Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is iHeartRadio's Maryland Business Spotlight. Each week we hear
from one local business owner letting us know where they
are in their business journey and how they got there.
I'm here today with Janie Orvaal, District manager of Mission
Escape Rooms. Jennie for people who might not know, tell
us about Mission Escape Rooms and what you guys do. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, escape rooms in general are immersive experiences where teams
get to work together and solve clues and puzzles and
become their own heroes and a story and solve the
mygery within fifty minutes at our escape room. So we
have three locations. One our first was downtown Annapolis here
in the historic West Street, and then Jason Cherry who
(00:38):
is our owner, started that up in twenty sixteen and
moved on and was really successful and started our Arundel
Mills Escape over in Hanover at the Mall, and then
now Wall Chapel, and we also have a mobile unit.
So we're doing really well and really connecting with our
guests and having everyone come in. You know, age range
really doesn't matter. Everybody can have the same great time
(00:59):
whether they're young or old or whatever they're feeling at
the moment. It's a really fun time and especially for
corporate team building, getting people together out of the workplace,
just hands on, away from screens. It's a good time
for everyone. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Now, let's say, let's just take the Annapolis location. How
many different escape rooms are there just in that location.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, so we have a total of eleven immersive escape
Four of those are here. Yeah so here of those though,
are at our Annapolis location. So right now we have four.
We have Expedition YETI we've got Once Upon a Crime.
Our newest escape room is the Fortune Teller that's been
open a few weeks now, and we're just about to
(01:42):
reopen our fourth one with a new theme of the
Crab Trap. So that's a local mystery on the chest
Peak Bay, perfect for Annapolis.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's awesome, And of course, you know, people go into
the room and there's different clues for them to get
out of the room, and there's different themes and different stories.
It's very creative. What a great idea that I know
came out years ago, but it's just it's so much
fun and from what I understand, don't you guys like
(02:09):
kind of swap out the rooms and put in a
new one. After a period of time that is, or
do they just stay the same throughout the just forever.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, So in the escape room realm, it's a worldly
thing that people do. They love them and so in
that realm, every five weeks they want to see a
new room at any location. So right now we actually
just brought on a new fabricator and him and I
we build our rooms from the ground up at our
workshop and really install them and make it our live experience.
(02:42):
So we hope to have a new room every few
months at either of our locations. So we don't want
one room to last more than a year as our goal.
So we want to have fresh stands and you know,
expand on the innovation and technology and puzzles and clues
and keep things fresh.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
That makes sense, And this is a great thing to
do for people who have groups they can go in
together and experience room, or if there's only like two
or three of you, you can pair up with another group,
right and they're a small group exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So well, our rooms they used to be public, so
you could play with basically strangers, but now all of
our rooms are private. So it's great for date night
and if you just want the two of you in here. Yeah,
so once you book a spot, that's your spot, whether
you have one player or ten players. We do recommend
playing with friends just to get the full experience. So
you could definitely go solo and enjoy it just the
same and just it feels like you're in a real
(03:32):
life video game. And it's good again for teams that
work or school functions or just you know, as friends
to reconnect away from screens and you know, get off
of social media and come in real life and have
a challenge with your friends and a good time. It's
a lot of fun. But yeah, it really doesn't matter
how many people.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, instead of playing a video game too like this,
you do it live. It's much better going to mission
escape room and doing it likely. Can I ask you
a question though? When I went it was they combined
my small group and another small group. Do you mind
if I asked you why that changed?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So we really changed that after COVID happened. You know,
we still wanted people to feel safe and comfortable coming
out to play a game like this in person, but
not having the fear that there was strangers that they
don't know that might have you know, any consaminations. But
you know, we've shifted away from that COVID mentality a
bit here where people are wanting to get out in
public again and be with other people. And we actually
just recently had a singles event that came out to
(04:31):
our Rendel Mills location where total strangers mingled with everyone
across our escape rooms and they had a really great time.
So you know, in the future we probably are going
to look to maybe do that again. But the private
rooms have been a really good success for people, and
they really prefer being solo with their personal family or
friend group.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I'll tell you what. I've only been once, and I'm
going to go again. I went to the Mission escape
room well hope you do at the Annapolis location, and
it was it was our little group and we again
because we didn't have like enough people, they teamed us
up with another group, which is fine and everything, but
we were sore. I don't know if we were dumb
or they were just really really good at these escape rooms,
(05:12):
but they just took over and we were just like, oh,
we didn't do it fast enough. And it was fun,
but I felt like the other group kind of like
took over. So it's cool. I like the fact that
you're just with friends, whether it's two people or four
people that you know. I think that's a great idea
now that there's nothing wrong with doing it with strangers.
