If you only know me through my work, you may know Jaylen Sinegal as a brand and business strategist, entertainment-business professional, entrepreneur, graduate, or community builder. Those titles explain what I do today, but they do not fully explain who I am or what shaped me.
To understand my foundation, you have to go back to Lafayette, Louisiana, where I was born at Lafayette General and raised by my single mother alongside my older brother.
Before the degrees, businesses, strategies, and professional experiences, I was a child learning how to adjust to change. I attended 11 schools before graduating from high school at 17 years old. My childhood included family, music, sports, faith, friendship, loss, trauma, moving, starting over, and learning how to find happiness inside circumstances I could not control.
This is the beginning of my story.
My Mother, My Brother, and Me
My biological father was absent, so my mother carried the primary responsibility of raising us.
My brother is three years older than me, and he was one of the first people I looked up to. I watched him dance, win school talent shows, and become an all-around athlete. He was naturally extroverted and expressive. I was more laid-back and observant, especially around adults and people I did not know.
Our relationship was complicated. We fought, wrestled, argued, played video games, watched television, and spent years sharing a bedroom. We were not always emotionally close, but we still shared the experience of growing up together.
Even with those complications, I remember being a happy child. I enjoyed playing outside, spending time with my cousins, watching television, playing video games, and competing in almost anything.
Music in My Mother’s Brown Camry
One of my earliest memories is of my mother, brother, and me riding through Lafayette in her brown Toyota Camry.
It was the early 2000s, when CDs were still one of the main ways people carried their music. My mother had a large CD binder, and one of our favorite songs to sing together was “Hey Ya!” by Outkast.
At the time, it probably felt like an ordinary car ride. Looking back, I see something more. My mother was raising two boys and handling responsibilities we were too young to understand, but she still created moments when the three of us could laugh, sing, and enjoy being together.
Music became connected to some of my earliest memories of family.
The First of 11 Schools
Immaculate Heart was my daycare or earliest schooling environment. I later attended the French immersion program at Myrtle Place.
During kindergarten, I attended Eaton Park and Woodvale. Those early changes began a pattern that would follow me throughout childhood: entering a new school, studying the environment, making friends, and eventually having to leave again.
I could be extremely talkative around people who made me feel comfortable. Around adults, large crowds, or unfamiliar people, I was much more reserved. My shyness did not mean I lacked personality. It usually meant I was observing the room before deciding how much of myself to reveal.
A Part of My Story I Nearly Forgot
Something painful also happened during my early childhood: I was molested.
I cannot place the experience on a perfect timeline, but I have narrowed it to around 2003 or 2004. For many years, I had either forgotten that it happened or it simply was not something I consciously thought about while growing up.
Because of that, I cannot honestly say what effect it had on me. I do not want to force an explanation or connect every later experience to something I did not consciously think about for many years. I acknowledge it because it happened at an early age and, whether or not I completely understand its impact, it is part of my story.
The Fire That Took Everything
In 2003, our home burned, and we lost everything.
The fire was more than another change of address. Our home, belongings, and sense of stability were suddenly gone. I was too young to understand the financial and emotional burden it placed on my family, but it became one of the first major disruptions of my life.
Eventually, my brother and I moved to New Orleans to live with our uncle and his wife. Our mother did not live with us during that period.
We were children adjusting to a different household, a different city, separation from our mother, and another school.
First Grade in New Orleans
In 2005, I attended first grade at Gen. Tilly Terrace in New Orleans. That was the only grade I completed there.
The school used a behavior system involving sticks. Students began with a certain number, and teachers could remove them based on their behavior. Because I was talkative, I remember challenging myself to make it through an entire day without losing one.
One day, I promised myself that I would keep all my sticks. I came close, but I started talking and lost one. I was so disappointed that I cried.
It may sound like a small childhood moment, but it shows how much I cared about doing well. It also proves that the talkative part of my personality existed long before high school.
In New Orleans, I made friends, walked to school, played with neighborhood children, and began wearing dreadlocks. Even after losing our home and living apart from my mother, I remained capable of finding happiness and connecting with people.
