This is my six-year-old daughter Justice’s new favorite answer when asked what her dad does. She found out I was a lifeguard in high school and early college, and apparently that’s the coolest job I’ve ever had.

She’s latched onto this identity. Not the rock star thing. Not the marketing work or real estate or serial entrepreneur stuff. Dad is a lifeguard.

It’s sweet, and it got me thinking about identity and work. I’ve worn so many hats over the years. Lifeguarding is the only “real job” where I worked for other people. And it was a great one. You get tan. You meet girls – pretty solid gig for a teenager.

But I’ve been so many things. Musician. Restaurant owner. Real estate developer. Marketing agency founder. Podcast host. Luxury vacation rentals. Each chapter brings its challenges, failures, and unexpected lessons. But when people ask me what I do for a living, I panic.

What do I say?

Career ADHD? Serial entrepreneur? Professional hat collector?

“I’m a lifeguard” is simple. No follow-up questions needed.

The truth is, I’m someone who follows my curiosity. I start things. I dive into what interests me even when it doesn’t make sense on paper. I’ve has some of the most incredible adventures. And some spectacular failures.

I’m constantly asked, “Did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?” “How did you have the courage to pursue music?” “How did you make such big pivots?”

Here’s the honest answer: there was never a grand plan.

I have been guided by principles that have shaped my decisions and led to their outcomes. I’ve learned that it all comes down to what you believe about reality. About identity. About who’s really in control.

For me, this has crystallized into three principles that have been instrumental in my life:

• First, knowing your true identity frees you from the pressure of work defining your worth.
• Second, life is short, so pursue what makes you curious rather than what’s conventionally safe.
• And third, mistakes are not setbacks. They’re free education and springboards for growth.

I learned these principles the hard way – through making mistakes and figuring things out as I went. And while they led me to different careers, they all started with one very clear (and admittedly ridiculous) dream.

I wanted to be a rock star.

Green River Ordinance
Photo courtesy of Jamey Ice

When I was fifteen, my brother Geoff and I started a band called Green River Ordinance.

Of course, this goes against almost every piece of conventional wisdom you hear growing up. Go to college, get a degree, get a safe job. But I’d lie in my bed at night, staring at posters on my wall of my rock heroes – U2, The Beatles, Pearl Jam. And I’d think, “Why not me? What makes them so different?”

The band was my first real lesson in choosing curious over safe. Even at fifteen, something inside me said, “You get one chance at this life. When you find something that lights you up, something you could see yourself doing forever, why shouldn’t you pursue it?”

I went to TCU and became a philosophy major, but the band was still the dream. With only 18 hours left to graduate, I made the call.

I dropped out, and Green River Ordinance went on tour.

In those early days, we were poor. I mean poor. The poorest I’ve ever been, but we were living the dream. I also got married while on the road. Once again, everyone said I was crazy. The band still hadn’t officially taken off. I had nothing. It didn’t make logical sense. But I said, “I do,” and Melissa did, too.

Hamburger Helper and love became our specialty, and I learned something crucial. You can survive without money. Money doesn’t make you happy. Some of my richest memories come from that broke season.

Capitol Records called, and we spent the next eight years on the road with Green River Ordinance. We had Number One songs and Top 10 albums. We were living the dream we’d chased since we were teenagers.

But we also made a lot of mistakes. We didn’t manage our money well. We had to fire our booking agent, manager, lawyer, and accountant because of mismanagement of funds. We wound up leaving Capitol Records.

I was back at that precipice of “What do I do now?” I had to dig deep into what I really believed about taking risks and failure. And that brought me back to something that happened in college.

I was sitting in an existential philosophy class, listening to my professor talk about Sartre and Camus. Their argument was simple: Life has no predetermined meaning, so you can create your own meaning and live however you want. Ultimate freedom through meaninglessness. But I thought, “Well, that sounds kind of depressing.” My faith perspective gave me way more freedom.

