“I love it here,” says Patrice Angwenyi, a Fortress parent, former educator, and entrepreneur. “The colors, logo, messaging… it all feels very intentional. And Ms. Leticia? She is a Godsend.” A self-proclaimed “mama bear”, Patrice is very particular about who cares for her babies; two-year old Preston is in Ms. Leticia’s Foxes class, and 8-month old Titan is in our Baby Bears class. “The last three years have been full of change,” she describes. “I quit my full-time teaching job, dove into entrepreneur mode, and had two babies. Through all of that, I realized what I can and can’t do. I learned to ask for help.”
Fortress was right here in her neighborhood when she needed that help. A product of Historic Southside, she found her way back as an adult. She and husband Tweeti are the co-founders and owners of local neighborhood coffee shop “HustleBlendz”, located just blocks from Fortress. Touted as “the first cold brew bar in Texas”, their tiny shop has already made a giant impression on the local coffee landscape, having been honored as September’s 2023 TCU Small Business Spotlight Winner. Even more recently, HustleBlendz won two categories in FW Weekly’s Best of 2023 issue: Best Coffee and Best Place to Buy Coffee.
“My husband is my coach and my teammate,” she says. “We’ve built a lot together. He walks out the life that he talks. He celebrates people, gets in the dirt with people. I’ve never heard him raise his voice.” Patrice is a people person, too. “God has called me into sisterhood,” she says. “I’m an iron-sharpener, a champion of change.” In her years as a public school teacher, she often met teens who had given up, or worse, who had been given up on. “Who are we to evaluate worthiness? We don’t know who this kid is gonna be. We have to keep pouring in. Getting kids who say they can’t write… to write? That was my “why” as a teacher.”
And that’s one of the things she loves about Fortress - the why. “I feel safe here. I cannot serve anybody until I give myself to the Lord. I’m not performative, but it’s always just there. I feel that here, too. There’s an authenticity.” When asked where she sees herself in five years, outside still being a mama bear and Tweeti’s partner in life and business, Patrice answered with conviction. “Growing something, wherever he puts me.”
We whole-heartedly suggest the Southside Double Shot or the Million Dollar White Mocha. When you visit HustleBlendz, tell them Fortress sent ya!