside their small business clients to accelerate change and create economic opportunities in Native communities. Join the Native CDFI Network and Tribal Business News as they shine a spotlight on the people accelerating economic change in Indian Country. Read the stories here and be sure to tune into the Difference Makers 2.0 podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Elyse Wild (00:06):
Many reservation communities around Indian
country are food deserts, a termthat describes an area where
there are little to no optionsfor grocery shopping or dining,
and certainly not access tolocal culturally centered food.
Native owned shops andrestaurants are critical to
providing access to food inthese areas, as well as building
community while strengtheningsovereignty and economic
(00:27):
development. The Winnebagoreservation in Nebraska is a
food desert outside of thecasinos. There are no
restaurants, that is, until thisFebruary, when Reggie and are
Frazier opened our eats with thehelp of Ho Chunk Community
Capital. Reggie talked to usabout his journey from watching
his dad, a single parent, makehomemade meals for him and his
four brothers, to selling mealsfrom a hot plate at the Ho Chunk
(00:49):
village farmers market, toopening our eats and now
launching a food truck that willtake his thriving business on
the road.
Reginald Frazier (00:56):
I'm Reginald Frazier. I'm an enrolled member
of the Winnebago Tribe ofNebraska. I am half Winnebago,
half Santee Sioux. I'mrestaurant owner, slash
entrepreneur, father of eightchildren, married to irita
Frazier.
Elyse Wild (01:16):
All right. Thank you, Tony. Let's go to you.
Tony Wood (01:19):
I'm Tony wood. I'm a Winnebago tribal member. I am
part Santee and part Yankton aswell. I work for the whole Trump
community, capital in Winnebago,Nebraska as the CDFI
coordinator.
Elyse Wild (01:32):
All right, all right. So, Reggie, we're going
to start with you. Tell me alittle bit about your
background. Tell me about whereyou're from. Tell me about
growing up. What are some thingsthat you really remember? Some
good stand up memories aboutyour childhood, about growing
up.
Reginald Frazier (01:46):
I grew up in a household of, well, me, my
father, and then four of mybrothers. My mom passed away
when I was eight months old, butmy dad did most of the cooking,
and he's one of the ones that Ilooked up to once I started
cooking every day. Had a meal onthe table for us boys. So yeah,
he was kind of my motivation toget into cooking early in life.
Elyse Wild (02:10):
I love that. Tell me. What did he cook? What were
some of your favorite meals thatyour dad used to make? You guys?
Reginald Frazier (02:16):
Oh, he'd make a lot of stuff from scratch
using, like, lot of differentproteins, a lot of the fat,
making homemade gravies andstuff like that. A lot of home
cooked meals, fry, bread, chili,mostly stews. We wasn't really
rich, I'd say, so, yeah, we heworked with what he had.
Elyse Wild (02:36):
I love that. I love that. So that leads me, you
know, perfect segue into my nextquestion is, when did you learn
to cook? Did you always love tocook? Sounds like it was, you
know, that those homemade mealswere, you know, obviously a way
of your dad, like showing loveto you guys. That's, that's
really sweet. So tell me aboutcooking for you.
Reginald Frazier (02:55):
After high school, I moved to Sioux City
and I had my my first child, Ihad to start cooking on my own.
Just thinking back of what mydad would make my try to copy
his recipes, I did kind ofalternate them a little bit and
made them my own, but I made alot of wasted a lot of food. You
know, learning to cook kind ofperfect, different recipes. But
(03:16):
I'd say it was around like 2010- 2011 when I really got into
cooking and realized that's whatI really wanted to do.
Elyse Wild (03:25):
So tell me about that. What tell me about really
getting into cooking is that isit just, did you just kind of
hit your stride with it? And Iknow so probably so many people
can relate to like you're goingout on your own and you have to
learn how to cook. I distinctlyremember some of the first meals
I made for myself when I was 17,18, 19 and they were like, you
know, I just put a steak in theoven and just like, turn the
(03:46):
oven like, that's not how youmake a steak. I just think to
remember that being like, thisis how you do it. But so tell me
about that time. Tell me aboutwhen you really got into it.
What, what kind of prompted that
Reginald Frazier (03:56):
Seeing my daughter, my first born, and eat
and like, figure out what herfavorite foods were. Chicken
Alfredo was probably the firstthing that have actually
mastered, I'd say for her, um,that's one of her favorite
dishes. But yeah, a lot of trialand error, trying to perfect
different recipes for my family,figuring out what they like. And
a lot of the meals were usgetting together during the
(04:19):
holidays. So, you know, foodbrings a lot of people together,
and that's what kind of inspiredme more.
