Exploring Life & Business with Ish Said of Game On Escapes & More

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ish Said. 

Hi Ish, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a first-generation Egyptian-American. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from NC State University. I’ve always dabbled in technology. I was the kid that took apart my parents’ VCR and almost put it back together. I have always been interested in how things work and have always been a jokester. I am an avid video gamer and love all things entertainment. I play video games, board games, trivia, murder mysteries, and more. I’ve worked in various industries and built a career in Enterprise Data Storage. I currently work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and have my own escape room business with two other partners, Saed, and Samer Hamad. Throughout my professional career, I’ve always had a side passion projects or business. From doing 3D modeling and animation to writing my own apps or video games to my latest business. 

In 2016 I played my first escape room and immediately said this fits my niche. My partners were in the process of opening Game On Escape Rooms in Morehead City, NC. I started work on a few designs of my own, and I joined them in 2017 to create Game On Escapes & More as Saed and I always talked of various entertainment businesses and ideas. We opened our Cary location in the Spring of 2018. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
My challenges have always been balancing my professional work, my side hustles, and my family life. The great thing about my escape room business is that it’s mostly nights and weekend gigs, so it doesn’t overlap that much. Having great partners help as they can answer phones and take care of some of the operational aspects of the business. I’ve been fortunate to have a great support network from my partners, my parents, and my wife and kids. My oldest son actually came up with some of the puzzles in one of our entry-level escape rooms. 

Keeping employees engaged can also be a challenge, but I always look to what I wanted from my employers and try to encourage my team to explore their passions. Most of our team are high school seniors or early college students with little to no experience. We teach them great communication skills. Today many youths don’t really know how to interact face to face in our world of direct messaging. I’ve had team members that want to dabble in art or coding, so I give them a prop to work on or let them help create assets for us to use on social media or in a given game. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a growing entertainment company with a core focus on escape rooms. They are great activities for family bonding, team building, or just a date night. We’ve got something for all ages so the whole family can be engaged and challenged. We dabble in Virtual Reality experiences and recently launched our new Game Show SHOWDOWN. It’s a mash-up of popular TV game shows and is a great icebreaker for teams and ways to interject people that are slowly trickling back into the office. When people think of what is something fun, we can do, we want them to think Game On. We will have a new location in the Triangle’s newest destination, BoxyardRTP! This is a new retail center built from refurbished shipping containers. We have some ambitious events planned for this location, some of which will be in our 3 containers, but some events that will take place on the main stage for the public. Definitely keep an eye out there in the VERY near future. 

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
As much as I love entertainment, I never thought it was something to be proud of. I thought no one would take me seriously. That was until I came across this quote . . . 

“I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic-book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people’s lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you’re able to entertain people, you’re doing a good thing.” 

-Stan Lee. 

This quote really rings in true and I see it in team-building events. A great many times we have a team come in and they have low energy, why are we here, etc. By the end of just 1 hour, they are cheering each other on. Executives and managers write back to us on how great it was and that it was just what their teams needed. Strangers become friends, trust is built and people win [or lose] TOGETHER! 

Pricing:

• $25 – 30 per participant for most activities

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://gameonescapes.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/gameonescapes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gameonescapes/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gameonescapes/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC74tBvAMJrXhuDUIbAamB_Q
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/game-on-escapes-and-more-cary

Image Credits
Tabletop Media Group
Research Triangle Foundation