I hold tight to the belief that God loves me, that He’s powerful, and that there’s nothing I can do to shake that. I can’t lose his love or my future.

So I raised my hand and asked, “What sounds like better freedom? Knowing that life is meaningless, so you’re free to live however you want, or knowing you have a lottery ticket in your pocket for a billion dollars; you can’t lose, and you can live however you want?”

The room got quiet.

For me, the faith story isn’t just better, it’s my guaranteed winning ticket. Whenever I face tough decisions, I ask, “What would I do if I were holding a winning lottery ticket in my pocket?”

The answer is always resoundingly clear: chase what you are curious about, there’s no need to play it safe. When you know the end is good, you can take swings that other people won’t. When your identity is rooted in something bigger than your career, failure isn’t that scary.

I took over as the band’s manager and booking agent. We wanted to release our music, and we needed to figure out how to do it. That was the moment I became a businessman.

We released “Dancing Shoes,” a song our label had hated because it was “too country.” It wound up becoming our biggest song to date. Our independent album sold substantially more than our major label album.

The lottery ticket had come through again.

Photo credit: Andrew Frazer

In 2011, I found myself in China. My wife, Melissa, took college students there every year, and we were sitting in this incredible coffee shop. The atmosphere and the community feel were unlike anything we had back home.

Someone said, “Man, I wish there was something like this in Fort Worth.”

Conversations continued back home. We’d stay up dreaming about what this hypothetical place could be. Eventually, dreaming turned into property searches.

We found an empty, ugly building on Magnolia Avenue. Back then, development hadn’t pushed nearly as far down Magnolia as it has now. People thought we were crazy. “Too close to Hemphill,” they said. “That building is way too rough.” We could see what others couldn’t. However, none of us had any coffee shop experience. No restaurant experience. No bar experience. But we had big dreams and a bigger vision.

BREWED opened in 2012. We designed something beautiful and interesting – warm, inviting, unlike anything Fort Worth had seen. I did the marketing like I’d done with the band, through stories, not sales pitches.

BREWED was a huge success and a complete disaster at the same time. We had no idea what we were doing. The service was horrible. Our menu was confusing and overly ambitious. But that third principle kicked in: mistakes aren’t setbacks. They’re education.

Every service disaster taught us something about operations. Every confused customer helped us simplify our menu. Every overwhelmed staff member showed us what systems we needed to build. We learned. We adapted. We got better. Eventually, we expanded to multiple locations.

As BREWED grew, we faced a gut-wrenching decision about Green River Ordinance. By 2016, three of us had kids, and touring suddenly felt unsustainable. We were coming off our best year with two Number One songs. But we’d never had that massive nationwide hit. We had success, but not the dream.

Stopping was the right decision. But emotionally, it was devastating. Walking away from Green River Ordinance – the dream I’d chased since I was fifteen – felt like losing part of myself.

Meanwhile, BREWED had grown. I loved being part of it. But 6th Avenue Homes was rapidly expanding, and I wanted to start a marketing company. I couldn’t do it all.

The decision to stop the band and to leave BREWED taught me that failure isn’t the opposite of success – it’s part of success. But I learned something equally important. Sometimes success means knowing when to walk away.

Photo courtesy of Jamey Ice

By 2014, my best friend and I had fallen into the same pattern – buy a fixer-upper, renovate it ourselves, live in it for a couple of years, sell, repeat.

Fort Worth’s oldest neighborhood, Fairmount, had a mix of neglected historic homes. Artists and young professionals were starting to breathe new life into the area. One day, a listing popped up on Hawthorne Avenue. Listed at $90,000, it was an absolute steal. There was just one problem: we had maybe $5000 between us. I was still a musician. He was a cop. And it was a foreclosure; foreclosures are cash-only.

When the agent asked if we had the cash, we stretched the truth.

We signed the paperwork, paid our $5,000 (nonrefundable), and panicked.

