PEORIA MAGAZINE September 2023

COVER STORY — TURNER CENTER HONOREE

WOMEN IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AWARD Rebel and thinker Christell Frausto is carving a distinct entrepreneurial path in the Peoria she embraces

BY KIRK WESSLER PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

C hristell Frausto looks at Peoria and sees potential for great ness. If you try to warn her about the city’s problems, she leans forward to cut you off. “Everyplace has negatives,” Frausto said, her tone equal parts sugar and spice. She is neither dismissive nor naïve, but firm with conviction. ‘SHE HAS AN ENERGY THAT PULLS YOU IN, INSIGHTS THAT SAY IF THE GLASS IS NOT FULL, HERE’S WHAT WE NEED TO GET THERE’ — Yvonne Greer Batton Since moving to Peoria from Chi cago in 2015, Frausto has owned four businesses and is working on a fifth. She also is past chairperson and current vice-chair for the Greater Peoria Hispanic Chamber of Com merce, while serving on the boards of the Peoria Civic Center Authority, Bradley University Turner Center for Entrepreneurship and the Greater Peoria Economic Development Cen ter. In addition, she volunteers with the Peoria Park District, Peoria Latin Soccer and Peoria Folklore Ballet, and

the broad selection of spirits in Tequi laRia, which includes products from Ar gentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. When Frausto moved to Peoria, she would entertain visiting friends, but they couldn’t mix their favorite cocktails because the necessary ingre dients weren’t available. The vision for TequilaRia and more grew from those experiences. Barely a mile north of her building, Prospect cuts through the vibrant Peoria Heights business district. “There aren’t a lot of options along Prospect on this side of War Memori al,” Frausto says. “But look along the street and you can see what it needs: local stores, food, places to eat, places that are well run. That’s what we want to provide. My hopes are for business along Prospect to continue to grow. I hope to make this a hub.” A REBEL AND A THINKER Frausto was 3 years old when she moved with her parents from Mexico to Chicago. Now 38, she describes her younger self as a rebel, battling to over come language and cultural barriers. She refused to accept limitations. She dropped out of high school because she hated the rules, but she loved learning.

is a former member of the Peoria Fair Housing Commission. And that’s why she wins the Turner Center’s 2023 Women In Business Leadership Award. “She is the perfect example of an amazing woman entrepreneur,” said Jim Foley, director of the Turner Center at Bradley University. “She’s willing to take risks to make something happen. But she’s also someone who steps away from themselves to say, ‘I want to also help lift up other entrepreneurs’ — particularly women and in her case, Hispanic entrepreneurs. She’s also incredibly authentic.” CREATING A HUB We are sitting on chairs layered with construction dust at the future site of River City Grill, a Chicago-style fast-food restaurant Frausto plans to introduce this fall on Prospect Road, a couple of blocks south of War Memorial Drive. The restaurant is at the back of a building that houses TequilaRia Wine & Spirits, which Frausto opened in December 2020. Bright, festive colors leap from the restaurant walls. For Frausto, they evoke memories of small towns in her native Mexico. They also form an extension of

26 SEPTEMBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE