Nick Madden shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Nick, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I wake up at 5:10 AM, do a five-minute series of rolls and stretches, and then dive into prayer and reading Scripture. By 6:15 AM, I am typically working out, either doing cardio, weights, or jiu-jujutsu, so that I’m my best self before all the kids wake up.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I run Red Door Escape Room, an experiential entertainment company that offers escape rooms and live game shows and is branching out into other forms of people-first entertainment.
We have 20 locations across the country and have served over 2 million guests to Date. We have 45,000 5-star reviews because our team members are awesome! We care tremendously about hospitality, and we are very intentional about designing great experiences to make unforgettable memories.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
In high school, I needed a way to make money, but I was very serious about academics and sports, so I didn’t have much time. My parents challenged me to think outside the box, so I started a summer camp that I marketed, hosted, and grew over 5 years. That was my first experience with entrepreneurship, and I realized then that there were hundreds of opportunities to use creativity to solve a problem that others had yet to solve. I was able to provide an entertaining, affordable summer camp that covered all my expenses for the year over six weeks. (What sold the camp was not the sports, but the Epic water gun fight that happened each week on day three… Further reinforcing that creativity is worth its weight in Gold.)
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
In March 2020, Covid shut down our entire business. With over 200 employees and an entirely bootstrapped balance sheet, each week that passed begged the question of whether we should close our doors permanently.
We were at a complete loss for how to lead well and maintain a business that was worthwhile to run on the other side of the shutdown. We would open a location up, and then be forced to close it back down when the local temperature changed.
Our team was looking to leadership for certainty, but that was one thing we could not provide. Luckily, I have great business partners and great investors who have built relationships on deep-seated trust. Week by week and month by month, we took care of our people, and location by location, we slowly opened. That period of time bonded our team and built a level of trust that success could not. I’m proud to say we have many of those team members still with us today, and we’ve been growing ever since.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
I understand that this is an unpopular worldview, but I am Catholic and I deeply believe the teachings of the Church.
One teaching that sits at the center of my faith is the Holy Eucharist. As Catholics, we believe that at every single mass, the bread and the wine turn into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We then consume his body and blood and are united into his mystical body.
There are times in my life when I’ve seriously doubted that this is true, but then I look to the library of confirmed and studied miracles around the Eucharist, and I’m reminded that this world is far more than just the visible.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
I operate by a rule of life, which means that I have disciplines around work, rest, community, and faith. I know when I’m out of my depth when I have not been able to make time for these four areas of my life.
For example: My wife and I have date nights on Thursdays, we have a community group every week, I work out at least five days a week, I pray every day, and go to mass at least once a week. These are a few aspects of my rule of life, and if any of them start to become compromised, I know that my life is out of balance and I need to re-prioritize my time and reground myself.
From a work standpoint, I’m radically transparent with my business partners and stakeholders and constantly ask for their feedback, so if I’m ever letting them down as a leader, I hear about it quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.reddoorescape.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-madden-96a21336?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
