Meet Melana Singletary | Co-founder of Vroom Vroom Escape Room

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melana Singletary and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melana, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
For as long I can remember I ALWAYS loved games! I loved the thought processes they involved and the sense of accomplishment that I felt when I completed levels, or figured out a puzzle. However I grew up believing that games were not a path to financial freedom, they are just frivolous modes of fun and nothing more.

While I attended Georgia Tech Graduate school with my business partner she also had the same passion for exercising her mental capacity through solving riddles and having fun. We spent many hours in the library playing escape room games on the computer while talking about creating an in-person version. We graduated in 2009 with our Master’s degrees and went to corporate. It wasn’t until 2014 when the first real life escape room arrived in Atlanta GA that we saw that our dream of making one of these so many years prior could be attained!

We wanted to create games that would uplift and bond people the same way the computer games had done for us. So we did. After running it on the side for 8 years I realized that I felt much more joy seeing people’s confidence get boosted through our games than I ever felt in the 13 years as a nuclear reactor inspector. So I quit to pursue Vroom Vroom Escape Room full time!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Vroom Vroom Escape Room is more than just a fun game that you get to play with your friends, co-workers, family, or sometimes complete strangers. It is an experience that allows you to put your phone down for an hour and actually connect with other human beings in a unique way while simultaneously exercising parts of your brain that leaves you feeling uplifted and empowered! We carefully curate each of our games to ensure those feelings are cultivated. On top of that we are unique in that we take on the logistical nightmare of getting groups of people from A to B, because we come right to you whether it is a conference room, classroom, or living room! We transform your space into our light hearted, thought provoking themed escape rooms!

We have obtained the success we have now mostly through word of mouth because our games speak for themselves. However we are at the point where marketing and advertising is a must for us to grow and we are currently learning how to invest in ourselves in that way.

We would love the world to know that once you have played a Vroom Vroom Escape Room it will be an experience that will positively impact you for years. Whether you are a child who is in the process of growing their confidence or an adult whose confidence has been torn down over the years, after playing a Vroom Vroom Escape Room you will know that you are important and your voice is needed to accomplish a collaborative goal! Be empowered as you go out into the world, the world needs you!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I will always take them for a stroll on the beltline, particularly the Eastside beltline from Piedmont Park to Krog St Market, and the West End Beltine near White St. There are tons of restaurants along the beltline, people are outside being active, and it is very diverse. The West End beltline leads to a Black Vegan mecca where I love to introduce my friends to healthy delicious restaurants like Tassili’s Raw Reality, Healthful Essence, and Wadada!

Eventually we would make our way up North to my favorite korean spa, SpaLand. Here we would relax and tend to our mental, emotional, and physical health by sweating in different types of rooms and challenging ourselves with a cold plunge tub.

Atlanta really has so much culture and is so welcoming to everyone.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents deserve so much recognition for fostering the competitive spirit they saw in me. Playing strategic, mind stimulating games have been a part of our household since before I could read. My dad was very into computers in the 80s so I was fortunate enough to be very savvy in technology at a young age, he also taught me how to play chess at a very young age which was instrumental in being able to problem solve. My mom has a way with words and is very competitive herself! So as a household proclaimed scrabble champion, I learned to not only think logically and strategically from my dad but I loved word puzzles and using a different part of my brain from my mother!

I will always give my parents the credit in who I have become!

Website: https://www.vroomvroomescaperoom.com

Instagram: @vroomvroomescaperoom

Facebook: https://facebook.com/vroomvroomescaperoom