Elyse Wild (04:25):
All right, now let's talk about your business. Where
were you in your life, where youdecided that you wanted to start
the business? And also, I meanbeing a being a business owner,
is one thing, being in the foodbusiness is another. I think
it's like a notoriouslychallenging endeavor. So tell me
about where you were in yourlife when you decided to turn it
(04:47):
into a business.
What? Two years ago? Two yearsago, I was working at Omega, was
building railroad tracks, and Iwanted to go to school for
culinary so I enrolled inWestern Iowa Tech, and I began
courses there, and I justrealized that I couldn't build
railroad tracks the rest of mylife. You know, very physical
(05:09):
work, lot of, lot of lot oflabor in that, and that's just
something that I didn't want todo for the rest of my life. I do
have a passion in cooking, and Ifigured, might as well do
something that I love. My wifepushed me. She drew up a
business plan for me. And, youknow, we just went from there
overnight one morning. Just justwoke up and she had a business
(05:30):
plan ready, ready for me. So,yeah, we just went from there.
So Tony, now we're gonna go toyou. So Tony, you mentioned in
your email that Reggie was partof the farmers market that Ho
Chunk Community Capital manages.
Is that how you Is that how youmet Reggie? And tell me a little
bit about that farmers market. Ilove that you guys do that
Tony Wood (05:52):
First time I met Reggie was through through
Irita. I mean, I I've knownirita for a number of years,
working on here at Winnebago.
But, yeah, we've run the marketsince 2019 ... we had some covid
years that kind of obviouslyslowed things down. But our
first full year was 2022 and,you know, it was actually Reggie
and a couple other of thevendors were the ones that
(06:12):
really pushed that. You know, Ijust love seeing like, the
entrepreneurship and and thefact, like said, we are in a
food desert, and at that pointin time, we had no restaurant in
Winnebago, besides, like, thecasino, nothing kind of local.
And it was just like he wouldshow up in his truck and a in a
like, a little hot plate andeverything like that. Or even,
(06:34):
like, bagged up lunches already,and they would sell out every
week. And then the othervendors, of course, everybody
was doing very, very well. Ithink it was just because of
COVID and everything. But, Imean, I could see right off the
bat that Reggie and irita, Imean, they had a really good
following. They would just putit up on Facebook, hey, we're
going to be down there at thefarmers market. And people would
just put flock down. You know,
Elyse Wild (06:57):
That's so cool.
Reggie, tell me, what kind ofwhat kind of stuff would you
guys sell at the farmers market?
What were some of the items thatpeople were, as Tony said,
showing up for and and sellingout.
Reginald Frazier (07:07):
The Farmers Market was, I'd say, the
foundation of starting thebusiness, getting my recipes out
there through the farmersmarket. I did start with birria
tacos. Might just bring agriddle and, like Tony said, a
hot plate or a warmer full ofburria meat and potthole and,
you know, I realized that thatstart going and that's something
that we still do today. I wouldmake Indian burgers, make fry
(07:30):
bread and Indian tacos. There, Idid beef and broccoli that
usually sells out when I'm atthe farmer's market. And I'd
still like to go over thereevery now and then do the beef
and broccoli, because I know itsells out when I do go over
there, but yeah, just gettingthe recipes out through the
farmer's market was, you know,something my customer base
coming every week with somethingspecial to me.
Elyse Wild (07:52):
Tony. Tell me about, you know, seeing them, having
this following, seeing them sellout. You know, you said you knew
Irita for a long time. Tell meabout starting the kind of the
official relationship withReggie and irita from the
perspective of, like, how canwe, how can Ho Chunk Community
Capital assist these guys ingetting to their next step? Tell
me about that?
Reginald Frazier (08:11):
Well, we had, we had some small business
grants available through theNative American Ag Fund, and
because it was food based, theydefinitely qualified them, and
then all the rest of thevendors. So we would, you know,
we push them out that way, makethem have a small business plan.
But, yeah, I mean, Reggie,Reggie and a couple other
people, they really had, like,such a following. And, mean, it
(08:34):
was just, and I told Irita, Iwas like, Hey, you know, if you
guys have a business plan, Isaid, we have capital here, you
know. And the thing about is HoChunk Community Capital. Before
I started working here, I didn'teven know this existed. There
wasn't a lot of advertising oranything like that. So, you
know, once I got on board, andI'm Winnebago tribal member,
I've been a part of thiscommunity with Irita and Reggie,
I was like, hey, so there'sopportunity here that, you know,
(08:56):
a lot of people don't realize.
And I was like, hey, that's Itold them both. I said we got
money here. Let's figure out away, you know, to get you guys,
get you guys this cash, get youguys to accelerate your business
and but yeah, Irita did thebusiness plan on her own. Yeah,
she just knocked it out.
Unknown (09:14):
That's
Elyse Wild (09:14):
That's awesome. I love that. So is it? Do I
understand correctly that HoChunk community, you guys issued
a loan, and was that for a brickand mortar location.
