{"id":22955,"date":"2026-07-13T14:40:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=22955"},"modified":"2026-07-13T15:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:37:35","slug":"launchpad-jenae-louis-jacques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/launchpad-jenae-louis-jacques\/","title":{"rendered":"Launchpad: Jena\u00e9 Louis-Jacques"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jena\u00e9 Louis-Jacques \u201923 grew up wanting to be the next Beyonc\u00e9. A talented singer, songwriter, and performer, it wasn\u2019t until a high school program at New York University introduced her to the business behind the music that she realized there was more to the industry than just the spotlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a music industry major at Monmouth, she merged both worlds\u2014an experience that prepared her for opportunities with the NFL, DreamWorks Animation, and Warner Music Group. Today, she\u2019s working in music clearance at \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d while continuing her work as a singer and performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How I Got Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At Monmouth, I took every opportunity I could\u2014working with Blue Hawk Records, performing with the Blue Hawk House Band, organizing a first-ever sync panel on campus, and collaborating across campus to bring music into student projects. Those experiences gave me real, hands-on skills, so that by the time I was applying for internships, I could show I\u2019d already done the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>y Monmouth Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Professors Rashida Scott-Cruz and Mike Flannery really supported me and helped me explore music supervision when there wasn\u2019t a clear path for it, encouraging me to ask questions, build connections, and create opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Advice to Future Hawks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your experience is what you make of it. Go beyond just showing up to class\u2014 get involved, explore every interest, and build relationships. The more you do now, the more prepared you\u2019ll be when the right opportunity comes along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jena\u00e9 Louis-Jacques turned her passion for music into a career in music clearance, helping bring songs to television on “American Idol.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":22958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":37,\"y\":23}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[81,101],"class_list":["post-22955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-notes","category-the-back","tag-alumni-profile","tag-launchpad"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Class Notes, The Back","issue":"Spring\/Summer 2026","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22967,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955\/revisions\/22967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}