So it's just a specific experience.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
So it's yeah, but you know, again, like you said,
it's good. We want this to be accessible and inviting
to every experience level, whether you've never done an escape
room or whether you've done hundreds, we want you to
have the same great time. And so if you come
in as a beginner never having done this, we don't
want you to feel pressured or you know, feel like
that you're not up to par and playing or not
smart enough, because everybody is. And we also offer unlimited hints,
(05:56):
so you can ask our game master who could vibe
in person in the escape room? Yeah, in our master suite,
and they give you as many hints as you want,
whether it's a little nudge or the full clue, and
we'll get you out of here having a fun time.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, it is a good time. I love it. We
got to go again for sure. How did you get
your start with Mission escape rooms? And how long have
you been there?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah? So I actually started back in August so I'm
a little bit newer to our location here, but I'm
not new to the creative world. I used to be
an art instructor and cake artists over at a bakery,
and I came read most recently for spending about six
years in veterinary management, very community focused. I opened a
pet food pantry and I just love connecting creatively with people,
(06:37):
and I feel like coming to Mission Escape Rooms as
the district manager, it felt like coming home. Honestly, it
really has combined all of my skills and what I
love to do all in one place. So ever since then,
you know, we've opened our workshop back up, and we've
hired on our fabricator, and now again we're building new rooms,
creating new experiences. And I love the team I have here.
(06:57):
I've got the team that was here before me and
new teams as well. And you know this again, it's
really just combined my love for everything I like to
do and even spending time outdoors. I'm a Maryland Master Naturalist,
so you know, building rooms that are even nature seeing
makes me feel like I'm putting my skills to give you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Oh that is so cool. So looking ahead, I mean
outside of you know, uh, putting new rooms in there,
like you said, every year, every six months or whatever.
Where do you see the future of mission escape rooms?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, I think mission escape rooms were always up and up,
so we want to stay fresh and keep our community engaged.
So right now we're even building the crab Trap Room,
which is something that we want to engage our Waterman
community with. So having some local crabvers even come in
and try it out, and opening you know, the world
of escape to people that have never done it, and
being involved with local events and even like I mentioned
(07:49):
the Singles group, having them come in was a new
experience for us, so, you know, capitalizing on that and
having people come enjoy it from all walks of life
is what we want to see as we build not
only on our puzzles and creativity and technology, but build
on who gets to enjoy the escape.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, it's such a great idea and it's such a
great in a time where we're always looking for other
things to do with family with friends rather than dinner
in a movie or going to a bar, just going
out to eat. Mission Escape rooms is certainly fun for
everybody and definitely something people should do on a multiple
basis because, like you said they're always changing the rooms.
(08:27):
So where can our listeners find out more information about
Mission Escape Rooms exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So when you're done eating or you want to have
something to do, you can head over to www dot
mission Escape Rooms with an s dot com and you
can see us there and go rooms, see our rooms
and locations. You can also find us on social media
at Mission Escape Rooms and that will help you on
Instagram or Facebook to keep up with what we've got
going on behind the scenes and special deals. And I'd
(08:55):
also like to offer our iHeart listeners right now a
chance to come on in and get ten percent off
if they use iHeart ten as their discount code, and
that way they can have a fun a fun night
and come hang out with us. I love it.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
iHeart ten. Well, thanks for that. I appreciate that. I
think people are going to go and have a great time.
Of course, Jamie, thank you so much for your time
and giving us a little introduction to Mission Escape Rooms.
Although I think a lot of our listeners know about it,
now they know more about it and have to return
just in case they haven't been there in a while.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Huh, exactly, you know there's still something new to see
even if you've been before, and if you haven't been before.
I don't want anybody to feel like they can't go
because they're not sparting us. This is something for everyone,
and we really hope to see everybody out, not just
this summer but all year long.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Awesome, Janie, all right, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Of course, thanks for the opportunity. You guys have a
great rest of your day.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
This has been iHeartRadio's Maryland business Spotlight.