Tony Wood (09:24):
Yep. That fall, we still, we had no restaurant in
town. And I asked the owners ofthe of the building, I said,
Hey, do you guys have anyprospects? And there was a,
there was a restaurant fromSioux City that was thinking
about coming down here. And Itold him about, you know, how
much success we've had with thefarmers market, with Reggie and
(09:45):
and another person, a coupledifferent vendors, and say, Hey,
is there any way we can do maybea co op or something like that?
I said we could fund the loan toget this started. And I kind of
threw that suggestion out to therest of them. And it was kind of
like hit and miss, hit and miss,but Reggie and I reach I said,
Let's do it ourselves, you know.
Let's go ahead and do itourselves, you know. And so we
(10:06):
took that and they just ran withit. From there, we issued them
just the initial startup, Ithink it was 12,000 just to
start up, like some the rent anda couple things. And then we had
to add a couple couple thousandto it for some equipment that
they needed in in house. Butyeah, since that time, they've
actually paid off. They pay thatloan off, actually. So,
Elyse Wild (10:29):
Oh, congratulations.
That's great. That's fantastic.
So now, Reggie, tell me how thatloan, like, how did that propel
you guys forward? Tell me whatchanged in the business once you
got that capital.
Reginald Frazier (10:43):
I think it was like a one big stress off our
our shoulders. You know, havinghaving those funds there
available to us, all I had to dowas just worry about the menu.
Irita, worried about everythingelse, the business plan and all
that. I I myself am not verytech savvy, so I'm more hands on
(11:03):
in the kitchen. And you knowthat that was just like a big
weight off my shoulders, so Icould just focus on getting the
menu out there and gettingcustomers in the door. So yeah,
it was a big help having thosefunds available.
Elyse Wild (11:15):
So tell me about the location. How many days a week
are you guys open? How manycustomers are you're serving
What are like people's favoritemenu items? Kind of paint a
picture for us of what yourlocation looks like, and kind of
the everyday activity that takesplace there.
Unknown (11:30):
Do with the
Reginald Frazier (11:31):
of the customers there, a lot of the
construction crews that are intown now, some are right in the
area. Also, they all stop in. Ido try to, I am starting to do
breakfast. Trying to dobreakfast every day of the week
right now, we mostly do lunchfrom 11:15am to around 1:30pm to
(11:56):
get the lunch rush, get everyonefed and back to work. That is
our main customer base, ofpeople on their on their lunch
breaks, and that's that's myfocus right now. Trying to
expand. I'm getting moreemployees as we go along. I feel
I still don't have it figuredout yet, because we do have our
slow weeks and our slow monthsstill, and it's just kind of
(12:17):
hard to figure out what theseason is changing also. So
yeah, I'm still, it's still alearning process to me, still
fairly new to me, but I'mlearning as I go. And, you know,
I feel, I feel, I'm catching onmore and more, you know, daily.
I know, like Tony does have someseminars and stuff that go on at
woodland trails, and I was apart of one. I believe it was
(12:39):
some business planning, thestuff that Tony provides a lot
of networking for our business.
He does utilize us for somecaterings over there, oaktown
capital, they also use us forcatering. And, you know, that's
like a lot of networking ontheir part. Um, getting our name
out there. Also, we just nowfind refinance and got a food
trailer that's going to bedelivered today from Texas. And,
(13:02):
you know, that's another bigstep for us. So now I can
actually, you know, go anywhereout of the actual tri state area
and get our name out there.
Also,
Elyse Wild (13:16):
that's so awesome.
Congratulations. That'sexciting.
Tony Wood (13:19):
I was just going to relay on the food trailer that
they got, they said that was thenew new loan that we got them
the week before. So we gave thema $50,000 loan. They paid off
their existing loan, and thenthey have some operating capital
to move with under but yeah, Imean, I wish we got it to them
sooner, because they actuallywas down in Lincoln for, like,
the warhorse casino, that wouldhave been a really cool event
(13:42):
for them to have their foodtrailer. But definitely, this is
being mobile, you know, with allthe events, all the things that
happen in the tri state area,they're, they're definitely
going to become a, just the nextinstitution in Sioux City, you
know, I think they're going to,they're going to take that to
the next level, you know.
Elyse Wild (13:59):
Yeah, that's very exciting. Tony, tell me the
impact you have seen Reggie andArita have on the community. And
by asking that, I mean, youknow, like we know that native
CDFIs have a big impact in theircommunity, small businesses are
the backbones of strongcommunity. And you know, in a
bigger picture, smallcommunities in native
communities, or, excuse me,small businesses in native
(14:21):
communities are a part ofsovereignty. You know, it's all
part of a much bigger picture.
