MARKET TO MORTAR TO MOBILE | R-Eatz Grows on Winnebago Reservation with Native CDFI Help

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.

Transcript

Elyse Wild: 0:06

Many reservation communities around Indian country are food deserts, a term that describes an area where there are little to no options for grocery shopping or dining, and certainly not access to local culturally centered food. Native owned shops and restaurants are critical to providing access to food in these areas, as well as building community while strengthening sovereignty and economic development. The Winnebago reservation in Nebraska is a food desert outside of the casinos. There are no restaurants, that is, until this February, when Reggie and are Frazier opened our eats with the help of Ho Chunk Community Capital. Reggie talked to us about his journey from watching his dad, a single parent, make homemade meals for him and his four brothers, to selling meals from a hot plate at the Ho Chunk village farmers market, to opening our eats and now launching a food truck that will take his thriving business on the road.

Reginald Frazier: 0:56

I'm Reginald Frazier. I'm an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. I am half Winnebago, half Santee Sioux. I'm restaurant owner, slash entrepreneur, father of eight children, married to irita Frazier.

Elyse Wild: 1:16

All right. Thank you, Tony. Let's go to you.

Tony Wood: 1:19

I'm Tony wood. I'm a Winnebago tribal member. I am part Santee and part Yankton as well. I work for the whole Trump community, capital in Winnebago, Nebraska as the CDFI coordinator.

Elyse Wild: 1:32

All right, all right. So, Reggie, we're going to start with you. Tell me a little bit about your background. Tell me about where you're from. Tell me about growing up. What are some things that you really remember? Some good stand up memories about your childhood, about growing up.

Reginald Frazier: 1:46

I grew up in a household of, well, me, my father, and then four of my brothers. My mom passed away when I was eight months old, but my dad did most of the cooking, and he's one of the ones that I looked up to once I started cooking every day. Had a meal on the table for us boys. So yeah, he was kind of my motivation to get into cooking early in life.

Elyse Wild: 2:10

I love that. Tell me. What did he cook? What were some of your favorite meals that your dad used to make? You guys?

Reginald Frazier: 2:16

Oh, he'd make a lot of stuff from scratch using, like, lot of different proteins, a lot of the fat, making homemade gravies and stuff like that. A lot of home cooked meals, fry, bread, chili, mostly stews. We wasn't really rich, I'd say, so, yeah, we he worked with what he had.

Elyse Wild: 2:36

I love that. I love that. So that leads me, you know, perfect segue into my next question is, when did you learn to cook? Did you always love to cook? Sounds like it was, you know, that those homemade meals were, you know, obviously a way of your dad, like showing love to you guys. That's, that's really sweet. So tell me about cooking for you.

Reginald Frazier: 2:55

After high school, I moved to Sioux City and I had my my first child, I had to start cooking on my own. Just thinking back of what my dad would make my try to copy his recipes, I did kind of alternate them a little bit and made them my own, but I made a lot of wasted a lot of food. You know, learning to cook kind of perfect, different recipes. But I'd say it was around like 2010- 2011 when I really got into cooking and realized that's what I really wanted to do.

Elyse Wild: 3:25

So tell me about that. What tell me about really getting into cooking is that is it just, did you just kind of hit your stride with it? And I know so probably so many people can relate to like you're going out on your own and you have to learn how to cook. I distinctly remember 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 the oven and just like, turn the oven like, that's not how you make a steak. I just think to remember that being like, this is how you do it. But so tell me about that time. Tell me about when you really got into it. What, what kind of prompted that

Reginald Frazier: 3:56

Seeing my daughter, my first born, and eat and like, figure out what her favorite foods were. Chicken Alfredo was probably the first thing that have actually mastered, I'd say for her, um, that's one of her favorite dishes. But yeah, a lot of trial and error, trying to perfect different recipes for my family, figuring out what they like. And a lot of the meals were us getting together during the holidays. So, you know, food brings a lot of people together, and that's what kind of inspired me more.

