When Thomas and Whitney Hughes started exploring business ownership, they were looking for something that would fit their strengths as operators while giving them more control over their schedule. They found Escapology, the 100+ unit escape room franchise, after years of enjoying escape rooms themselves and realizing the business offered a combination of entertainment and a proven system. 

“We used to do date nights in Austin,” Thomas said. “We'd go up there, eat some Indian food and then play an escape room. We quickly decided we'd love to run an escape room. It sounded like a great idea. We enjoy doing it. It's a really fun business … Initially, we thought we could build this ourselves, engineer all the games and have all the systems in place. Then we quickly realized that was a massive mountain to climb and started looking at franchises. We interviewed one and eventually settled on Escapology.” 

The couple spent years working together at a large skydiving facility in Central Texas, where Thomas oversaw operations and Whitney managed the office. Running the business side by side helped them realize they worked well as a team and could successfully operate a company of their own. As they evaluated opportunities, they were drawn to a concept that combined entertainment with a structured franchise system.

"We didn't own the business, but we managed it, and we quickly realized we worked really well together," Whitney said. “We were a great team when it came to managing a company, and we thought we'd be really good at running our own company.”

After signing with Escapology, the Hugheses worked through financing, real estate and construction before opening their first location. What gave them confidence throughout the process was seeing other franchisees continue to expand within the system. 

"One of the things that sold us was seeing how many franchisees were multi-unit operators," Thomas said. “For us, that spoke volumes.”

The business has since created the flexibility the couple was hoping for while giving them a platform for future growth. With additional locations under consideration, the Hugheses continue to focus on scaling the business while spending more time with their family. 

Thomas and Whitney Hughes joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills on a recent episode of the “Meet the Franchisee” podcast to discuss their transition from the skydiving industry to franchise ownership, the challenges of opening their first Escapology location and why they are already pursuing additional units. A transcript of the interview — edited for brevity, clarity and style — has been provided below.

Nick Powills: Right, Thomas and Whitney. One scripted question and then no more. But the first scripted question always creates a great story. How did you guys accidentally fall into franchising? What's your story?

Thomas Hughes: Well, that's a good question. We weren't necessarily looking for a franchise until we decided that we were looking for a franchise. Probably four or five years ago, we used to do date nights in Austin. We'd go up there, eat some Indian food and then play an escape room. We quickly decided we'd love to run an escape room. It sounded like a great idea. We enjoy doing it. It's a really fun business. Everybody comes in with the mindset of having a good time, they have a good time and then they leave happy. That's exactly what we love to do.

Initially, we thought we could build this ourselves, engineer all the games and have all the systems in place. Then we quickly realized that was a massive mountain to climb and started looking at franchises. We interviewed one and eventually settled on Escapology.

Nick: After a little while, were you pretty dialed into escape room franchising, or did your attention go in other directions as well?

Whitney Hughes: Originally, we were looking into escape rooms because, while we were at dinner, we did a little back-of-the-napkin math and realized escape rooms can actually be quite profitable. Plus, they're fun.

We come from a skydiving background, which we might get into a little later, so we've always been in the business of fun. We were attracted to escape rooms because we played them ourselves, and then we realized they could actually be profitable. That was pretty appealing to us. We did look at a couple of other franchises because we have young kids.

Thomas: We looked at a ninja gym-type concept where kids could come in and run obstacle courses and things like that. We also looked at frozen yogurt.

Whitney: Something a little more hands-off. That's what we were looking for in a franchise: something that would allow us to spend more time with our family while still operating a successful business. Honestly, we kind of hit the mark with Escapology.

Nick: Were you both in careers at this point when you were making those trips to Austin? What did that look like?

Thomas: Yeah, I guess so. We were both working for a large skydiving facility in Central Texas. We had a lot of history within the skydiving community and within that business. I was the operations manager and Whitney was the office manager. We were a great team working together.

Nick: Were you looking to leave that business and do this?