I found a local investor who agreed to lend us the money. We did all the work ourselves – late nights, weekends, learning on the fly. Ninety days later, we’d transformed that little house and sold it to a young family. We made some money and became completely hooked. Over the next few years, we bought, sold, or renovated over 120 properties in the Near Southside.

Something unexpected happened. I’d been posting our renovation projects on Instagram – not as marketing, just because I was excited about what we were doing. People started following our work. Then they started calling.

“Can you help us buy a house like this?” “We love what you’re doing. Can you help us find something?” We kept saying, “We’re not a real estate company. We just flip houses.”

But the market was telling us something different. There was a whole group of people who didn’t want cookie-cutter houses. They wanted something with character. The traditional real estate industry wasn’t serving them.

Neither of us had real estate licenses. But we created a one-stop shop to help people buy, sell, design, and renovate homes. We gave clients whiskey at closings. We threw house concerts instead of open houses. When families closed on their homes, we’d go and pray over the houses with them.

The company that started with a $5,000 stretched truth now has 70 employees and multiple locations.

Photo courtesy of Jamey Ice

By 2020, 6th Avenue Homes was thriving. I’d sold out of BREWED the year before to focus on the real estate company. Between all my businesses, I’d hired and fired more marketing companies than I could count. Each company could create a logo, build a website, and run some ads, but they always missed the point.

Social media was instrumental to our success. It’s what built the following for the band, packed BREWED with customers, and turned house flipping into a real estate company. But every time I tried to hand social media marketing off, it would fall flat.

The problem was simple: nobody took the time to understand our story.

I know that story is what sells. Pretty graphics matter; they make you feel something. But graphics don’t sell things. Stories do. Meanwhile, these agencies kept offering piecemeal solutions. “You need SEO.” “You need better ads.” “Here’s the magic bullet.”

But small businesses don’t need one thing. They need a comprehensive marketing plan. We started joking, “We should just start our own agency.”

Then COVID hit, and the world shut down. Everyone asked the same question: “How do we survive this?”

I had a choice. Play it safe, keep my head down, and wait for things to return to normal. Or follow what made me curious.

Every small business owner I knew was desperate for precisely what we’d been joking about building. They needed someone who understood their story, who could help them connect with customers when everything felt uncertain. So, in the middle of a global pandemic, I launched 6th Avenue Storytelling.

All those “mistakes” I had made before were my real education. The three principles that had guided every major decision were working again: my identity wasn’t tied to any single career, curiosity was trumping safety, and every failed agency hire had taught me something valuable.

We built something called The Storytelling Pathway, which is everything I’ve learned about marketing, organized it into a plan that works.

The marketing world is full of silver bullets—SEO, ads, branding, websites, funnels. Everyone’s selling a solution. But small businesses don’t need one thing. They need a tool belt. Over the past four years, we’ve helped hundreds of small businesses tell their stories and grow. I also launched a podcast called Stories with Soul – something I’d dreamed of doing for years but never tried.

Musician became restaurant owner became real estate developer became marketing consultant.

You don’t have to stay in one lane forever. Reinvention isn’t just possible. It’s powerful.

Photo courtesy of Jamey Ice

The question shouldn’t be, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” The question is, “What makes me curious right now?”

Whether you’re 22, panicking about picking the perfect career, or 45 and wondering if it’s too late to change course, you don’t need a master plan. You need the courage to take the next right step. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You need to know who you are when everything falls apart.

You’re already holding the winning lottery ticket.

I believe the God who created you loves you and has a plan for you. That means you can’t lose in any way that truly matters.

Chase what makes you curious. Bet on yourself. Treat mistakes as education, not verdicts. Your work doesn’t define you, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Do something that lights you up. Build things that make the world a little better.

And if all else fails, tell people you’re a lifeguard.

The post Reinvention Isn’t Just Possible, It’s Powerful first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Unlike its full-service restaurant in Terminal D, which specializes in all-day brunch, the Terminal E BREWED will offer a curated coffee experience designed to create meaningful connections at 30,000 feet, one warm cup at a time.