Returning to Lafayette
After New Orleans, my brother and I returned to Lafayette to live with our mother.
I entered second grade at Ernest Gallet Elementary, where Ms. Farbe was my teacher. I remained at Ernest Gallet through fifth grade and developed meaningful relationships with teachers and classmates.
My mother also introduced us to organized football. My older brother played tackle football at Brown Park, while I played flag football. Watching him compete while beginning my own experience in the sport strengthened my earliest dream of becoming an NFL player.
School also made me aware of what was missing from my household. Father’s Day activities could feel awkward because my biological father was absent. I often tried to joke and make the best of the situation instead of allowing myself to become sad.
Grandparents Day felt different. My grandparents showed up for me. I remember sitting outside with them on a blanket while we enjoyed the snacks and food they brought. Their presence made those days feel special.
Growing, Changing, and Experiencing Loss
My elementary years included happiness, embarrassment, friendship, discipline, and loss.
In fourth grade, I was repeatedly told that I needed to cut my dreadlocks because my hair extended beyond my shoulders. That experience was one of my earliest encounters with school rules controlling something connected to my appearance.
In 2009, while I was in fifth grade, my oldest cousin passed away. I still remember the final Christmas our family shared before the loss. I may not have fully understood death at that age, but I understood that someone who had always been part of our family gatherings was suddenly gone.
At the same time, everyday childhood continued. I played outside, visited friends, spent time with cousins, explored wooded areas, and rode bicycles.
One of my favorite neighborhood experiences was playing a huge game of hide-and-seek involving children from throughout the entire neighborhood. It was not a small game among a few friends. The neighborhood itself became our playing field.
At different points, I lived in the Canebrake area and around Fox Run. I walked to friends’ houses, through coulees, pawn shops, Walmart, neighborhoods, corner stores, Smoothie Roxx, and Smoothie World.
My mother had rules. If my grades were good and the school was not calling home, I earned more freedom. That freedom allowed me to spend time with friends and explore the neighborhood, but it also taught me that trust came with responsibility.
Finding Structure Through Sports
Sports remained one of the most consistent parts of my childhood.
After beginning with flag football at Brown Park, I moved into tackle football with CSA in Youngsville and later BPA in Broussard. I also played basketball.
Sports gave me a place to compete, prove myself, listen to coaches, contribute to a team, and develop confidence. I was frequently one of the youngest students in my grade, but my physical ability showed that I could still compete.
My childhood dream was to reach the NFL. Although that dream eventually changed, sports helped develop qualities that stayed with me: discipline, coachability, pride, leadership, and the willingness to perform under pressure.
Middle School and Another New Beginning
I attended Youngsville Middle School in sixth grade and Broussard Middle School in seventh grade.
By then, moving and changing schools had become familiar. Making friends was not usually difficult, but every move meant leaving some people behind and rebuilding another social circle.
I was outgoing with friends but reserved around unfamiliar adults. I enjoyed sports, video games, television, neighborhood adventures, and the early experiences that came with growing into a teenager.
This was also the age of house phones, calling girls, early relationships, and discovering how differently people could see me depending on where they knew me from.
Erath: A Culture Shock
In eighth grade, I moved from the Lafayette area to Erath and attended Erath Middle School.
Before the move, I had never heard of Erath. My first impression was not positive. I did not enjoy the people at first, and the environment felt like a culture shock compared with what I knew in Lafayette.
Once again, I had to observe a new community, understand its culture, and find my place inside it.
For ninth grade, I returned to Lafayette Parish and attended Comeaux High School. I later returned to Erath High School for tenth grade.
At one point, I asked my uncle about moving to Texas so I could attend a larger school and pursue greater football opportunities. The move did not happen, so I continued at Erath.
Over time, the place I initially resisted became the place where I completed high school and experienced several of the most important moments of my teenage years.
Growing Up Through Entertainment
As I grew older, the way we consumed music and entertainment changed.