Whitney: We were looking for a way forward. We'd both been in the skydiving industry for a long time, and as you get older and have kids, your priorities start to change. We didn't own the business, but we managed it, and we quickly realized we worked really well together. We were a great team when it came to managing a company, and we thought we'd be really good at running our own company.

So we started looking into franchising. Of course, we were still working while we were exploring it, and honestly, the process took a while. I think in 2022 we first had this realization that we could own our own business, specifically an escape room business.

Then we started looking into funding, which was a whole new experience for us. We also started looking at real estate and negotiating leases, which was new as well. Fortunately, Escapology had a nice blueprint that helped us navigate those hurdles.

It wasn't until 2024 that we actually opened our doors. During that time, we left the skydiving facility in 2023 and put all of our effort into opening this escape room. I was also working in real estate, so we were doing everything we could to get this business up and running. Now it's pretty much our livelihood.

Nick: If I had to compare business ownership to something, I don't think skydiving is very far off. When I think about it, I go back to the first time you jump out of a plane. There's a lot of trust involved. You have to trust the process even when there's fear.

Because of your background in skydiving, did that change some of your reactions when it came time to actually sign a franchise agreement?

Thomas: I think there's a lot of fear of the unknown when you're signing a franchise agreement, securing funding and signing a real estate lease. Having the comfort of being in uncomfortable situations and knowing you can get through them definitely helps. I think it's a great way to grow individually and as a team. So yes, I think that's important.

Whitney: I think it affected us, too. We're both very much creatures of change and growth. We like to grow, try new things and move to new places. This was a perfect opportunity for us because nothing really goes the way you think it's going to go. You can have everything mapped out and then suddenly find yourself saying, "Well, we were supposed to close on our loan 10 months ago." There are always hiccups. There are a lot of hurdles to get through, but in the end it's definitely worth it.

Nick: Think about one of those hiccups. Obviously, you're having conversations in your own head and with each other. How do you get beyond it? How do you find the strength to keep believing in the process? Was it each other?

Thomas: It was certainly each other, and I think the Escapology community as well. There are some great operators out there who are more than willing to share everything they can about the operation and how challenging it can be to get started. We knew from the beginning that this wasn't necessarily going to be easy.

Any new franchise is a challenge to get going. This one is probably a little more challenging because of the complexity of the concept. There are multiple kinds of doors, hinges and many different aspects of the build-out. It's certainly a challenge, but everybody is incredibly helpful. We lean on each other, keep each other aligned and keep each other motivated.

Whitney: One major hiccup I remember happened about six months into the process. We had been preapproved for our SBA loan. We signed the franchise agreement, paid the fee and then, about a week later, the bank came back and said there were internal issues. To this day, I don't really know what happened, but we got denied for the loan.

We thought, "What are we going to do now?" We definitely had a few days where we struggled, but then you get back on the bus and keep moving forward. I'm glad we did because it was well worth it.

Thomas: Talking with the other operators helped. We knew what the end result could be, and we understood what we were working toward. Even during those moments of struggle, it was easy for us to see the end goal and keep pushing toward it.

Nick: At what point did you change your identity and start thinking of yourselves as business owners or entrepreneurs instead of employees? How quickly did that transition happen?

Whitney: That's an interesting question because I think it was a gradual transition. Even when we first opened, it didn't necessarily feel like we were business owners instead of employees. During those first six months, we were very present at the store.

Once we had good staff in place and realized we didn't have to be there every day, and that our staff cared about the business and had been trained well, I think that's when it started to feel different.

Thomas: That was probably within the first six months. There's always a list of things that need to get done, and that list never ends. But now it's on our own timeline and our own schedule.

That was a big turning point for us. We were no longer doing things because someone else required them on a specific timeline. We were still getting them done, but on our own terms. That's the freedom we were looking for when we started this venture: more time, more control of our time and financial freedom. This business has certainly helped us achieve that.

Nick: As a business owner, I'd say the same thing. But even though I'm in control of the decisions, the hardest boss I've ever had is myself. Even though I have the freedom to do things with my family, I still hear that voice in my head saying, "Go work harder."