But tell me how you've seen themhave an impact on the community.
And I can glean a little bitfrom you telling me that, you
know, there's, there's notrestaurants in Winnebago, so it
must have a big impact already.
Tony Wood (14:41):
Yeah, their their impact has been phenomenal since
we gave them the loan inFebruary of the year. Before,
you know, what we do is wealways kind of focus on, on our
on our loan holders, just to letpeople know that we're here. And
so as soon as we we put outthat, you know, we gave them a
loan to start their business forthat brick and mortar ... we got
flooded. We got flooded withother people say, Hey, I said, I
(15:04):
want to do that, you know. Andour neighboring tribe to the to
the south, somebody wanted tostart a pizza business because
of what Reggie was doing, youknow. So we helped them out, you
know, we helped other, otherventures out as well. I mean,
it's, it's it, it's just startupcapital, a little bit of startup
capital, or not anything that'sreally extensive, but at least
(15:25):
to get them a foot, a foot inthe water. You know, our job is
to get access to capital, eitherthrough grants or startup
capital, to the point where, youknow, if they need a $250,000
loan, they can go to a bank.
They've got the business knowhow, and they've got the numbers
behind them. They're, they'reeverything, you know, and, yeah,
they've, they've done a lottowards that with the impact
(15:48):
they had. And also, you know,Reggie employs five to six
people, and that impactspeople's families as well. You
know, they're, they're creatingjobs in the community that, you
know, this small, $17,000 loangave them, I mean, it impacted
five different families. Andthat's, I mean, you look at the
the financials on that, that's,that's phenomenal, you know? And
(16:09):
so that's something that we wantto continue to do, and we want
to definitely focus on their,their efforts, and push it, push
it out further.
Elyse Wild (16:21):
I love that. I love that. Reggie, tell me what you
love the most about running yourown business.
Reginald Frazier (16:27):
I'd say just the support that I get, the
feedback that I get from fromthe community. Push pushes me to
keep going. Any any feedback isgood for me, even if it's
negative, I could grow off that,like a lot of the elders, they
like, the meals that I make, andthat's one thing that I try to
attract, is the elders in thecommunity. I'd say, being a
(16:47):
lifelong resident of thereservation, everybody wants me
to stay in Winnebago, and that'swhy I wanted the trailer, so I
can have both. I don't see usgoing anywhere anytime soon. And
yeah, just just the feedback thecommunity gives me the support
they give me all the differentprograms that reach out for
caterings, and it's all, it'sall been a blessing, really, and
(17:09):
then that, that's just whatkeeps me going every you know,
every day.
Elyse Wild (17:13):
So my last question for the two of you is, what
advice would you have foranother native person out there
who has dreams of starting abusiness. Wants to be an
entrepreneur, but they're alittle scared, or they don't
know where to start.
Tony Wood (17:25):
Whew, good question.
Well, I just, I think thathaving the knowledge that Native
CDFIs are available, and like Isaid, I started here six years
ago. I didn't even know, I said,I, you know, I'm an entrepreneur
myself. I wish I had known thatthis was here is probably, I'm
glad I what I do, but Idefinitely would have taken
(17:47):
advantage of theseopportunities, you know, and
maybe just having the drive,that's one of the things we see,
and that's what I love aboutReggie and irita is like they,
they just continued on. This wastheir dream, and they they kept
striving towards it. And I thinkthat when things get hard a
little bit, people will go stallout. And I think that
(18:07):
encouragement, I mean, I try toencourage a lot of our people
here try to encourage, like thesmall business, you know, in our
on our reservation, you know,they need that encouragement to
say, hey, I want to followthrough with that. I'm gonna go
see Tony. He's got some moneywaiting for me, whatever, you
know. And, you know, havingReggie, like, if, if we have a
small business event, I'mdefinitely going to invite
Reggie and say, hey, you know,this was we follow through, and
(18:29):
this is where we're at rightnow. You know, these success
stories are the foundation ofcontinuing this, you know, and
the CDFIs, the CDFIs we have inthe area. I think that, you
know, we, we just need tocontinue to support them, you
know, continue to support thenative businesses.
Reginald Frazier (18:51):
My advice would be, if it's, I'd say, if
it's a passion of yours, just totake a risk. Nobody's going to
take that passion from you. Andalso, don't be afraid to ask for
help. You know, there's programsout there. Tony was always there
for help. And you know, anytimeI need need something, he'll
guide me in the right direction.
So, yeah, just just the, justthe risk alone. If it's
(19:14):
something you want to do, I'd,I'd say, just go for it,
especially if it's passion oryours, also just support one
another. And that's what I tryto do. Just support everybody,
all the ones that, all thevendors that are at the farmers
market. Still, I try to supportthem any way I can.
