New contest could help local business owner win $50,000

BY CHUCK TUCK | JOURNAL REPORTER Starting a business can be a challenging but rewarding feeling for many business owners. It can be especially rewarding if it is shared with other family members who share the same passion and commitment to success.

However, many entrepreneurs come up against a brick wall when it comes to raising the finances to either launch or sustain a successful business. However, a company called Intuit is about to change all of that.

Sisters Kelly Bolton of Lake Stevens and Suzanne Sprague of Bremerton and their mother Terry Lage from Illinois, setout to defy all odds and launch a new business with their own money making a dream come true.
“My sister and I were serious about starting a business, so back in October we started a company called Melodies About Me, and we create personalized children’s music,” Bolton said.

Bolton recalled hearing a radio program about a contest where the winner would receive a cash prize to help fund a startup company.

“I heard about this contest where they were going to give $50,000 towards a startup business, and they actually came into Seattle to do this big promo, so we entered it, and now we have been selected as one of the five finalists to win this money,” Bolton said.

She continued to say that the winning entrant will be selected by an online voting process.

“The way we can win this $50,000 is to have friends, family, and our communities get involved, and go online and vote for us,” Bolton explained.

She added that she and her sister’s background vary, but the common bond between the two to start the new business venture were the recent births of their children.

“My mom is a musician, my sister is a teacher, and I went to school for business and actually how we came about pulling it all together was we both had children- we’re both new moms,” Bolton said.

Part of the overall objective, according to Bolton, was to make the songs enjoyable for everyone, including the parents.

“We wanted to create music that was really fun for the parents too,” she said.

As for composing and writing all the music, professional musicians were brought in to do the recordings.

“It’s not us that’s doing any of the singing or playing, but we are doing the business aspect of it,” she said.. “We hired a professional music arranger and professional singers to sing the songs, We definitely had to go outside and hire the experts for the things we didn’t quite know, but it is definitely a family business.”

Rounding out the talent pool is her mother who plays piano and is a piano teacher and lyricist.

“My mom is a very gifted writer as well and we had to challenge her a bit because she has all these writing skills and she just doesn’t use them” Bolton said.

Bolton also claims that the experience of starting a business has brought them closer together .

“We’ve learned a lot about each other, and all the different skills that we’ve brought to the table,” she said. “We really need each other and it just works really well; we have all the right strengths between the three of us to get it done.”

Bolton says that their passion for the product will keep them going.

“We have to take more risks and we’ve dumped a lot of our own money into this product- It would be wonderful to win, but we’re going to do this with or without.”
Go to Bolton’s website at: www.melodiesaboutme.com and click on the link marked www.iwilljuststart.com to place your vote.

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