Meet Shanice: The Woman Spreading the Gospel One Cup at a Time
By Neesha James · Ascension Studios / DFW Local Experts · June 2026
Alexander Cafe · Women of Tenacity · Serving the DFW Metroplex
Shanice · Founder, Alexander Cafe · womenoftenacity.org
There are coffee businesses, and then there are callings. Alexander Cafe is both — and Shanice will be the first to tell you that she didn't start this to be in the coffee industry. She started it because God told her to.
That sounds like a big statement. Until you sit with her for five minutes. Then it makes complete sense.
Shanice is the founder of Alexander Cafe, a mobile coffee and specialty drink cart serving the DFW Metroplex. She is also the founder of Women of Tenacity, an organization where she channels her gifts as an author, activist, and advocate for women who have survived domestic violence. Alexander Cafe is named after her son. It is built on a scripture. And it is, without question, one of the most joyful businesses we have ever had the privilege of featuring.
We sat down with Shanice for a DFW Local Experts member interview. What she shared was equal parts business story and sermon — and we mean that as the highest compliment.
COFFEE, MATCHA, AND A CALLING
Alexander Cafe started less than six months ago. The origin story is as straightforward as it is beautiful: Shanice loves coffee, loves matcha, loves specialty drinks — and she was tired of paying too much for things that didn't taste the way they should.
"Coffee should not be $10," she says, laughing. "I don't mind paying for quality. But Starbucks? People go to Starbucks for convenience, because there's one on every corner. The real quality is in the smaller businesses. That's where the love is."
So she started making her own. At home, obsessively, working each recipe until it was exactly right. The carrot cake latte. The cookie butter latte. The hibiscus lemonade she's been perfecting for weeks. She doesn't put anything in front of a customer that she hasn't tested, adjusted, and tested again.
"When you are sitting there making coffee, love has to be in it. It has to be something that you like to do."
The menu at Alexander Cafe isn't built around what everyone else is making. It's built around what Shanice loves, what her son loves, what her sister loves — and what she believes will catch the attention of someone who has never tasted anything quite like it. Because they probably haven't.
"You're not going to find a carrot cake latte anywhere else," she says. And she's right.
THE CART, THE FAITH, AND THE DOWN PAYMENT ON A MILLION DOLLARS
For a while, Shanice made everything at home and kept it mobile in the most informal sense — posting up at home, serving friends, building her craft quietly. But she knew that if she wanted to do events, to show up at farmer's markets and birthday parties and football games, she needed a cart.
Making that investment was not a small thing. The cart was being custom built by a company she found on Etsy — three hours away. She'd been watching their work for months. When she finally paid the deposit, the anxiety hit.
"I was texting them before I even paid, because they're not close to me. It was me having faith in God and having faith in Alexander Cafe. Like, okay — once you do this, this is your down payment to your million dollars."
The cart arrived exactly as she envisioned it. Every design decision was hers. And the reaction from her family told her everything she needed to know.
"My mom was like, Are you serious? You bought the cart? I was like, yeah, it's getting custom made." She pauses. "Everything that you see, the way it's built — that's me. That's what I wanted."
Buying the cart wasn't just a business investment. It was a declaration. To herself, to her family, and to God. This is real. This is happening. I am serious about this.
Shanice serving up delicious matcha to happy customers at a Coffee + Coworking event — May 2026.
SPREADING THE GOSPEL THROUGH COFFEE
Ask Shanice what makes Alexander Cafe different from every other coffee cart in DFW, and she doesn't start with the menu. She starts with her faith.
"What makes me stand out is, first off, my faith in God. I know that this is something that God has called me to do — to spread the Gospel through coffee."
Her life scripture is Jeremiah 29:11 — For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. It is on her books. It is on her coffee branding. It is, she says, what she returns to when she feels like she can't make it.
"Even when I do feel like I'm in a funk, or I feel like I want to give up — Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me that God has a plan for me. Not only just a plan for me, but a plan for my business. Not only just for my business, but for my family."
The third thing that makes Alexander Cafe unique — after faith and the quality of the drinks — is the name itself. Alexander is her son. She started this business for him.