Elyse Wild: 4:25

All right, now let's talk about your business. Where were you in your life, where you decided that you wanted to start the business? And also, I mean being a being a business owner, is one thing, being in the food business is another. I think it's like a notoriously challenging endeavor. So tell me about where you were in your life when you decided to turn it into a business. What? Two years ago? Two years ago, I was working at Omega, was building railroad tracks, and I wanted to go to school for culinary so I enrolled in Western Iowa Tech, and I began courses there, and I just realized that I couldn't build railroad tracks the rest of my life. You know, very physical work, lot of, lot of lot of labor in that, and that's just something that I didn't want to do for the rest of my life. I do have a passion in cooking, and I figured, might as well do something that I love. My wife pushed me. She drew up a business plan for me. And, you know, we just went from there overnight one morning. Just just woke up and she had a business plan ready, ready for me. So, yeah, we just went from there. So Tony, now we're gonna go to you. So Tony, you mentioned in your email that Reggie was part of the farmers market that Ho Chunk Community Capital manages. Is that how you Is that how you met Reggie? And tell me a little bit about that farmers market. I love that you guys do that

Tony Wood: 5:52

First time I met Reggie was through through Irita. I mean, I I've known irita for a number of years, working on here at Winnebago. But, yeah, we've run the market since 2019 ... we had some covid years that kind of obviously slowed things down. But our first full year was 2022 and, you know, it was actually Reggie and a couple other of the vendors were the ones that really pushed that. You know, I just love seeing like, the entrepreneurship and and the fact, like said, we are in a food desert, and at that point in time, we had no restaurant in Winnebago, besides, like, the casino, nothing kind of local. And it was just like he would show up in his truck and a in a like, a little hot plate and everything like that. Or even, like, bagged up lunches already, and they would sell out every week. And then the other vendors, of course, everybody was doing very, very well. I think it was just because of COVID and everything. But, I mean, I could see right off the bat that Reggie and irita, I mean, they had a really good following. They would just put it up on Facebook, hey, we're going to be down there at the farmers market. And people would just put flock down. You know,

Elyse Wild: 6:57

That's so cool. Reggie, tell me, what kind of what kind of stuff would you guys sell at the farmers market? What were some of the items that people were, as Tony said, showing up for and and selling out.

Reginald Frazier: 7:07

The Farmers Market was, I'd say, the foundation of starting the business, getting my recipes out there through the farmers market. I did start with birria tacos. Might just bring a griddle and, like Tony said, a hot plate or a warmer full of burria meat and potthole and, you know, I realized that that start going and that's something that we still do today. I would make Indian burgers, make fry bread and Indian tacos. There, I did beef and broccoli that usually sells out when I'm at the farmer's market. And I'd still like to go over there every now and then do the beef and broccoli, because I know it sells out when I do go over there, but yeah, just getting the recipes out through the farmer's market was, you know, something my customer base coming every week with something special to me.

Elyse Wild: 7:52

Tony. Tell me about, you know, seeing them, having this following, seeing them sell out. You know, you said you knew Irita for a long time. Tell me about starting the kind of the official relationship with Reggie and irita from the perspective of, like, how can we, how can Ho Chunk Community Capital assist these guys in getting to their next step? Tell me about that?

Reginald Frazier: 8:11

Well, we had, we had some small business grants available through the Native American Ag Fund, and because it was food based, they definitely qualified them, and then all the rest of the vendors. So we would, you know, we push them out that way, make them 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 was just, and I told Irita, I was like, Hey, you know, if you guys have a business plan, I said, we have capital here, you know. And the thing about is Ho Chunk Community Capital. Before I started working here, I didn't even know this existed. There wasn't a lot of advertising or anything like that. So, you know, once I got on board, and I'm Winnebago tribal member, I've been a part of this community with Irita and Reggie, I was like, hey, so there's opportunity here that, you know, a lot of people don't realize. And I was like, hey, that's I told them both. I said we got money here. Let's figure out a way, you know, to get you guys, get you guys this cash, get you guys to accelerate your business and but yeah, Irita did the business plan on her own. Yeah, she just knocked it out.

