Mrs. Motley

Hi. I’m Jessie Motley.

Final Answer! Let me (try to) explain…

I have gone by many names throughout my life, ministry, “career.”

Between all the changes made during my worship leader/music artist days, including my original artist name, “Jessie Rogers,” then my “transitional” name, “Jessie Rogers Goodman,” after my first marriage (had to ease people into it), then finally to “Jessie Goodman/Jessica Goodman” for what I thought would be the duration…Then divorce…(oops! ), Then RE-marriage…(Yay!) while trying to start over again as a songwriter and an author, well, it has been interesting.

Hmm…Jessie Rogers? Jessie Motley? Jessie Rogers Motley? What to do. I certainly couldn’t use my ex-husband’s last name, and was very proud to be a “Motley,” but had already changed a lot of my old music back to “Jessie Rogers.” (So many people have had a hard time tracking me down through the years after the name changes started!)

When the first edition of my first published book, Gwendolyn came out, I decided to streamline it with my other “writer” name, “Rogers,” and use that for all creative works, but use my new married name, “Motley” for my peronal life. Anything neutral, like social media accounts, got the “merge” treatment: “Jessie Rogers Motley.”

Whew! Confused yet? I was too.

One thing I’m not confused about anymore, is what to do from now on. It will take some time and work and revisions, but I am ready to just be who I am now: JESSIE MOTLEY.

Not to mention, (but I will) while doing some updates on my Gwen manuscript, and working on new books in development, I came across a pretty major and negative conflict of interest (talk about confusion) in association with my original artist/writer name.

(Thanks a lot “adult” film industry! No, I am definitely not her! )

This wasn’t a problem back when I got started. (Gosh, we weren’t even online when I started in music! Think 1990’s and early 2000’s…no googling anything back then!)

Sadly, it has been an increasing problem since I became an author.

I think it is in my best interest not only personally, but professionally, to begin again, as Jessie Motley. It feels right and I think it will be well worth it in the long run! Besides, if you know my husband, Mike Motley, you understand what an honor it is to have his last name on everything I do!

Some things-old songs, albums, media content, etc, may never catch up and I have to be ok with that and let it go. Let’s face it, it has been too long and I have too much scattered stuff out there to find and “correct” it all.

However, I can at least move into this new season of life and work with the new name that comes with it. I am thankful for a fresh start! And I am thankful for the patience of readers, listeners, followers and friends like you, who are and have been so supportive and understanding through all the changes! Thank You.

We will be putting out a new edition of Gwendolyn, along with other books and music in the future, all under the name Jessie Motley. Changing logos, pulling old books, getting the word out, etc, will take some time and adjustments, but I couldn’t be more excited or convinced about the decision!

If you come across anyone who might need help finding out this information (maybe “fans” of my old music or readers of my first-edition book, viewers of the “hope has a name” movie I was featured in, or folks who havent heard about my marriage, whatever…just do me a favor and point them in my (new) direction.

You can start with sharing a link to to this blog post if you need to! And feel free to ask me any questions you have via email or direct message. I would love for you to subscribe and follow this new journey with me. You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram too. (Under, you guessed it- Jessie Motley…)

Here’s to starting over, one more time!