"When we turned 15 and wanted to make money, we worked at Six Flags. We worked at McDonald's. I'm building something for him so he doesn't have to do that. When he wants to make extra money, he can come to Alexander Cafe. He can come now and help me serve drinks or take orders. Something that is outside of the norm."
"I'm building something for him. Not only for me, but also for him. Building a foundation. Building legacy."
NO FACEBOOK. NO INSTAGRAM. NO PROBLEM.
Here is something that surprises people when they hear about Shanice and her business: she is not on social media. No Facebook. No Instagram. No TikTok. Nothing.
In 2025, most people would consider that a business liability. Shanice considers it alignment.
"I'm just like, if they want to book me, they'll book me. They'll find a way. I'll have contact information. Facebook is just not my thing anymore. It always has to be alignment. If it's meant for me to meet them, if it's meant for me to cater their event — where there's a will, there's a way."
And the thing is — it's working. She showed up to serve coffee at Ascension Studios' first Friday event without a single Instagram story to promote it. People came. People loved it. A man tapped the bottom of his cup trying to get the last drops of the cookie butter latte. She told her mom. She couldn't stop smiling.
"On Friday, I seen a man tapping his cup — you know how you try to empty a chip bag, shaking it to get the crumbs? I seen that. And I told my mom: do you know how good that makes me feel?"
She was making drinks by herself. She was in her purpose. And she knew it.
"I felt empowered. I felt on top of the world. I was like, God, I really did it. I was so overjoyed."
Shanice hand-crafts all of her coffee concoctions with home-made syrups
WHAT'S NEXT — SUMMER, THE FOURTH OF JULY, AND A VISION THAT KEEPS GROWING
With summer approaching, Shanice is already pivoting her menu. Coffee in 90-degree heat is one thing; refreshing people at a Fourth of July festival in Bedford is another. So she's building out her dirty soda lineup, adding the hibiscus lemonade she's been perfecting, and thinking about refreshers that keep people hydrated and happy in the Texas heat.
"I have been watching the Bedford Fourth of July event like a hawk," she says. "It's really, really big. And I want to do dirty sodas there — just dirty sodas, because it's going to be hot. We have to be mindful."
But Alexander Cafe is just one piece of what Shanice is building. Her larger vision is mobile, always — not a coffee shop with four walls and a lease, but a cart that can pop up anywhere. Farmer's markets. Football games. Corporate parking lots at 5am. Construction sites where coffee isn't expected but would be deeply appreciated.
"I want to pull up to places where they think coffee is not at — and it's at. Just being mobile is what I really, really, really wanted to do."
The long-term vision includes a trailer. A way to go bigger without losing the freedom of movement that makes this whole thing work. And when she gets there — when Alexander is old enough to work alongside her — she'll have built something he can step into.
She is also in early conversations about a fitness and wellness event that would bring vendors, coffee, sponsors, and community together in one space. She can't say too much yet. But her eyes light up when she mentions it.
"I always say that our gifts are for us to give them back to God," she says, wrapping up. "Because we don't want to get in front of him and have him say, 'What did you do with the gifts I gave you?' You gotta work that thing. And sometimes it's hard. But if you trust God, you can overcome anything — as long as you keep God first."
Alexander Cafe is Shanice working her thing. And DFW is better for it.
FIND SHANICE IN THE DFW LOCAL EXPERTS DIRECTORY
Shanice is a featured member of the DFW Local Experts Directory — a growing network of DFW entrepreneurs, creatives, and professionals building community across the metroplex.
To book Alexander Cafe for your event, visit womenoftenacity.org or email [email protected]. Whether you are planning a wedding, a corporate event, a birthday party, or a community gathering — Shanice will show up with love in every cup.
About DFW Local Experts
DFW Local Experts is a Smart Directory and community initiative by Ascension Studios LLC, We spotlight local business owners, creatives, and entrepreneurs through featured listings, blog interviews, and newsletter promotions.
Connect with Shanice
Alexander Cafe
Women of Tenacity