Do you find that to be true, or can you silence that internal boss?

Whitney: Well, he's one of my bosses. We check each other a lot. We both have our own roles in the business. He's much more focused on operations and working directly with the staff to make sure expectations are being met. I'm more focused on finances and growing the business behind the scenes.

I think it's good that we have each other to keep pushing forward. We don't want to be content with where we are. We're both growth-minded. Even before we opened our first location, we had goals for the first three years and a vision for where we wanted to be in five years. We stay aligned on those goals and keep moving forward.

Nick: Looking back at the buying process, were there fears you had about the business that turned out to be easier to overcome than you expected? I'm asking because someone else considering this business may be facing those same concerns.

Thomas: As first-time business owners, I think everything gave us fear. We were taking out a massive loan, and there's a lot of fear associated with that. What if it goes sideways? We were signing a 10-year real estate lease. There's certainly fear in that. Are we choosing the right location? Do we have enough rooms? Do we have too many rooms?

Whitney: Are people going to come? Are escape rooms just a fad?

Thomas: That was definitely a concern for us when we started looking into this three or four years ago. All of those questions naturally create fear and doubt. But we've overcome every one of them. A lot of that came from reaching out to the franchise network and reassuring ourselves. We have a strong partnership, and we keep each other motivated and moving in the right direction.

Whitney, anything you'd add to that?

Whitney: I want to say that, honestly, the franchisor and all of the staff we've worked with have been great. When we had fears and felt discouraged, wondering, "It's taking so long. Are we ever going to open?" everyone kept saying, "It's hard to get open, but it's worth it once you open."

I remember finally opening our doors. Up until then, it had just been spend, spend, spend while waiting to bring in income. Then, sure enough, after the first week, we ran our totals and realized we had made money.

Now, every week and every month, we run our numbers. We check them every day, so we're very aware of what's happening in the business. We have worksheets that help us see our growth, and it's really fun to watch.

So, everyone who kept saying, "Just get open," was absolutely right. That's what I would say to any franchisee today: It's hard, but get open.

Nick: As an outsider looking at this business, I would say this is definitely a company that is in the business of getting franchisees open. Some franchisors are in the business of getting franchises sold. When you're selling franchises, you're trying to hit those numbers over and over again. But when you're focused on getting franchisees open, the reality is that the franchisor makes its profit off royalties.

When you have the right mindset at the top, every bit of support comes back to getting the franchisee open. That's common among almost every franchisee I've spoken with. The time from signing to opening ends up being the highest-stress point because you're still stuck in this world of the unknown. Then, when you get over that hump and realize, "We actually made money," the mindset shifts. Then it's, "How do we jump out of the plane again?" Right?

Whitney: Yeah, and it's hard because there's a lot of the cart-before-the-horse, chicken-and-egg dance that you have to do. You can't get a loan until you have a lease, and you can't get a lease until you have a loan. That was a real frustration for us.

You just have to cross your fingers. You sign the franchise agreement, but you still haven't closed on your loan. You've signed a lease, but you still haven't closed on the loan, and you're thinking, "Gosh, I sure hope we close on this loan."

Especially for our first one, that was probably the biggest stress: Is that loan actually going to close? It was an SBA loan, and there was a mountain of paperwork to do. You don't really close on those until right before you're in construction, so figuring out how all of that timing was going to work was stressful.

For the first one, we had all of our eggs in that basket. Now, as we look toward opening our second, third and eventually fourth location, we at least have a really high-producing business already.

Nick: When I think about the thousands of franchisees I've spoken with over my 21 years in franchising, and how they get to "yes," there are a few things that seem to matter.

I have to trust the vision of the leadership. I have to see who is leading the ship and how much support, structure and infrastructure are around it. I have to see a point of differentiation in the product so I know it is marketable. The cost to get in and how much I can make have to be sound. Yes, everyone can have passion for the business, but everyone who gets into business is ultimately in the business of making money, so you have to make sure that is sound.

