Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed Chao.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I first heard about escape rooms when my friend from college emailed me a New York Times article about how escape rooms were spreading like wildfire in China. I was excited to do one myself so I searched for one in Houston. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find one so I solicited help from my friend, Melissa, to make one at home for friends and family to try. We made it in my home office and got some pretty good feedback. My favorite feedback was from my friend, Cimela – she told me that she “loved it because for one hour, I could just forget about work and stress and just focus on trying to escape.” With the encouragement of our friends, my wife and I decided to rent a small room for 4 months in the attic of this 3-story house in the Rice village to validate the market. Through the support of our amazing friends, word of Houston Escape Room started spreading, and we eventually grew out of our old location and started creating new escape room experiences by Minute Maid.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but that’s also what makes our journey amazing. My wife and I moved to New York about 5 months after we started the business. We always knew we were going to move, but we also had to give this business a try. We figured that if the business went well, we’d have a good problem on our hands. And if it didn’t go well, we could just fold it up and move on. By leaving, we had to find people we really trusted. And that’s exactly what happened. We had a team of 4 running the business and they were the reason we were able to keep the business alive even though we weren’t there.
Another tough obstacle we’ve had to face was Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. While we were fortunate to not take on too much flood damage, we are still feeling the ripple effects to this day. Our city was hurting and the last thing anyone was looking to do was to pay for entertainment. We took care of our staff the best we could, and we just tried to help our Houston bounce back by being a distraction for them even if it was for just an hour.
Please tell us about Houston Escape Room.
Your team’s mission in an escape room is to solve clues and puzzles as a team and to escape within the one-hour time limit. What I most enjoy about Houston Escape Room is the idea of bringing groups of friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers to work together towards a common goal. Our rooms challenge and encourage teams to work together harmoniously and it’s what makes each session memorable. Although the puzzles are challenging, we have designed our rooms to be enjoyable to groups of all ages.
What thrilled me about designing an escape room was the notion that all of these teams of people were excited to follow the weird way that my brain works and that everyone who had a good time in Agent Mo’s Safehouse, was actually having a good time with me! These 6 walls have become a unique canvas for the art of escape room design, and I believe we’re just beginning to understand what makes an escape room truly transcendent and memorable!
Our staff has been fantastic at designing more and more unique rooms and experiences. I believe that’s one of the most unique things in our industry – it’s that we design and build everything ourselves!
One other thing that sets us apart from the competition is our special packages. We currently offer a “confidential mission.” Essentially, we allow the customer to slightly alter the storyline/objectives of the room that they choose and include personalized gifts/items to be hidden in the room. A perfect example of this is the multiple proposals that have taken place in our rooms. The fact that we are able to cater for life changing events like this is priceless.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I wouldn’t have asked my first employees to work 14-hour shifts. I’m embarrassed that I worked agents Dez and PQ that hard.
That’s about it.
While it’s been a rollercoaster, there’s not much I would have done differently.
Pricing:
- Standard retail session – $28/person (plus tax)
- Corporate session – $35/person (plus tax)
Contact Info:
- Address: 100 Jackson St Suite 120
Houston, TX 77002 - Website: www.houstonescaperoom.com
- Phone: 832-786-9323
- Email: echao@houstonescaperoom.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houstonescaperoom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houstonescaperoomHER/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/htownescaperoom?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/houston-escape-room-houston-2
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
