Bridgeland’s First Published Author Jaylen Botts Hosts Initiate Your Success Author Visit

Alfred Dozier, Opinion and Editorial Editor|March 22, 2022

Senior and Author Jaylen Botts gives a presentation at the Initiate Your Success Author Event February 22, 2022.

Bridgeland High School’s first published author, senior Jaylen Botts, spoke during the Initiate Your Success author visit on Feb. 22, 2022.
Botts is an author of two books; one co-written with his brother, junior Dillan Botts called “Destined for Greatness” which is a 31-day devotional; “Initiate Your Success” is a 30-day devotional for teens.
The event originally scheduled to be in the library was moved to the cafeteria due to a disruption on campus. Librarian Beth Keene organized the event, after hearing that Bridgeland had a published author. Keene made flyers and distributed them to English teachers and around the school, and emphasized the importance of the book for teens.
“It’s inspiring,” Keene said. “It’s steps to inspire and empower kids to take steps to take charge of their life and be successful. You know everything from your spirituality to positivity, discovering your talents.”

Librarian Beth Keene poses with Author and Senior Jaylen Botts during the Initiate Your Success Author event, February 22, 2022. (Elise Davila)

“Initiate your Success” is a self-published book, and Botts’ family played a big role in inspiring him to write it. As they both had their own businesses, and his mom had published a book, which inspired him to write his second book. He was taught to be a hard worker, and teaching was vital to writing his book. Botts first started typing up his experiences and finding topics that relate to teenagers; at the end of the self-publishing process, Botts had to be sure that all final edits were revised.
“What inspired me to write a book was I wanted to help motivate and inspire teens’ success at an early age and achieve their goals.” Botts said.
There are many messages in “Initiate Your Success”, such as writing down goals, creating a plan for them and dressing for success. Bott’s book also mentions the importance of a religious source to go to in times of need and giving back to one’s community.
“Some of the ones that stuck to me was this one quote that I heard from Eric Thomas,” Botts said, “It says, ‘If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe you’ll be successful.’”

Senior and Author Jaylen Botts signs his book “Initiate Your Success” at the author’s visit on February 22, 2022. (Elise Davila)

Jennifer Smith, mother of Jaylen Botts and owner of Jennifer Media Group, provides communication and public relations services as well as publishing for businesses. Smith worked with Jaylen to develop his book. She wanted Botts to make a lasting impression on his generation by compiling his journals. Smith explained that it was Jaylen’s goal to go through the formal process of editing the book and preparing for publishing.
“I’m extremely proud of Jaylen, his hard work, his dedication, and his resilience to continue to work through challenges to be able to accomplish his goals,” Smith said. “I am extremely proud and look forward to what’s to come for his future.”