BREWED’s first DFW Airport location opened in Terminal D to great acclaim, offering travelers a taste of Fort Worth’s rich brunch culture. This new coffee shop concept expands BREWED’s mission of delivering quality, comfort, and community to even more travelers.

“We are so excited to be representing Fort Worth in Terminal E,” said Joey Turner, co-owner of BREWED. “Coffee is one of the most important beverages at the airport, and we look forward to providing warm welcomes and meaningful connections while serving each cup to our guests.”

Rooted deeply in Fort Worth’s Near Southside district, BREWED’s flagship full-service restaurant has been a cornerstone of the community for over twelve and a half years. Located on the iconic Magnolia Avenue, BREWED has become a local favorite for all-day brunch, craft coffee, and creating a space where guests feel seen, known, and valued.

Founded in the heart of Fort Worth, BREWED is more than a restaurant, it’s a gathering place where exceptional food, craft coffee, and community spirit come together. With a flagship location in Fort Worth’s Near Southside for over twelve and a half years and two DFW Airport locations, BREWED continues to grow while staying true to its mission: to make every guest feel at home.

The post BREWED Expands at DFW first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

BREWED now features three new Mushroom products, available for both in-store enjoyment and retail:

• Brainchild Mushroom Coffee: A blend designed to boost mental clarity and
• Brainwash Super-Boost Stick (addable to any latte or cold brew): A potent mix aimed at detoxifying and rejuvenating the body.
• Dream Supply Tea: A calming tea blend that supports restful sleep and relaxation.

Photo courtesy of BREWED

Key Features of Mushroom Coffee

• Rich, Full-Bodied Flavor: Delivers the classic coffee taste with subtle earthy
• Health Benefits: Infused with functional mushrooms such as Lion’s Mane for cognitive function and Chaga for immune support.
• Sustainable Sourcing: Produced with ethically sourced coffee beans and mushrooms.

Mushroom coffee offers a unique option for health-conscious consumers and adventurous coffee enthusiasts. The folks at BREWED are ready to educate you on the benefits of this delicious way to start (or continue) your day!

About Wunderground Mushroom Coffee

Based in Seattle, Wunderground crafts coffee that combines the rich taste of traditional coffee with the remarkable benefits of functional mushrooms. Their coffee offers the energizing boost of regular coffee while enhancing mental clarity, immunity, and overall well-being.

The post BREWED Brews Up New Coffees first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

I’m a big fan of restaurant and bar patios, largely for margarita-related reasons. I’m also a big fan of animals. But not every place welcomes our four-legged friends. Fortunately, Fort Worth is becoming ever more dog friendly. Here are my top picks for places to park your pooch while you enjoy a cold libation.

Newish Press Cafe offers healthy dishes that range from steak salad (my favorite) to award-winning burgers. A large, sprawling gravel patio comes with a variety of seating options and an unimpeded view of the Trinity River. The restaurant is a great way to end a run or bike ride along the river.

Just a short run (or jog) to the north, celebrity chef Tim Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse offers a smokin’ good time. At that stretch of the river, the Clear Fork branch swells into a placid swath of emerald water, draped by a wall of deciduous beauty. The floodplain also draws hundreds of waterfowl for a unique viewing experience.

If you haven’t been to HopFusion Brewing, then you’re missing out on one of the hottest new spots in town. Co-owners Matt Hill and Macy Moore have created a gem in the Near Southside. The industrial-chic brewery has a gorgeous outdoor deck with plenty of room for Fido to roam. Near the bar there’s even a doggy water bowl.

Following the beer theme, Wild Acre Brewing Company has one of the largest, if not the largest, seated outdoor patios of any local craft beer brewery. Beyond the rows of dozens of picnic tables (complete with shading umbrellas) is a large field. Rows of lush trees line the far side of the outdoor paradise. It’s a little patch of heaven in an otherwise urban area.