Elyse Wild (19:45):
Thank you for listening. Difference Makers.
2.0 is a production of theNative CDFI network and Tribal
Business News. See you nexttime.
Many reservation communities around Indian
country are food deserts, a termthat describes an area where
there are little to no optionsfor grocery shopping or dining,
and certainly not access tolocal culturally centered food.
Native owned shops andrestaurants are critical to
providing access to food inthese areas, as well as building
community while strengtheningsovereignty and economic
(00:27):
development. The Winnebagoreservation in Nebraska is a
food desert outside of thecasinos. There are no
restaurants, that is, until thisFebruary, when Reggie and are
Frazier opened our eats with thehelp of Ho Chunk Community
Capital. Reggie talked to usabout his journey from watching
his dad, a single parent, makehomemade meals for him and his
four brothers, to selling mealsfrom a hot plate at the Ho Chunk
(00:49):
village farmers market, toopening our eats and now
launching a food truck that willtake his thriving business on
the road.
Reginald Frazier (00:56):
I'm Reginald Frazier. I'm an enrolled member
of the Winnebago Tribe ofNebraska. I am half Winnebago,
half Santee Sioux. I'mrestaurant owner, slash
entrepreneur, father of eightchildren, married to irita
Frazier.
Elyse Wild (01:16):
All right. Thank you, Tony. Let's go to you.
Tony Wood (01:19):
I'm Tony wood. I'm a Winnebago tribal member. I am
part Santee and part Yankton aswell. I work for the whole Trump
community, capital in Winnebago,Nebraska as the CDFI
coordinator.
Elyse Wild (01:32):
All right, all right. So, Reggie, we're going
to start with you. Tell me alittle bit about your
background. Tell me about whereyou're from. Tell me about
growing up. What are some thingsthat you really remember? Some
good stand up memories aboutyour childhood, about growing
up.
Reginald Frazier (01:46):
I grew up in a household of, well, me, my
father, and then four of mybrothers. My mom passed away
when I was eight months old, butmy dad did most of the cooking,
and he's one of the ones that Ilooked up to once I started
cooking every day. Had a meal onthe table for us boys. So yeah,
he was kind of my motivation toget into cooking early in life.
Elyse Wild (02:10):
I love that. Tell me. What did he cook? What were
some of your favorite meals thatyour dad used to make? You guys?
Reginald Frazier (02:16):
Oh, he'd make a lot of stuff from scratch
using, like, lot of differentproteins, a lot of the fat,
making homemade gravies andstuff like that. A lot of home
cooked meals, fry, bread, chili,mostly stews. We wasn't really
rich, I'd say, so, yeah, we heworked with what he had.
Elyse Wild (02:36):
I love that. I love that. So that leads me, you
know, perfect segue into my nextquestion is, when did you learn
to cook? Did you always love tocook? Sounds like it was, you
know, that those homemade mealswere, you know, obviously a way
of your dad, like showing loveto you guys. That's, that's
really sweet. So tell me aboutcooking for you.
Reginald Frazier (02:55):
After high school, I moved to Sioux City
and I had my my first child, Ihad to start cooking on my own.
Just thinking back of what mydad would make my try to copy
his recipes, I did kind ofalternate them a little bit and
made them my own, but I made alot of wasted a lot of food. You
know, learning to cook kind ofperfect, different recipes. But
(03:16):
I'd say it was around like 2010- 2011 when I really got into
cooking and realized that's whatI really wanted to do.
Elyse Wild (03:25):
So tell me about that. What tell me about really
getting into cooking is that isit just, did you just kind of
hit your stride with it? And Iknow so probably so many people
can relate to like you're goingout on your own and you have to
learn how to cook. I distinctlyremember some of the first meals
I made for myself when I was 17,18, 19 and they were like, you
know, I just put a steak in theoven and just like, turn the
(03:46):
oven like, that's not how youmake a steak. I just think to
remember that being like, thisis how you do it. But so tell me
about that time. Tell me aboutwhen you really got into it.
What, what kind of prompted that
Reginald Frazier (03:56):
Seeing my daughter, my first born, and eat
and like, figure out what herfavorite foods were. Chicken
Alfredo was probably the firstthing that have actually
mastered, I'd say for her, um,that's one of her favorite
dishes. But yeah, a lot of trialand error, trying to perfect
different recipes for my family,figuring out what they like. And
a lot of the meals were usgetting together during the
(04:19):
holidays. So, you know, foodbrings a lot of people together,
and that's what kind of inspiredme more.
Elyse Wild (04:25):
All right, now let's talk about your business. Where
were you in your life, where youdecided that you wanted to start
the business? And also, I meanbeing a being a business owner,
is one thing, being in the foodbusiness is another. I think
it's like a notoriouslychallenging endeavor. So tell me
about where you were in yourlife when you decided to turn it
(04:47):
into a business.
