Gooding was raised in New York, New York. They were born to actress, singer and dancer LaChanze, and Calvin Gooding, who died in the September 11th attacks. They have one sister, Zaya.
Gooding attended the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York, with their sister, and graduated with honors in performing arts. They occasionally took leaves of absence from high school to do readings for a musical they were involved in developing, Jagged Little Pill. In the workshop during their junior year, they had three hours of tutoring in the morning before rehearsals, to replace regular schooling. Their senior project revolved around their participation in the show's out-of-town tryout at the end of their senior year. Their other training included studying dance at the Alvin Ailey Institute and studying Acting and Film with a concentration in Shakespeare at the Berridge Conservatory in Normandy.
In 2018, Gooding began attending Pace University. They initially double majored in Musical Theatre and Child Psychology; they dropped the latter major during their second and final semester. They left Pace after their freshman year, as rehearsals for the Broadway run of Jagged Little Pill started in September 2019.

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