Helping Children Find Their Soul’s Success with American Idol Alum, Christina Cewe.
Written by Samantha Skelton
From American Idol to mother and book author, Christina Cewe is a leading example of how to go after what you want, be flexible with your dreams and goals, and always believe in yourself. In today’s world, we’re constantly flooded with messages about how to be successful in life but rarely do people talk about what success and happiness mean to your soul. Christina walks us through her life journey as she discovers the grounding feeling of harmony, her personal idea of success, how she wanted her kids to feel like they could do anything they put their minds to, and that same message she’s spreading to children everywhere in her book I Believe in Me: Do You Believe in You?
Continue reading for this exclusive interview.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in South Florida, the North Miami beach area to be exact. I didn’t leave until college and then I was in American Idol, which I’ll dive into more. I met my husband at the University of Florida, and we fell in love quickly.
My family is from Trinidad. My grandparents had a travel business and opened a few agencies in Florida. I grew up around the business and my mom was also a dancer. I also grew up in theater and singing. I sang for the Miami heat when I was in high school. I had both business and creative influences in my life.
What was your experience like being on American Idol? When I tried out for American Idol, it was my first experience being in that limelight. I was signed from that season of American Idol. I ended up signing a record deal and made a music video. But eventually, I had to make a choice between my husband and continuing to make music. I chose the more fulfilling path for me. I’d love to hear about your book, I Believe in Me: Do You Believe in You? The book came about around my first child. He was about two and a half and I was looking for ways to build his confidence. My parents told me I could do anything as long as I worked hard at it and I wanted to give my son that same message. So, I created this poem that I would read to him! Basically, I wrote part of my book 14 years ago and then came full circle to make it into a fully fleshed-out book during covid. What do you hope both children and kids get out of this book? It’s really an affirmation book. I want parents to read to their kids over and over. It’s truly about building that narrative of belief in themselves. I want kids to feel joy, and take that and say, “You know what, I can build myself back up if I’m having a bad day.” I want them to take these messages and fill themselves up with these messages throughout life. What was that process like creating the book with illustrations and everything? I finally found an illustrator after four or five different tries of taking everything in my head and putting it on the page but eventually, we were able to create the book. I remember when I first showed my kids the first completed copy it was so magical. Tell me about your path changing from music to motherhood and different creative projects in your life I’ve always been a pretty positive person and I went with my gut when I changed my path from music to choosing my family. My perspective was, I can always participate in music and I’m a writer, so I can always write music. I was afraid to make that choice, but I wanted to build a life with my husband. Do you think your passions can change and have yours? I believe in evolution, but I definitely think there’s been a throughline of writing in my life. the writing was always an outlet, and my mom was somebody that was an amazing dancer. She said that always follows her. So, your creative outlet is always with you. I just knew as time went on, I would be able to utilize what I loved as long as I wanted to. I knew I had it in me and I was welcoming that evolution.
What’s the message your book is sending to kids that were so important to give your son too? The message in the book is all about believing in yourself. You can truly do anything, but it first starts with belief. But…you have to be flexible. Life changes but to deal with the change you have to believe that you can handle the change. I left music and went into technology, and it was really because I wanted to find a career where I could be a mom and still balance my time as a wife and career woman and find time to still be me. I wanted to have that creative outlet. I wrote music for myself and maybe someday I’ll do something with that, but it’s all about that balance. It all comes down to believing in myself. I want anyone who reads the book to know that you can create the life you want as long you believe you can do it. You can design the life of your dreams. The plan unfolds as you work towards it. How do you think success ties into achieving your dreams? When we’re younger we’re taught that success is tied to money. You have to be happy with who you are. Happiness is different for everyone but if I find peace and balance then I’m happy and that’s success for me. My success now is different than it was at 21. I’m still ambitious but the idea of success has changed. I think truly being successful is learning, failing, overcoming, and then finding harmony. What was the most fun part of writing the book? Completing it. Seeing it completed and seeing the reaction to it was awesome. It’s the completion of a dream, of a goal. That dopamine hit of “wow I actually did it,” was incredible. It’s a physical manifestation of what I’ve been talking about in this book. Dreams aren’t always quick to come true.
What else are you working on? I did finish another story that the same illustrator is working on with me! It’s called Little Cub’s Happiness Quest and it’s about what is happiness and the quest to understand it. Where can people get the current book? For more information visit https://www.ibelieveinmedoyou.com