What? Two years ago? Two yearsago, I was working at Omega, was
building railroad tracks, and Iwanted to go to school for
culinary so I enrolled inWestern Iowa Tech, and I began
courses there, and I justrealized that I couldn't build
railroad tracks the rest of mylife. You know, very physical
(05:09):
work, lot of, lot of lot oflabor in that, and that's just
something that I didn't want todo for the rest of my life. I do
have a passion in cooking, and Ifigured, might as well do
something that I love. My wifepushed me. She drew up a
business plan for me. And, youknow, we just went from there
overnight one morning. Just justwoke up and she had a business
(05:30):
plan ready, ready for me. So,yeah, we just went from there.
So Tony, now we're gonna go toyou. So Tony, you mentioned in
your email that Reggie was partof the farmers market that Ho
Chunk Community Capital manages.
Is that how you Is that how youmet Reggie? And tell me a little
bit about that farmers market. Ilove that you guys do that
Tony Wood (05:52):
First time I met Reggie was through through
Irita. I mean, I I've knownirita for a number of years,
working on here at Winnebago.
But, yeah, we've run the marketsince 2019 ... we had some covid
years that kind of obviouslyslowed things down. But our
first full year was 2022 and,you know, it was actually Reggie
and a couple other of thevendors were the ones that
(06:12):
really pushed that. You know, Ijust love seeing like, the
entrepreneurship and and thefact, like said, we are in a
food desert, and at that pointin time, we had no restaurant in
Winnebago, besides, like, thecasino, nothing kind of local.
And it was just like he wouldshow up in his truck and a in a
like, a little hot plate andeverything like that. Or even,
(06:34):
like, bagged up lunches already,and they would sell out every
week. And then the othervendors, of course, everybody
was doing very, very well. Ithink it was just because of
COVID and everything. But, Imean, I could see right off the
bat that Reggie and irita, Imean, they had a really good
following. They would just putit up on Facebook, hey, we're
going to be down there at thefarmers market. And people would
just put flock down. You know,
Elyse Wild (06:57):
That's so cool.
Reggie, tell me, what kind ofwhat kind of stuff would you
guys sell at the farmers market?
What were some of the items thatpeople were, as Tony said,
showing up for and and sellingout.
Reginald Frazier (07:07):
The Farmers Market was, I'd say, the
foundation of starting thebusiness, getting my recipes out
there through the farmersmarket. I did start with birria
tacos. Might just bring agriddle and, like Tony said, a
hot plate or a warmer full ofburria meat and potthole and,
you know, I realized that thatstart going and that's something
that we still do today. I wouldmake Indian burgers, make fry
(07:30):
bread and Indian tacos. There, Idid beef and broccoli that
usually sells out when I'm atthe farmer's market. And I'd
still like to go over thereevery now and then do the beef
and broccoli, because I know itsells out when I do go over
there, but yeah, just gettingthe recipes out through the
farmer's market was, you know,something my customer base
coming every week with somethingspecial to me.
Elyse Wild (07:52):
Tony. Tell me about, you know, seeing them, having
this following, seeing them sellout. You know, you said you knew
Irita for a long time. Tell meabout starting the kind of the
official relationship withReggie and irita from the
perspective of, like, how canwe, how can Ho Chunk Community
Capital assist these guys ingetting to their next step? Tell
me about that?
Reginald Frazier (08:11):
Well, we had, we had some small business
grants available through theNative American Ag Fund, and
because it was food based, theydefinitely qualified them, and
then all the rest of thevendors. So we would, you know,
we push them out that way, makethem have a small business plan.
But, yeah, I mean, Reggie,Reggie and a couple other
people, they really had, like,such a following. And, mean, it
(08:34):
was just, and I told Irita, Iwas like, Hey, you know, if you
guys have a business plan, Isaid, we have capital here, you
know. And the thing about is HoChunk Community Capital. Before
I started working here, I didn'teven know this existed. There
wasn't a lot of advertising oranything like that. So, you
know, once I got on board, andI'm Winnebago tribal member,
I've been a part of thiscommunity with Irita and Reggie,
I was like, hey, so there'sopportunity here that, you know,
(08:56):
a lot of people don't realize.
And I was like, hey, that's Itold them both. I said we got
money here. Let's figure out away, you know, to get you guys,
get you guys this cash, get youguys to accelerate your business
and but yeah, Irita did thebusiness plan on her own. Yeah,
she just knocked it out.
Unknown (09:14):
That's
Elyse Wild (09:14):
That's awesome. I love that. So is it? Do I
understand correctly that HoChunk community, you guys issued
a loan, and was that for a brickand mortar location.
