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On 2005’s Purified, CeCe Winans seventh solo LP through an association between her own PureSprings Gospel label, INO Records, Sony Urban Music and Epic Records, is her gift to the world, as it clearly reflects all the best that she has to offer her fans musically. Armed with a warm spirit, an abundant faith, a pure heart and the desire for everyone she comes in contact with to have the same experience, CeCe’s abundant gifts also serve as the platform for her purpose beyond the music.
The six-time Grammy winner is a visionary humanitarian with sharp business acumen. “I tell people all the time it’s so important to trust God with your life, and learn to thank him for every door that opens and every door that closes,” CeCe proclaims. With a desire in her heart to start her own multi-faceted entertainment company, CW Entertainment serves as the umbrella for her PureSprings Gospel label. Established in 2000, CeCe was transitioning after her acclaimed, platinum selling Alabaster Box was released and her then label folded; it was at that moment her vision was birthed.
“We wanted to run a company…knowing that if I do things right and according to the way that God wants me to do them, then it’s a fountain that will never run dry,” CeCe acknowledges. “We want it to be a safe place.” As home to the Nashville church choir Born Again and soloists Vicki Yohe and Mom Winans, PureSprings Gospel wants to serve as a vehicle known for being fair and just, and a place that releases “pure music that is always uplifting.” With distribution deals through Sony Urban Music and EMI Gospel, CeCe is clear that opening the door for other artists will afford PureSprings the opportunity to do what they have been created to do.
In keeping with her vision of having a multifaceted entertainment company, PureSprings Gospel, the label, is just one division. CW Entertainment also serves as a management and booking firm, with CeCe as one of its clients and she owns her own masters and publishing. With plans to develop slowly into publishing, theatrical production, television programming and the like, CeCe looks for her company to provide additional forms of positive entertainment. She is also developing a clothing and jewelry line targeted for teens and young women and has authored two books entitled “On a Positive Note” and “Throne Room.”
With these companies being an extension of CeCe, she is also a firm believer in empowering her team with the tools to facilitate accomplishing the vision. With an intimate yet growing staff between CW Entertainment and PureSprings, CeCe’s employees are just as passionate as she is about doing great works of service, and she gives them the space to create and execute the vision on her behalf.
As an instrument for change, CeCe Winans has always been in touch with the youth and has felt especially connected with young girls. She started sensing a certain calling on her heart, began speaking to young women at her church and saw a void that she could fill. In October 2005, CeCe developed and hosted the Always Sisters conference. Like her Purified song of the same name, “Always Sisters,” focuses on support. Young women ages 13 -26 from all walks of life and various parts of the country, signed up to attend the Nashville, TN two day event. Special invited guests and friends Mary Mary, Kelly Price, Lisa McClendon and Kirk Franklin were just a few of CeCe’s many supporters. While over 800 young ladies were offered musical treats, they were also offered words of encouragement and substance as they discussed issues of self esteem and were taught how to apply healthy principles to their everyday life.
As a special token of her appreciation and love for the young ladies, CeCe gave them all tiaras. “My prayer was that they know God and know who they are,” she declares. “He is the only one that can really teach you who you are, how beautiful you are, how powerful you are, that you deserve the best, and not to settle for less.” For CeCe, the event was life changing and she plans to not only host the conference annually, but to eventually be in a position to travel and disseminate the message in other cities around the country.
Married twenty-one years with a daughter and son in college, ages eighteen and twenty (respectively), CeCe the wife and mother has managed to balance her personal and professional lives with relative ease. With a supportive, loving spouse (their last name not coincidentally, Love) and having her priorities in order, CeCe is clear about her foundation, and with God being at the center, everything else is positioned around that and works in her favor.
Being encouraged and inspired by life – the Lord, her family, her music and young people – CeCe Winans is very clear on her agenda. “Good always conquers evil,” she acknowledges, “we just have to create those outlets.” And with a powerful, passionate and purposeful vision, for CeCe, the sky is the limit.