This is iHeartRadio's Maryland Business Spotlight. Each week we hear
from one local business owner letting us know where they
are in their business journey and how they got there.
I'm here today with Janie Orvaal, District manager of Mission
Escape Rooms. Jennie for people who might not know, tell
us about Mission Escape Rooms and what you guys do. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, escape rooms in general are immersive experiences where teams
get to work together and solve clues and puzzles and
become their own heroes and a story and solve the
mygery within fifty minutes at our escape room. So we
have three locations. One our first was downtown Annapolis here
in the historic West Street, and then Jason Cherry who
(00:38):
is our owner, started that up in twenty sixteen and
moved on and was really successful and started our Arundel
Mills Escape over in Hanover at the Mall, and then
now Wall Chapel, and we also have a mobile unit.
So we're doing really well and really connecting with our
guests and having everyone come in. You know, age range
really doesn't matter. Everybody can have the same great time
(00:59):
whether they're young or old or whatever they're feeling at
the moment. It's a really fun time and especially for
corporate team building, getting people together out of the workplace,
just hands on, away from screens. It's a good time
for everyone. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Now, let's say, let's just take the Annapolis location. How
many different escape rooms are there just in that location.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, so we have a total of eleven immersive escape
Four of those are here. Yeah so here of those though,
are at our Annapolis location. So right now we have four.
We have Expedition YETI we've got Once Upon a Crime.
Our newest escape room is the Fortune Teller that's been
open a few weeks now, and we're just about to
(01:42):
reopen our fourth one with a new theme of the
Crab Trap. So that's a local mystery on the chest
Peak Bay, perfect for Annapolis.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's awesome, And of course, you know, people go into
the room and there's different clues for them to get
out of the room, and there's different themes and different stories.
It's very creative. What a great idea that I know
came out years ago, but it's just it's so much
fun and from what I understand, don't you guys like
(02:09):
kind of swap out the rooms and put in a
new one. After a period of time that is, or
do they just stay the same throughout the just forever.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, So in the escape room realm, it's a worldly
thing that people do. They love them and so in
that realm, every five weeks they want to see a
new room at any location. So right now we actually
just brought on a new fabricator and him and I
we build our rooms from the ground up at our
workshop and really install them and make it our live experience.
(02:42):
So we hope to have a new room every few
months at either of our locations. So we don't want
one room to last more than a year as our goal.
So we want to have fresh stands and you know,
expand on the innovation and technology and puzzles and clues
and keep things fresh.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
That makes sense, And this is a great thing to
do for people who have groups they can go in
together and experience room, or if there's only like two
or three of you, you can pair up with another group,
right and they're a small group exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So well, our rooms they used to be public, so
you could play with basically strangers, but now all of
our rooms are private. So it's great for date night
and if you just want the two of you in here. Yeah,
so once you book a spot, that's your spot, whether
you have one player or ten players. We do recommend
playing with friends just to get the full experience. So
you could definitely go solo and enjoy it just the
same and just it feels like you're in a real
(03:32):
life video game. And it's good again for teams that
work or school functions or just you know, as friends
to reconnect away from screens and you know, get off
of social media and come in real life and have
a challenge with your friends and a good time. It's
a lot of fun. But yeah, it really doesn't matter
how many people.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, instead of playing a video game too like this,
you do it live. It's much better going to mission
escape room and doing it likely. Can I ask you
a question though? When I went it was they combined
my small group and another small group. Do you mind
if I asked you why that changed?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So we really changed that after COVID happened. You know,
we still wanted people to feel safe and comfortable coming
out to play a game like this in person, but
not having the fear that there was strangers that they
don't know that might have you know, any consaminations. But
you know, we've shifted away from that COVID mentality a
bit here where people are wanting to get out in
public again and be with other people. And we actually
just recently had a singles event that came out to
(04:31):
our Rendel Mills location where total strangers mingled with everyone
across our escape rooms and they had a really great time.
So you know, in the future we probably are going
to look to maybe do that again. But the private
rooms have been a really good success for people, and
they really prefer being solo with their personal family or
friend group.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I'll tell you what. I've only been once, and I'm
going to go again. I went to the Mission escape
room well hope you do at the Annapolis location, and
it was it was our little group and we again
because we didn't have like enough people, they teamed us
up with another group, which is fine and everything, but
we were sore. I don't know if we were dumb
or they were just really really good at these escape rooms,
(05:12):
but they just took over and we were just like, oh,
we didn't do it fast enough. And it was fun,
but I felt like the other group kind of like
took over. So it's cool. I like the fact that
you're just with friends, whether it's two people or four
people that you know. I think that's a great idea
now that there's nothing wrong with doing it with strangers.