Unknown: 9:14

That's

Elyse Wild: 9:14

That's awesome. I love that. So is it? Do I understand correctly that Ho Chunk community, you guys issued a loan, and was that for a brick and mortar location.

Tony Wood: 9:24

Yep. That fall, we still, we had no restaurant in town. And I asked the owners of the of the building, I said, Hey, do you guys have any prospects? And there was a, there was a restaurant from Sioux City that was thinking about coming down here. And I told him about, you know, how much success we've had with the farmers market, with Reggie and and another person, a couple different vendors, and say, Hey, is there any way we can do maybe a co op or something like that? I said we could fund the loan to get this started. And I kind of threw that suggestion out to the rest 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 it ourselves, you know. And so we took that and they just ran with it. From there, we issued them just the initial startup, I think it was 12,000 just to start up, like some the rent and a couple things. And then we had to add a couple couple thousand to it for some equipment that they needed in in house. But yeah, since that time, they've actually paid off. They pay that loan off, actually. So,

Elyse Wild: 10:29

Oh, congratulations. That's great. That's fantastic. So now, Reggie, tell me how that loan, like, how did that propel you guys forward? Tell me what changed 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, having having those funds there available to us, all I had to do was just worry about the menu. Irita, worried about everything else, the business plan and all that. I I myself am not very tech savvy, so I'm more hands on in the kitchen. And you know that that was just like a big weight off my shoulders, so I could just focus on getting the menu out there and getting customers in the door. So yeah, it was a big help having those funds available.

Elyse Wild: 11:15

So tell me about the location. How many days a week are you guys open? How many customers are you're serving What are like people's favorite menu items? Kind of paint a picture for us of what your location looks like, and kind of the everyday activity that takes place there.

Unknown: 11:30

Do with the

Reginald Frazier: 11:31

of the customers there, a lot of the construction crews that are in town now, some are right in the area. Also, they all stop in. I do try to, I am starting to do breakfast. Trying to do breakfast every day of the week right now, we mostly do lunch from 11:15am to around 1:30pm to get the lunch rush, get everyone fed and back to work. That is our main customer base, of people on their on their lunch breaks, and that's that's my focus right now. Trying to expand. I'm getting more employees as we go along. I feel I still don't have it figured out yet, because we do have our slow weeks and our slow months still, and it's just kind of hard to figure out what the season is changing also. So yeah, I'm still, it's still a learning process to me, still fairly new to me, but I'm learning as I go. And, you know, I feel, I feel, I'm catching on more and more, you know, daily. I know, like Tony does have some seminars and stuff that go on at woodland trails, and I was a part of one. I believe it was some business planning, the stuff that Tony provides a lot of networking for our business. He does utilize us for some caterings over there, oaktown capital, they also use us for catering. And, you know, that's like a lot of networking on their part. Um, getting our name out there. Also, we just now find refinance and got a food trailer that's going to be delivered today from Texas. And, you know, that's another big step for us. So now I can actually, you know, go anywhere out of the actual tri state area and get our name out there. Also,

Elyse Wild: 13:16

that's so awesome. Congratulations. That's exciting.