I also want to be able to open where I want to open. I don't want to be forced into certain markets, especially for unit No. 1. And then there's validation. When I ask franchisees, "Would you do it again?" and there's no hesitation, that matters.

Were there other things you had to see in the process to know Escapology was the right business for you? Or does that align with what you were looking at?

Thomas: Before we opened our first location, we went to two conferences. The first one we attended touched on something you just mentioned. One of the things that sold us was seeing how many franchisees were multi-unit operators.

For us, that spoke volumes. You can do it once and make a mistake, but you don't make the mistake of going back into it again. If people are committing to the brand and committing to the franchise again, that means the systems either work well enough for them or work exceptionally well.

That was a big turning point for us. When we realized there were a lot of people either operating multiple units or signed on to become multi-unit operators, we saw that as a really good sign.

Nick: That's a great point. I'm curious because you had to go to the conference to really see that. Were you able to see that as an outsider looking in, or was that story not as present when you were doing your homework before you filled out a form?

Thomas: I don't think it was quite as present until we were actually in front of other people and understood why they were doing it again. You can have all that information, but until you actually sit down and have a face-to-face conversation, it doesn't really come through the same way.

Whitney: Meeting people and understanding that they're on their fourth, fifth or sixth location and still going, still wanting more, was important.

Nick: I think that's a huge opportunity. If I'm someone on the fence, I've always thought the best marketing for a franchise system is its franchisees. If they've signed a multi-unit agreement and are saying yes to unit No. 2, that says a lot.

Sometimes brands hit a stall-out moment. Franchisees get one open and say, "It's not doing what I expected it to do, so I'm going to pump the brakes and see what happens before I keep going."

But in brands where there is momentum, the idea is that if you get multiple units open, eventually you don't owe anything on unit No. 1. Then you can collect cash from there and keep leveraging the lender to open more units. That ends up being a great indicator.

But if that story isn't seen from the outside, then it's just a brand. The more exposure that story gets, the better. On that note, you're thinking about scale and you are scaling. How do you get through that process? Where is your story right now with Escapology?

Thomas: It's been a long process, and I think our biggest issue right now is finding real estate that we want to go into. There are two ways you can look at opening these locations. One is Class A real estate in the exact prime locations you want, with good co-tenancy. The other is going into a less ideal location, with less ideal co-tenancy, and spending more on marketing.

We're in an amazing location in San Antonio, in a great entertainment district. We have a movie theater, a bunch of restaurants and a family entertainment center nearby, and that's the kind of location we're looking for.

Because our first location has done so well, we're becoming more and more selective about where we want to be for No. 2. We now know that location is one of the secrets to success. We're currently looking at multiple markets at the same time and hoping to nail down some details in the next couple of weeks.

Whitney: We have the San Antonio market, where we have room for two locations in the area, and then we're also looking at Wichita, Kansas. Honestly, the lease negotiations have taken a long time. We have an LOI in, but there are speed bumps we have to work through.

Thomas: One of the issues we have is that because we're entertainment-based retail, a lot of these big-box stores require waivers for our use. It goes back to the old days when they didn't want a bowling alley, laser tag or something like that.

Whitney: Or billiards.

Thomas: Right, billiards, which maybe had a shady side to it. The reality is that our demographic is actually 40- to 45-year-old women who bring their kids in during the summer holidays. We're trying to get into those prime real estate locations, and sometimes it just requires a special touch with the landlord to get that use approved.

Whitney: I will say that the franchisor has been excellent. We signed our franchise agreement in late 2022, and the brand has transformed so much since we came on board. Burton [Heiss] came on as CEO right before us, and he has made some great changes by implementing systems and hiring the right people for the right jobs.

We always talk about how Escapology has a blueprint. There are stores that open and aren't as successful, but our success has come from following the blueprint: being in a specific area, spending the right amount on marketing, being open at the right times and doing all of those things.

The corporate stores do really well, so franchisees ask, "How can we get those numbers?" Yes, they spend more on marketing, but their revenue numbers are high. We followed the blueprint, and it has worked out really well for us.