CDs gave way to downloaded music, and websites such as LimeWire introduced us to a different way of finding songs. YouTube allowed me to discover older music videos, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Entertainment was part of my life throughout childhood, not something I suddenly discovered as a teenager. I grew up watching Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, becoming invested in their storytelling, emotion, conflict, transformations, and character development.
I stayed up late on Thursdays to watch America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV. Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon gave me songs, humor, colorful characters, and playfulness. World Wrestling Entertainment captured my attention through its entrances, personalities, competition, storylines, and production.
At the time, I did not have the language to explain why entertainment mattered so much to me. I only understood how it made me feel. It gave me excitement, imagination, and peace.
Years later, I would recognize that these childhood interests were early signs of the industry and type of work that would eventually call me.
Faith and Confirmation
Christianity was also part of my foundation.
My early experience at Immaculate Heart introduced me to a Catholic environment while I was still young. In 2015, I made my Confirmation at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Broussard, with my godmother serving as my sponsor.
Confirmation became one of my final coming-of-age milestones before high-school graduation. I was approaching adulthood and accepting a more personal responsibility for my faith, even though my understanding of faith would continue developing as I grew older.
A Senior Year I Would Never Forget
My senior year brought several parts of my childhood story together.
Football had followed me from Brown Park to CSA, BPA, and eventually Erath High School. During the 2015 season, one of my hits appeared at No. 4 in MaxPreps’ “Top 5 Biggest Hits 2015.”
For a child whose earliest dream was to become an NFL player, having one of my plays recognized by MaxPreps was a major moment. It gave me proof that something I accomplished in a small Louisiana community could reach an audience beyond my school.
Watch Jaylen Sinegal’s MaxPreps football videos
My senior year also introduced me to the future mother of my two children. Even though we are no longer together, I honestly consider her the love of my life. I do not believe that feeling will ever completely disappear.
I can still picture our first interactions. I constantly pursued her and flirted with her during my free time. Some days, I arrived at school approximately two hours before I needed to be there just so I could see her and walk her to class.
My classmates also recognized me as “Most Talkative.” That title may appear to contradict my description of myself as shy, but both were true.
I was reserved in unfamiliar environments and around adults. Around my friends and people I trusted, I was expressive, playful, and rarely quiet. I was never shy because I had nothing to say. I usually needed to feel comfortable before people saw that side of me.
Graduating at 17
In 2016, I graduated from Erath High School at 17 years old.
By then, I had attended 11 schools: Immaculate Heart, Myrtle Place, Eaton Park, Woodvale, Gen. Tilly Terrace, Ernest Gallet Elementary, Youngsville Middle, Broussard Middle, Erath Middle, Comeaux High School, and Erath High School.
I had lost everything in a house fire, lived apart from my mother in New Orleans, returned to Lafayette, moved to Erath, experienced culture shock, and repeatedly formed new friendships.
I had also experienced childhood trauma, family loss, an absent biological father, changes involving my stepfather and stepbrother, and a complicated relationship with my older brother.
But my childhood was not defined only by what was difficult.
It was also filled with my mother’s brown Toyota Camry, CD binders, singing Outkast, football fields, basketball courts, cousins, grandparents, neighborhood adventures, television, anime, wrestling, friendships, first relationships, faith, laughter, competition, and memories I still carry.
Attending 11 schools taught me how to enter unfamiliar environments. Moving taught me how to adapt. Shyness taught me how to observe. Being talkative taught me how to connect. Sports taught me how to compete and contribute. My mother showed me perseverance. Entertainment gave my imagination somewhere to go.
At 17, I did not know exactly where life would take me. I only knew what gave me energy: people, sports, music, stories, competition, creativity, and memorable experiences.
I was finishing high school, but I was only beginning to understand who Jaylen Sinegal could become.
In Part Two, I will continue the story after graduation: the uncertainty of finding my direction, becoming a father, pursuing higher education, entering the entertainment business, working with independent artists, developing businesses, and beginning to build the Sinegal name with intention.