Growth, Grief, and the Music Between

Lately, life has been a mix of growth, transitions, and new opportunities. Balancing education with music, family emergencies, and multiple jobs hasn’t been easy, but it’s all been part of building the bigger picture.

I am currently working on pushing forward with my plans to give back to the community through a nonprofit focused on music mentorship. My goal is to help the next generation of creators gain early access to the skills they’ll need to succeed in the music industry—resources I didn’t have growing up. While schools often offer choral classes, very few provide real training in the industry itself, leaving students to learn the hard and often expensive way later on. I want to change that by creating access to technology, hands-on experience, and practical planning so young artists are better equipped for their futures. I’ll be sharing more details about this project in a later post, but in the meantime, if you’d like to learn more or have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at JaylasHouseofArts@gmail.com.

While family emergencies have slowed things down, they haven’t stopped me from making progress. After my uncle’s passing at the beginning of the year, my family continued to experience loss, and it often felt like we were caught in a cycle of grief. During this time, I was juggling a new marketing position while working graveyard shifts at Amazon and DoorDashing in between just to stay afloat. It was an exhausting season, but one that taught me resilience. Now, I’m finally back in a place where I can breathe again, and I’ve repurposed the way I approach my music career.

I’ll soon be releasing the song that was originally planned for January, along with a track I wrote in memory of my uncle. During the time I stepped back from releasing my own music, I continued to record for other people, wrote new songs, and collaborated with fellow artists. I also stayed active in the community by attending networking events and even sitting down for an interview that gave me the chance to share more about my journey. These experiences kept me rooted in my creative headspace. Music has always been a safe haven for me, and that’s what keeps me passionate. I love what I do, and I love growing in it too.