Nick: That's such an easy secret. It's what's behind door three. When you follow what's already been proven and what you've invested in, it's amazing what can happen. That's where the pain of finding the next piece of real estate comes in.

First, you know what you know now that you're in it. Second, continuing to avoid burnout during the process of finding the right location is part of the magic.

If I break down the highest-performing units in a system, it comes down to thirds. One-third is the brand. You can open in bad real estate and have a good brand, and you'll still have some sales, but you probably won't be a top performer.

If you get the real estate right, now you're in the top two-thirds because you have both the real estate and the brand. Then the magic is doing the operations well. That means your team sets an expectation for the customer and then meets or exceeds it.

Suddenly, you're a top-performing unit. It's not hard to see. The fact that you are following the blueprint and advocating for it is the magic of top-performing franchisees. So you're in it and you're looking for No. 2. When you think about where you want to go in business, what is the dream?

Thomas: That's a good question. We're not 100% sure yet. We're really enjoying the journey, and I can't say we've talked about how that journey is going to end at this point.

All we know right now is that we enjoy what we're doing, we're good at it and we want to continue doing it. We want to continue growing and scaling. If we ever get to a point where we're not enjoying it anymore or we don't want to continue scaling, then we can have that discussion. But right now, all we know is that we want to keep moving forward.

Whitney: For us, the dream going into this was that we needed more time. We wanted more time with our kids. Our kids are 8 and 10, and they're at that really fun age where we want to be able to spend time with them.

Escapology has allowed us to have that passive income. We both pretty much work from home, and we're able to travel when we want. It has opened up so much time for me that I'm actually able to homeschool my kids.

We really value our family, and Escapology has allowed us to spend more time with them while being financially stable and growing. In the big scheme of things, that was the dream.

Nick: If you could magically go back in a time machine, would you say the timing was right? Would you have told yourselves to do it earlier? When you reflect back, I live life with no regrets. I think the time I pulled the trigger on everything was right. But I was 27 when I started our company, and I sometimes wonder whether I was afraid. I probably could have done it four years earlier.

Whitney: We're a little older than that. I was 48 and Thomas was 45 when we started this two or three years ago, so definitely on the later end of things. I'll speak for myself. If I had a time machine, or if I knew then what I know now, yes, I probably would have started my own business earlier.

But again, no regrets. We've had a really amazing life. We lived on a boat for a while, we've lived in different states and we've done the skydiving thing. We've checked off a lot of boxes already in our lives. I wouldn't say I regret any of our decisions, but yes, financially, if we had done this 20 years ago, we'd be in a very different but still great place.

Nick: I was 27, and I was a complete idiot then, but you know.

Thomas: I think I would agree. Looking back, I would say, "Do this earlier. Do it as early as possible." But the flip side is that all of your experiences culminate in the moment when you actually decide to do it.

I think it would have been really hard for us to do this at a younger age when we didn't have the life experience we have now and still had the desire to travel and do all those exciting things.

Now that we're settling down a little more, we're more mature and we have all that life experience behind us. We're able to put all of that into the business.

Even simple things, like communicating with our team, are different now. To your point, at 27 years old, I wouldn't have communicated with the team the way I do today. It's a very different perspective.

Nick: We'll close on this. For someone watching this who might be stuck on the edge and unable to jump out of the plane yet, what advice would you give them about Escapology? And then, the question that always has to be asked: Would you do it again?

Thomas: As far as whether we would do it again, absolutely. As for what I would tell somebody, if we use the skydiving analogy, we know how the gear is maintained. We know the processes are in place to make sure there's a good safety margin. If you know all those things, then there's absolutely no reason not to do it. Do your homework, know what you're getting into and absolutely get into it.

Whitney: It's a calculated risk, and if all the calculations work out, just jump.

Nick: Guys, thank you so much for sharing your story. I love hearing from people who did make the jump. I know it's scary as a first-time business operator to trust the process and follow the blueprint, but you are a great example of people who are doing it and continuing to scale. Congratulations on all of your success, and thanks for sharing your story with us.

Watch the full episode above or on YouTube.