Meet Our Founder
Stephanie E. Smith
also known as “Stevie Blues”, is a Los Angeles native who has been a professional singer for 30 years. She was formally trained for many years by classical extraordinaire, Bradley P. Baker, starting from the age of 7.
Stephanie’s first professional performance was singing background for Natalie Cole in 1991 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, when she was 13. In high school, she was the lead in the musical “Dreamgirls” as Effie White in 1994 and was the non-classical voice winner of the Los Angeles Music Center’s 1995 Spotlight Awards, after auditioning against 5,000 aspiring artists.
After high school, Stephanie volunteered as a background singer for Amazing Grace Conservatory, a performing arts school founded by Wendy Raquel Robinson, Denise Dowse, and the late Tracey L. Coley. She eventually became a student there herself at the age of 21, becoming the oldest student to be enrolled in there. She played the role of Doc in their musical interpretation of “Westside Story”. Stephanie went on to perform, professionally, as one of the key background singers for Medusa and Feline Science. Then known as “Cynamon”, she received many opportunities with the band to perform on the same stage with mini recording artists, such as Erykah Badu, KRS One, Cypress Hill, El DeBarge, the “Dr. Green Thumb” tour, the “Smoke Out” tour and many more.
Years later, Stephanie was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy and Stage 3 kidney disease in 2009. Vision loss began with partial loss then slowly deteriorated to complete vision loss with no shadows or light perception. After being blind and enduring dialysis treatments for many years, Stephanie was determined to take her life back. She discovered that the mini performance opportunities that were available to her, before the blindness, were no longer there. She met other blind performers who were dealing with similar issues as herself and decided to provide her own platform for blind artists to perform along with sighted performers. Stephanie founded The Vizionz Project, Inc. in June 2018. She strongly believes in inclusion and working together and is determined to bridge the gap between Blind and sighted performers.
In July 2020, Stephanie received a second chance at life. She received a new kidney and is determined now more than ever to fulfill the mission of the organization to provide fair opportunities to the blind and visually impaired. She hopes the organization will receive more support from the community members and be inspired to join their cause.
