Chesson was born in Monrovia, Liberia, on December 29, 1993, and grew up during the First Liberian Civil War. His father, Jehu Chesson Sr., worked in the financial industry but joined Lutheran World Service as a relief worker during the war.[1] Chesson moved with his family to neighboring Côte d’Ivoire at the age of two and then to St. Louis, Missouri, three years later, where his father took a job working for MasterCard.