She Didn't Start With Advantage — She Built It
Lorie Jean Akanbi's story does not begin with comfort — it begins with disruption. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, her early years were marked by movement — living at times in Buffalo, New York with her Aunt Thelma, and later with her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Mattie — never fully rooted, always adjusting.
By her teenage years, that instability turned into survival. After being forced out of her home, Lorie spent years of homelessness in Boston, Massachusetts — sleeping in cold hallways and couch surfing wherever she could find refuge. She left school after completing the 8th grade.
By 17, she was pregnant and determined that her story would not end there. That determination led her to Bridge Over Troubled Waters, where she began rebuilding her life. She earned her GED and went on to enroll at the University of Massachusetts Boston, majoring in music.
Not in a spotlight. Not on a stage. In a listening experience class.
While the classical music program at U-Mass Boston did not reflect who she was, one moment inside that class would shape her identity forever.
Through a cassette tape featuring "Empty Bed Blues, Part 1 and 2," she discovered Bessie Smith — turning the tape from side A to side B to hear the full song. In that voice, she heard truth. Blues became her language and the foundation of the artist the world would come to know as The Dreaded BluesLady™.
At 19, Lorie moved into her first apartment — her first true sense of independence. She relocated to Virginia to create a safer and more stable life, leaving an abusive relationship and refusing to raise her daughter in that environment.
By 21, she became a homeowner through the Farmer's Home Administration. Just a few years earlier, she had been pregnant and homeless. The child she fought to protect would go on to attend the University of Virginia, majoring in architecture. Lorie would go on to raise five children — building both family and foundation at the same time.
Lorie began working toward her bachelor's degree in 1987. What might take four years took her eighteen — during which time she raised five children, worked full-time, engaged in various band experiences, and remained committed to volunteer service.
She later earned her Master's Degree in Community Economic Development, aligning her education with her purpose: creating opportunity for others.