Tony Wood (09:24):
Yep. That fall, we still, we had no restaurant in
town. And I asked the owners ofthe of the building, I said,
Hey, do you guys have anyprospects? And there was a,
there was a restaurant fromSioux City that was thinking
about coming down here. And Itold him about, you know, how
much success we've had with thefarmers market, with Reggie and
(09:45):
and another person, a coupledifferent vendors, and say, Hey,
is there any way we can do maybea co op or something like that?
I said we could fund the loan toget this started. And I kind of
threw that suggestion out to therest of them. And it was kind of
like hit and miss, hit and miss,but Reggie and I reach I said,
Let's do it ourselves, you know.
Let's go ahead and do itourselves, you know. And so we
(10:06):
took that and they just ran withit. From there, we issued them
just the initial startup, Ithink it was 12,000 just to
start up, like some the rent anda couple things. And then we had
to add a couple couple thousandto it for some equipment that
they needed in in house. Butyeah, since that time, they've
actually paid off. They pay thatloan off, actually. So,
Elyse Wild (10:29):
Oh, congratulations.
That's great. That's fantastic.
So now, Reggie, tell me how thatloan, like, how did that propel
you guys forward? Tell me whatchanged in the business once you
got that capital.
Reginald Frazier (10:43):
I think it was like a one big stress off our
our shoulders. You know, havinghaving those funds there
available to us, all I had to dowas just worry about the menu.
Irita, worried about everythingelse, the business plan and all
that. I I myself am not verytech savvy, so I'm more hands on
(11:03):
in the kitchen. And you knowthat that was just like a big
weight off my shoulders, so Icould just focus on getting the
menu out there and gettingcustomers in the door. So yeah,
it was a big help having thosefunds available.
Elyse Wild (11:15):
So tell me about the location. How many days a week
are you guys open? How manycustomers are you're serving
What are like people's favoritemenu items? Kind of paint a
picture for us of what yourlocation looks like, and kind of
the everyday activity that takesplace there.
Unknown (11:30):
Do with the
Reginald Frazier (11:31):
of the customers there, a lot of the
construction crews that are intown now, some are right in the
area. Also, they all stop in. Ido try to, I am starting to do
breakfast. Trying to dobreakfast every day of the week
right now, we mostly do lunchfrom 11:15am to around 1:30pm to
(11:56):
get the lunch rush, get everyonefed and back to work. That is
our main customer base, ofpeople on their on their lunch
breaks, and that's that's myfocus right now. Trying to
expand. I'm getting moreemployees as we go along. I feel
I still don't have it figuredout yet, because we do have our
slow weeks and our slow monthsstill, and it's just kind of
(12:17):
hard to figure out what theseason is changing also. So
yeah, I'm still, it's still alearning process to me, still
fairly new to me, but I'mlearning as I go. And, you know,
I feel, I feel, I'm catching onmore and more, you know, daily.
I know, like Tony does have someseminars and stuff that go on at
woodland trails, and I was apart of one. I believe it was
(12:39):
some business planning, thestuff that Tony provides a lot
of networking for our business.
He does utilize us for somecaterings over there, oaktown
capital, they also use us forcatering. And, you know, that's
like a lot of networking ontheir part. Um, getting our name
out there. Also, we just nowfind refinance and got a food
trailer that's going to bedelivered today from Texas. And,
(13:02):
you know, that's another bigstep for us. So now I can
actually, you know, go anywhereout of the actual tri state area
and get our name out there.
Also,
Elyse Wild (13:16):
that's so awesome.
Congratulations. That'sexciting.
Tony Wood (13:19):
I was just going to relay on the food trailer that
they got, they said that was thenew new loan that we got them
the week before. So we gave thema $50,000 loan. They paid off
their existing loan, and thenthey have some operating capital
to move with under but yeah, Imean, I wish we got it to them
sooner, because they actuallywas down in Lincoln for, like,
the warhorse casino, that wouldhave been a really cool event
(13:42):
for them to have their foodtrailer. But definitely, this is
being mobile, you know, with allthe events, all the things that
happen in the tri state area,they're, they're definitely
going to become a, just the nextinstitution in Sioux City, you
know, I think they're going to,they're going to take that to
the next level, you know.
Elyse Wild (13:59):
Yeah, that's very exciting. Tony, tell me the
impact you have seen Reggie andArita have on the community. And
by asking that, I mean, youknow, like we know that native
CDFIs have a big impact in theircommunity, small businesses are
the backbones of strongcommunity. And you know, in a
bigger picture, smallcommunities in native
communities, or, excuse me,small businesses in native
(14:21):
communities are a part ofsovereignty. You know, it's all
part of a much bigger picture.
But tell me how you've seen themhave an impact on the community.
And I can glean a little bitfrom you telling me that, you
know, there's, there's notrestaurants in Winnebago, so it
must have a big impact already.