Brewed is the perfect spot to get your coffee/kombucha/beer/dinner/dessert fix. Did I mention they have wine? This Near Southside restaurant also has an idyllic brick patio that faces southward toward Fairmount National Historic District.

So there you are. Some great restaurants and bars with great patios that allow you to dine with Rover. This weekend is going to be nice, so why not take Prince and Lady out to lunch?

Edward Brown writes about music, arts and news for a variety of publications. He’s an award-winning writer for the Fort Worth Weekly and blogger for Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has published articles in Musical Opinion (U.K.), Canadian Music Educators Journal, and Clavier Companion,among others. When Brown isn’t writing about music, he’s actively involved in the local music scene as an educator, performer, lecturer, and judge for student music competitions. His professional affiliations include the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, where he volunteers as education director, and the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, where he serves on the board and artistic committee. Brown was born in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1982. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and currently resides in Fort Worth. His favorite leisure time activities include local music concerts and perusing Fort Worth’s growing gastropub scene.

The post Dining with Man’s Best Friend first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

We are easing ever-so-slowly into fall weather, and the slightest nip in the air has me reaching for the boots, scarves, and closest hot beverage.  That being said, nothing can beat the delicious aroma and taste of a really good cup of coffee.  Fort Worth is full of great spots that are sophisticated, fun, and funky.  We’ve asked our wonderful Tanglewood Moms readers once again to give us the scoop and share their favorite local coffee houses.

#6 Juice Junkies

Known for their fresh and healthy variety of juices, Juice Junkies serves up a pretty delicious cup of coffee.  All of their hot beverages are prepared with organic ingredients and their delicious house-made almond milk.

#5 Mudsmith

This is a fun, eclectically-designed coffee shop to gather with friends for an expresso, specialty coffee, fresh juice, beer, wine, and grub.  Outside is a great patio with large picnic tables and includes a mini-golf course, which makes Mudsmith a winner with my kids.

#4 Craftwork

Craftwork is a unique café specializing in creating good coffees and warm, inviting work spaces.  Whether you need a location to conduct a business meeting for a day, or a more permanent place to call your office, Craftwork can meet your professional needs in a beautifully designed environment.

#3 Brewed

Lovingly dubbed Fort Worth’s “locals’ living room,” Brewed has a cool yet homey vibe.  All of their coffee is local and handmade when ordered. More than a coffee house, Brewed serves up amazing food and craft beers.  We recommend Brewed for any occasion:  coffee, dinner, a cozy date next to the fire pit, a small party, or a casual brunch.

#2 Buon Giorno

A tribute to traditional European coffee shops, Buon Giorno specializes in two traditional coffee favorites; expresso and French Press coffee.  Their goal is to provide a gathering place for people to virtually unplug and socially reconnect.

#1 AVOCA Coffee Roasters

AVOCA is serious about their coffee.  All of their beans are expertly selected and artisan roasted to make the most perfect cup of coffee.  Owners Garold and Jimmy have decades of experience in this art form and are true coffee aficionados.  It’s no wonder they made our number one spot.

If you’re looking for a place to unwind, plug-in, conduct business, gather with friends, or revel in magnificent solitude, at least one of these hot coffee houses are bound to meet your needs.  This list is full of favorites of mine and some new places I am looking forward to visit.  Thanks moms for all of the great suggestions!

Christy Ortiz is a Fort Worth native, and proud to say so.   She earned her bachelor’s degree from UT Arlington in Interdisciplinary Studies.  She taught for FWISD for eight busy years before switching gears and staying home with her two small children.  Her hobbies are interior decorating for friends, photography, and flying kites with her kids.  Her South American roots and love for the Spanish language and Latin cultures add to the diverse voices of our group.

The post Here’s the Scoop: TWM’s Favorite Fort Worth Coffee Houses first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

First, consider buying something besides a bomber or sixer of suds. There’s a lot of fun beer merchandise on the market, including a special storage device called a growler. These large jugs (either glass or metal) keep draught beer fresh and are great to take to parties or a picnic. Growler fill stations (Chimera Brewing Company and Pouring Glory) are increasingly popular destinations to top off these sealed jugs.

