05-03-2025
2025 Remarkable Women Nominee: Patricia Cutilletta
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Every Tuesday in March, WMBD is recognizing one of the station's Remarkable Women nominations viewers have sent in. This week, WMBD is diving into Patricia Cutilletta's story.
Cutilletta is self-made. She's a giver and a dog lover.
She spent 35 years in the investment business, changing careers from audiology after facing gender bias in the workplace, but she said that bias continued in the finance world.
'The branch manager who hired me said, 'I have absolutely no interest in hiring a woman, but I guess I'm supposed to,'' said Cutilletta.
But she did because after 20 years as a sole practitioner through Morgan Stanley, she took it upon herself to bring more women into the workplace. She started her own wealth management firm through Morgan Stanely, and through grew it to take charge of $700-800 million in assets for about 125 families.
'By the time I retired, we were a team of three partners, four support staff, all female and all female by choice,' said Cutilletta.
She's since retired, but she suspects the team she created now manages more than $1 billion in assets.
Despite her accomplishments, she remains humble about being nominated for WMBD's Remarkable Women. 'Why me? You know? There are a lot of really cool women out there,' said Cutilletta. 'So, I'm flattered and delighted, and proud of what I've done for the last umpteen years.'
It's her work after retirement, however, that made her stand out. It allowed her to focus on giving back, and is actually the sole reason she retired in the first place.
A Chicago kid born and raised, Peoria wasn't necessarily where she saw her retirement taking place. But her husband, Tony, insisted.
'If we're going to live in Peoria, then I have to have something to do. I'm not going to sit home and play bridge,' said Cutilletta. After searching for the perfect home to retire in, the realtor told Cutilletta about the builder of the house, who was willing to meet her.
Larry Herman was the builder, and that's who walked into the home with another woman to discuss remodels with Cutilletta and her husband. That's when Cutilleta noticed their name tags saying 'Midwest Food Bank.' Cutilletta, interested, asked about it.
After she moved into the newly remodeled home two years later, she called that woman who walked into the home alongside Larry, who happened to offer her phone number two years earlier. She also happened to be the Food Bank's executive director. Since then, she's been volunteering with the food bank for four and a half years, every week. Cutilletta is now also on their advisory board and the National Development Committee.
'I did all kinds of things, but now I pretty much am the 'hut lady.' I'm the person that is the first face that the agencies see when they come in for their monthly or weekly distributions,' said Cutilletta.
As if that's not enough, she also serves as a board member for the OSF Healthcare Foundation and the Peoria Riverfront Museum Foundation. All of this, while dealing with breast cancer.
Cutilletta said learning about her diagnosis was the worst day of her life. But she persevered because since that day, she's undergone surgery, chemotherapy, used scalp cooling to preserve her hair, and has now received all-clear results from follow-up exams, with a second opinion that agrees.
Through all her time dedicated to her job, giving back, and fighting cancer, the most important piece of advice she can share with young women looking to lead a life like hers is to persevere.
'I don't care what your career is, you're going to have obstacles. Some of them will be self-made. Some of them will be put in front of you by competitors. Some of them will just happen. And you've got to persevere no matter what you do,' said Cutilletta.
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