Tony Wood (14:41):
Yeah, their their impact has been phenomenal since
we gave them the loan inFebruary of the year. Before,
you know, what we do is wealways kind of focus on, on our
on our loan holders, just to letpeople know that we're here. And
so as soon as we we put outthat, you know, we gave them a
loan to start their business forthat brick and mortar ... we got
flooded. We got flooded withother people say, Hey, I said, I
(15:04):
want to do that, you know. Andour neighboring tribe to the to
the south, somebody wanted tostart a pizza business because
of what Reggie was doing, youknow. So we helped them out, you
know, we helped other, otherventures out as well. I mean,
it's, it's it, it's just startupcapital, a little bit of startup
capital, or not anything that'sreally extensive, but at least
(15:25):
to get them a foot, a foot inthe water. You know, our job is
to get access to capital, eitherthrough grants or startup
capital, to the point where, youknow, if they need a $250,000
loan, they can go to a bank.
They've got the business knowhow, and they've got the numbers
behind them. They're, they'reeverything, you know, and, yeah,
they've, they've done a lottowards that with the impact
(15:48):
they had. And also, you know,Reggie employs five to six
people, and that impactspeople's families as well. You
know, they're, they're creatingjobs in the community that, you
know, this small, $17,000 loangave them, I mean, it impacted
five different families. Andthat's, I mean, you look at the
the financials on that, that's,that's phenomenal, you know? And
(16:09):
so that's something that we wantto continue to do, and we want
to definitely focus on their,their efforts, and push it, push
it out further.
Elyse Wild (16:21):
I love that. I love that. Reggie, tell me what you
love the most about running yourown business.
Reginald Frazier (16:27):
I'd say just the support that I get, the
feedback that I get from fromthe community. Push pushes me to
keep going. Any any feedback isgood for me, even if it's
negative, I could grow off that,like a lot of the elders, they
like, the meals that I make, andthat's one thing that I try to
attract, is the elders in thecommunity. I'd say, being a
(16:47):
lifelong resident of thereservation, everybody wants me
to stay in Winnebago, and that'swhy I wanted the trailer, so I
can have both. I don't see usgoing anywhere anytime soon. And
yeah, just just the feedback thecommunity gives me the support
they give me all the differentprograms that reach out for
caterings, and it's all, it'sall been a blessing, really, and
(17:09):
then that, that's just whatkeeps me going every you know,
every day.
Elyse Wild (17:13):
So my last question for the two of you is, what
advice would you have foranother native person out there
who has dreams of starting abusiness. Wants to be an
entrepreneur, but they're alittle scared, or they don't
know where to start.
Tony Wood (17:25):
Whew, good question.
Well, I just, I think thathaving the knowledge that Native
CDFIs are available, and like Isaid, I started here six years
ago. I didn't even know, I said,I, you know, I'm an entrepreneur
myself. I wish I had known thatthis was here is probably, I'm
glad I what I do, but Idefinitely would have taken
(17:47):
advantage of theseopportunities, you know, and
maybe just having the drive,that's one of the things we see,
and that's what I love aboutReggie and irita is like they,
they just continued on. This wastheir dream, and they they kept
striving towards it. And I thinkthat when things get hard a
little bit, people will go stallout. And I think that
(18:07):
encouragement, I mean, I try toencourage a lot of our people
here try to encourage, like thesmall business, you know, in our
on our reservation, you know,they need that encouragement to
say, hey, I want to followthrough with that. I'm gonna go
see Tony. He's got some moneywaiting for me, whatever, you
know. And, you know, havingReggie, like, if, if we have a
small business event, I'mdefinitely going to invite
Reggie and say, hey, you know,this was we follow through, and
(18:29):
this is where we're at rightnow. You know, these success
stories are the foundation ofcontinuing this, you know, and
the CDFIs, the CDFIs we have inthe area. I think that, you
know, we, we just need tocontinue to support them, you
know, continue to support thenative businesses.
Reginald Frazier (18:51):
My advice would be, if it's, I'd say, if
it's a passion of yours, just totake a risk. Nobody's going to
take that passion from you. Andalso, don't be afraid to ask for
help. You know, there's programsout there. Tony was always there
for help. And you know, anytimeI need need something, he'll
guide me in the right direction.
So, yeah, just just the, justthe risk alone. If it's
(19:14):
something you want to do, I'd,I'd say, just go for it,
especially if it's passion oryours, also just support one
another. And that's what I tryto do. Just support everybody,
all the ones that, all thevendors that are at the farmers
market. Still, I try to supportthem any way I can.
Elyse Wild (19:45):
Thank you for listening. Difference Makers.
2.0 is a production of theNative CDFI network and Tribal
Business News. See you nexttime.
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