So it's just a specific experience.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
So it's yeah, but you know, again, like you said,
it's good. We want this to be accessible and inviting
to every experience level, whether you've never done an escape
room or whether you've done hundreds, we want you to
have the same great time. And so if you come
in as a beginner never having done this, we don't
want you to feel pressured or you know, feel like
that you're not up to par and playing or not
smart enough, because everybody is. And we also offer unlimited hints,
(05:56):
so you can ask our game master who could vibe
in person in the escape room? Yeah, in our master suite,
and they give you as many hints as you want,
whether it's a little nudge or the full clue, and
we'll get you out of here having a fun time.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, it is a good time. I love it. We
got to go again for sure. How did you get
your start with Mission escape rooms? And how long have
you been there?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah? So I actually started back in August so I'm
a little bit newer to our location here, but I'm
not new to the creative world. I used to be
an art instructor and cake artists over at a bakery,
and I came read most recently for spending about six
years in veterinary management, very community focused. I opened a
pet food pantry and I just love connecting creatively with people,
(06:37):
and I feel like coming to Mission Escape Rooms as
the district manager, it felt like coming home. Honestly, it
really has combined all of my skills and what I
love to do all in one place. So ever since then,
you know, we've opened our workshop back up, and we've
hired on our fabricator, and now again we're building new rooms,
creating new experiences. And I love the team I have here.
(06:57):
I've got the team that was here before me and
new teams as well. And you know this again, it's
really just combined my love for everything I like to
do and even spending time outdoors. I'm a Maryland Master Naturalist,
so you know, building rooms that are even nature seeing
makes me feel like I'm putting my skills to give you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Oh that is so cool. So looking ahead, I mean
outside of you know, uh, putting new rooms in there,
like you said, every year, every six months or whatever.
Where do you see the future of mission escape rooms?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, I think mission escape rooms were always up and up,
so we want to stay fresh and keep our community engaged.
So right now we're even building the crab Trap Room,
which is something that we want to engage our Waterman
community with. So having some local crabvers even come in
and try it out, and opening you know, the world
of escape to people that have never done it, and
being involved with local events and even like I mentioned
(07:49):
the Singles group, having them come in was a new
experience for us, so, you know, capitalizing on that and
having people come enjoy it from all walks of life
is what we want to see as we build not
only on our puzzles and creativity and technology, but build
on who gets to enjoy the escape.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, it's such a great idea and it's such a
great in a time where we're always looking for other
things to do with family with friends rather than dinner
in a movie or going to a bar, just going
out to eat. Mission Escape rooms is certainly fun for
everybody and definitely something people should do on a multiple
basis because, like you said they're always changing the rooms.
(08:27):
So where can our listeners find out more information about
Mission Escape Rooms exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So when you're done eating or you want to have
something to do, you can head over to www dot
mission Escape Rooms with an s dot com and you
can see us there and go rooms, see our rooms
and locations. You can also find us on social media
at Mission Escape Rooms and that will help you on
Instagram or Facebook to keep up with what we've got
going on behind the scenes and special deals. And I'd
(08:55):
also like to offer our iHeart listeners right now a
chance to come on in and get ten percent off
if they use iHeart ten as their discount code, and
that way they can have a fun a fun night
and come hang out with us. I love it.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
iHeart ten. Well, thanks for that. I appreciate that. I
think people are going to go and have a great time.
Of course, Jamie, thank you so much for your time
and giving us a little introduction to Mission Escape Rooms.
Although I think a lot of our listeners know about it,
now they know more about it and have to return
just in case they haven't been there in a while.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Huh, exactly, you know there's still something new to see
even if you've been before, and if you haven't been before.
I don't want anybody to feel like they can't go
because they're not sparting us. This is something for everyone,
and we really hope to see everybody out, not just
this summer but all year long.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Awesome, Janie, all right, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Of course, thanks for the opportunity. You guys have a
great rest of your day.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
This has been iHeartRadio's Maryland business Spotlight.
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