Support The Dreaded BluesLady

Will you help me to reach my goal? My name is Lorie Strother and I am seeking to secure additional start-up funding for my small business. The name of the business is LoStro Entertainment LLC doing business as The Dreaded BluesLady. The Dreaded BluesLady is the name of my musical act. It’s my sassy musical persona. It’s also a play on my dreadlocked hair and the blues based songs that I sing.

I have been singing part-time in my Virginia community since the 1990s. Now that the last one of my five children is in high school, over a period of 3-4 years, I will gradually increase the number of my singing performances to 10 times per month.

I’ll do this by offering three musical configurations:

• The first is the band configuration in which I will perform with a 3-4 piece blues band.
• The second is the solo configuration in which I will perform solo.
• The third configuration is the duo Dr. Levine and The Dreaded BluesLady. This duo consists of myself and guitarist Stephen Levine. We have performed together for over 10 years. With Stephen’s willing participation we have agreed to increase our monthly performances.

Your donations will help by enabling me to purchase the needed PA equipment which I don’t currently own. With this, I can increase the solo and band performances.

During performances and on the world wide web The Dreaded BluesLady will:

• Sell music and related merchandise which will initially be a T-Shirt or canvas bag and a music CD.

Your donations will help by enabling me to purchase the initial inventory of T-shirts or canvas bags and the manufacturing and packaging of the music CD.

In addition to performing, The Dreaded BluesLady is responsible for:

• Booking, promoting, and invoicing for performances. These tasks require a computer, website, and marketing materials.

Your donations will help by enabling me to purchase a computer, website necessities, and marketing materials.

Partial Funds Raised

In September 2018, The Dreaded BluesLady competed in a business plan competition and was awarded a $2000 Grow Waynesboro grant by the city's economic development department. This grant represents approximately 20% of The Dreaded BluesLady’s start-up budget! In addition to the $2000 grant, to date I have contributed an owner’s injection of $1000.

However, in order to access the grant provided I must show that I have the ability to fund the business in its entirety. With that, I am still in need of an additional $7500 to fully fund The Dreaded BluesLady as outlined in my business plan.

While I fully believe that anything is possible, I do not naively expect that this crowdfunding campaign will fund the entirety of what is needed to fully fund The Dreaded BluesLady. Thus, my additional efforts to meet my funding goal includes providing additional owner’s injections, seeking in-kind contributions, and self-performing some of the required work. I want you to know that whatever needs to be done to make it happen will be done...The Dreaded BluesLady will officially start on March 1, 2019.

Commitment
I am committed to performing and growing this business. In order to compete in the competition for the grant I had to attend an 8-week business planning class, write a business plan, and prepare and present a presentation for the 4-judge panel. Currently, I am developing a marketing plan with the Small Business Development Center and I meet with a SCORE mentor monthly. I will also be taking on an upcoming QuickBooks class.

Now that you know my story, won't you help me to reach my funding goal?

Your donations will assist The Dreaded BluesLady with obtaining equipment, inventory, and marketing materials which will allow me to effectively start-up and grow my small entertainment business. Any amount is greatly appreciated!