I’ll be honest, I feel a little conceded writing a blog about myself. It’s not my preference to be a feature or focus but I’ve been instructed by my boss to write so here’s a first fact about me – I am obedient. Shall we end there? Just kidding. You’ve been hearing my voice over the past few weeks so here’s a face behind the words. My name is Erica, and I am the “everything girl” (dubbed, not self-proclaimed) here at Escape. One day I’m writing a blog post, the next day I’m building a bar – you just never know what’s in store for me here!

If you checked out our blog from last week, you know a little about the story behind Heather and Melanie and the start of this business – two busy moms taking on another “baby,” if you will… but you might be wondering how I fit. I’m not a mom, so I see your confusion. My connection to the escape room starts all the way back in 2013 when I began nannying for Melanie (does that make me an “almost-not-quite mom”?). I guess somewhere over the past four years, Melanie and I developed a friendship. Yes – my first ever “momfriend.” So that’s how we got here – there is my connection. 

We’ll fast forward through all the bribing (promises of puppies, lattes, and millions of dollars, etc.) and persistence to get me on board at Escape. I knew I was in for an adventure when I finally agreed to try to make a logo with the stipulations: “no keys, keyholes, locks, gears, chains, doors, or people.” What. Those were all of my ideas. After my first few failed attempts, I started losing the little faith I had in my creative abilities and whenever I would try to give up, they would simply say, “you can do this. you can do anything.” (That has been a reoccurring dialog over this past year – I know, shocking.) I knew without question that this was where I needed to be weeks later when I finally, hesitantly, shared our logo with Melanie and Heather and was greeted with the response of resounding praise. 

Praise – it’s amazing what it can do for a person. I’ve always been my own worst critic and the sole obstacle in moving forward with new adventures. I’m the “what if” girl – what if I fail? What if it sucks? What if no one likes it? What if it doesn’t work? Melanie and Heather brought me on as an employee but made me feel like I was part of an equal team. But they’re not just my teammates, they’re my cheerleaders, encouragers… my moms. They have turned the what ifs of every project I have struggled through and made them my proudest accomplishments by pushing me to finish those I wanted to give up on, to start over on the ones I lost vision for, and to let myself delight in the ones still (amazingly) standing in our lobby.

When people ask me where I learned to make things, my response is always, “My dad and Youtube… and trial and error here (at the escape room).” Melanie and Heather have allowed me to use my creativity in ways I never could have never imagined which makes me think that I haven’t just built things in this place, but this place has built things in me. I can’t imagine working in any other place or for any better people… and I don’t even get a bonus on my next paycheck for saying that.

Sometime down the road, I’ll be sharing how (as best as I can) I made some of the projects in our space – so tune in and I’ll channel my inner Joanna Gaines to showcase the transformation of our space on a budget. Until then, you can find me here… and by that, I mean, you should find me here because you need to come and visit us. I promise you’ll have a good time. 

erica