Today we’d like to introduce you to James.
Hi James, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I had played a ton of puzzle games and even some of the original escape room flash games online, so I jumped at the chance to try one in real life. I got an invite from my friend and future co-creator Manolo Hernandez, who had been gifted tickets by his future wife and co-creator Trista Fouts (now Fouts-Hernandez). After playing our first real-life escape room, we were hooked. As luck would have it, right around the same time, my father Don had done the same room as his first. In the excitement of the car ride home, a thought crossed my mind: “We could totally do this.” I had a feeling that my father had the same thought, and sure enough, he was already thinking of ways we could improve on the format. All of us share a theater background (which is how we met Manolo and Trista), and Don has dabbled in just about everything, so combined we had an eclectic repertoire of skills seemingly tailor-made for the unique challenges of starting an escape room.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We were starting out at a time where escape rooms were still kind of a niche activity, so explaining the concept and convincing people that it was safe was our biggest priority. We already knew we weren’t going to lock players in (or even pretend to, for that matter), we had no plans to use pyrotechnics, and we weren’t going to be filling the room shoulder-to-shoulder, so safety wasn’t a concern. Luckily as time has gone on, and escape rooms have broken into the mainstream, people no longer mistake them for rage rooms or panic shelters.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I consider myself the puzzle master, but in reality Manolo, Don, and I worked together on all of the puzzles in our rooms. Really I’m the ideas guy/problem solver. I tend to see things differently than most people, so I can often ask the sort of questions that lead to unique solutions. As far as the actual puzzle designs go, even we can’t really pinpoint who comes up with what concept. The three of us would meet up at Panera Bread and have these whirlwind brainstorming sessions, building onto each other’s suggestions. We had all done Improv comedy in the past, so we stuck to the “yes, and” rule (where instead of negating someone’s contribution, you accept it and improve upon it) and built our ideas up collaboratively.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I was lucky to have a very happy childhood, as being home schooled and having nearly limitless access to Disney World (my father was a cast member at the time), we found a lot of fun and interesting ways to fill the curriculum. But by far my favorite times were our road trips, most of all our 3 week trip to Salt Lake City for the 2002 winter Olympics. My second Olympic games, but the first one where I was fully cognizant for the proceedings (I was born near Atlanta and my parents took me to the ’96 summer Olympics, though seeing as I was 4, I only have vague memories of a Star Wars coloring book at a baseball game). The trip consisted of one week out to Utah, one week at the games, and one week back. On the way, we stopped at just about any zoo, museum, factory tour, theme park and historical site we could find along the way. As a naturally curious child who never had to be forced into learning things, it was the perfect vacation.
Pricing:
- $30 per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mindmasterscc.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindmastersclermont
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mind-masters-clermont