Tony Wood: 13:19

I was just going to relay on the food trailer that they got, they said that was the new new loan that we got them the week before. So we gave them a $50,000 loan. They paid off their existing loan, and then they have some operating capital to move with under but yeah, I mean, I wish we got it to them sooner, because they actually was down in Lincoln for, like, the warhorse casino, that would have been a really cool event for them to have their food trailer. But definitely, this is being mobile, you know, with all the events, all the things that happen in the tri state area, they're, they're definitely going to become a, just the next institution 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 and Arita have on the community. And by asking that, I mean, you know, like we know that native CDFIs have a big impact in their community, small businesses are the backbones of strong community. And you know, in a bigger picture, small communities in native communities, or, excuse me, small businesses in native communities are a part of sovereignty. You know, it's all part of a much bigger picture. But tell me how you've seen them have an impact on the community. And I can glean a little bit from you telling me that, you know, there's, there's not restaurants 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 in February of the year. Before, you know, what we do is we always kind of focus on, on our on our loan holders, just to let people know that we're here. And so as soon as we we put out that, you know, we gave them a loan to start their business for that brick and mortar ... we got flooded. We got flooded with other people say, Hey, I said, I want to do that, you know. And our neighboring tribe to the to the south, somebody wanted to start a pizza business because of what Reggie was doing, you know. So we helped them out, you know, we helped other, other ventures out as well. I mean, it's, it's it, it's just startup capital, a little bit of startup capital, or not anything that's really extensive, but at least to get them a foot, a foot in the water. You know, our job is to get access to capital, either through grants or startup capital, to the point where, you know, if they need a $250,000 loan, they can go to a bank. They've got the business know how, and they've got the numbers behind them. They're, they're everything, you know, and, yeah, they've, they've done a lot towards that with the impact they had. And also, you know, Reggie employs five to six people, and that impacts people's families as well. You know, they're, they're creating jobs in the community that, you know, this small, $17,000 loan gave them, I mean, it impacted five different families. And that's, I mean, you look at the the financials on that, that's, that's phenomenal, you know? And so that's something that we want to 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 your own business.

Reginald Frazier: 16:27

I'd say just the support that I get, the feedback that I get from from the community. Push pushes me to keep going. Any any feedback is good 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, and that's one thing that I try to attract, is the elders in the community. I'd say, being a lifelong resident of the reservation, everybody wants me to stay in Winnebago, and that's why I wanted the trailer, so I can have both. I don't see us going anywhere anytime soon. And yeah, just just the feedback the community gives me the support they give me all the different programs that reach out for caterings, and it's all, it's all been a blessing, really, and then that, that's just what keeps 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 for another native person out there who has dreams of starting a business. Wants to be an entrepreneur, but they're a little scared, or they don't know where to start.

Tony Wood: 17:25

Whew, good question. Well, I just, I think that having the knowledge that Native CDFIs are available, and like I said, 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 that this was here is probably, I'm glad I what I do, but I definitely would have taken advantage of these opportunities, you know, and maybe just having the drive, that's one of the things we see, and that's what I love about Reggie and irita is like they, they just continued on. This was their dream, and they they kept striving towards it. And I think that when things get hard a little bit, people will go stall out. And I think that encouragement, I mean, I try to encourage a lot of our people here try to encourage, like the small business, you know, in our on our reservation, you know, they need that encouragement to say, hey, I want to follow through with that. I'm gonna go see Tony. He's got some money waiting for me, whatever, you know. And, you know, having Reggie, like, if, if we have a small business event, I'm definitely going to invite Reggie and say, hey, you know, this was we follow through, and this is where we're at right now. You know, these success stories are the foundation of continuing this, you know, and the CDFIs, the CDFIs we have in the area. I think that, you know, we, we just need to continue to support them, you know, continue to support the native businesses.

Reginald Frazier: 18:51

My advice would be, if it's, I'd say, if it's a passion of yours, just to take a risk. Nobody's going to take that passion from you. And also, don't be afraid to ask for help. You know, there's programs out there. Tony was always there for help. And you know, anytime I need need something, he'll guide me in the right direction. So, yeah, just just the, just the risk alone. If it's something you want to do, I'd, I'd say, just go for it, especially if it's passion or yours, also just support one another. And that's what I try to do. Just support everybody, all the ones that, all the vendors that are at the farmers market. Still, I try to support them any way I can.

Elyse Wild: 19:45

Thank you for listening. Difference Makers. 2.0 is a production of the Native CDFI network and Tribal Business News. See you next time.