Another fun gift is made by YETI. It’s basically a miniature cooler that fits over beer cans like a metal koozie.

Every local brewery has a line of tee-shirts, hats, and a variety of swag. While you’re there, you can inquire about special memberships or brewery tour tickets. The Collective Brewing Project has a growler club and Bottle Project that offers fun perks like access to rare brews and special events.

What’s more memorable than a fun event shared together? Besides big events like Untapped (every June) or the Fort Worth Weekly’s Homebrew Throwdown (November 20 at Pather Island Pavilion’s Shack), there’s always something beer-related going on in the 817. Beer pairings have become popular at restaurants like Bird Cafe and Fixture, and gastropubs like The Bearded Lady often host taproom takeover nights which feature a wide selection of suds from a particular brewery.

And finally, if you’re content to grab that special someone a beer, try sticking to the brewery that he or she usually enjoys. Another fun idea would be to ask someone working at a retail store (I recommend The Sleepy Panther Bottle Shop) which brews are similar to what your partner enjoys. A little effort can go a long way in making the gift something he or she won’t soon forget. Cheers!

Edward Brown writes about music, arts and news for a variety of publications. He’s an award-winning writer for the Fort Worth Weekly and blogger for Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has published articles in Musical Opinion (U.K.), Canadian Music Educators Journal, and Clavier Companion,among others. When Brown isn’t writing about music, he’s actively involved in the local music scene as an educator, performer, lecturer, and judge for student music competitions. His professional affiliations include the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, where he volunteers as education director, and the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, where he serves on the board and artistic committee. Brown was born in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1982. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and currently resides in Fort Worth. His favorite leisure time activities include local music concerts and perusing Fort Worth’s growing gastropub scene.

The post Beer 101: Gift for the Beer Connoisseur first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Fizz and Flair is a traveling DIY pop-up style workshop series. They aim to encourage women to get creative while whipping up a “pin-worthy” make and take craft taught step by step while sipping on mimosas with friends. They work with local artisans to create a fun atmosphere and their first ever series will be at BREWED!

August 29 | 3:30-5:30

Fizz and Flair founders, Rachael and Maigen.

The post Fizz & Flair in Fort Worth first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Our awesome friends at Brewed on Magnolia have the perfect treat to cool down this summer, Christmas in July complete with a visit from Santa and Buddy the Elf! On Friday, July 24th and Saturday, July 25th bring the family to eat and drink Christmas themed beverages and goodies. Just like Christmas, it’s a surprise as to exactly what they will be serving, but knowing them they will make it memorable. Grab your kid(s) and head down!

It’s no wonder that this gem on Magnolia has become just as their slogan states, a local’s living room. Everything about the place feels like walking into a friend’s home with personal touches and a casual atmosphere. I adore the lock your love display, the enormous moose trophy, the lived in sofas and the quiet little spaces you can tuck away and enjoy hanging out with your buddies or schedule a business meeting or two that I personally love to do at Brewed.

If you aren’t a frequent diner like me, please let me suggest some of my favorite Brewed items: Holy Kombucha on draught, Super Food Salad, The BREWED burger (with sweet potato fries), Donut Dippers,and of course their Chicken & Waffles. Great, now I’m hungry!! What Brewed is known for is their amazing baristas and the coffee they “brew”. If you take a little peek at their Instagram account you will see the gorgeous latte art and the attention they pay to detail. TanglewoodMoms.com readers get a special treat this weekend. Show them the coupon below for a free coffee this Friday and Saturday. One per customer, but be sure to help their cause by bringing school supplies for their  One Safe Place school supply drive.

*photo credits for images in the Flipagram can be found on Brewed’s Instagram account. Be sure to follow them and tag @brewedfw and @tanglewoodmoms in your photos this weekend!

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