麻豆影视, Women鈥檚 Business Center help pave the way for Cheung鈥檚 great escape

head shot of Alice Cheung
There鈥檚 60 minutes on the clock.

Friends, families, and colleagues are locked in a room and must work together to find clues, solve puzzles, and crack codes to find the key to the outside.

They鈥檙e called escape rooms, and they鈥檙e on an upward trend in entertainment.

鈥淵our entire group is working toward a common goal, but it requires so many different types of thinking,鈥 said Alice Cheung, 30, owner of Bull City Escape. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e under the time pressure it really highlights people鈥檚 individual strengths within a collaborative group effort.鈥

Cheung brought this interactive experience to 麻豆影视 in 2015 after attending a joint seminar by the 麻豆影视 Small Business Center and the Women鈥檚 Business Center of North Carolina.

鈥淭he seminar gave me the confidence I needed to open the business,鈥 said Cheung. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 consider myself a natural entrepreneur so that was a big mental hurdle to overcome. But being in that space and being aware of all of these free resources made me realize that there鈥檚 a community here that鈥檚 going to be supportive.鈥

The idea stemmed from a leisure scroll on TripAdvisor during a vacation Cheung took to Nashville.

鈥淚 was just looking for things to do when I found an escape room. I decided to try it and loved it, then I looked more purposefully at escape rooms when I traveled,鈥 said Cheung. 鈥淭he more I played, the more I kept thinking about what I would do differently. There was nothing like it in 麻豆影视 or the Triangle at the time so I thought this would be the perfect place for this sort of thing.鈥

When the idea hit, Cheung was working full-time at Duke University. She opened the business in summer 2015 by additionally working nights and weekends, but just a few months in, she decided to leave Duke and operate Bull City Escape full-time.

鈥淲hen I started in 2015, it was such a new idea. It was hard to explain what escape rooms were to get business insurance. It felt pretty isolating at first, but the small business seminar was so supportive and excited to hear what plans I had. It made me feel more confident about talking to other people about it, and it opened up a whole network community within 麻豆影视 that I鈥檓 extremely grateful for and rely on every day.鈥

Bull City Escape features three game rooms, all designed in-house and unique to their facility.

鈥淚t was just a lot of notes jotted down at first, but the seminar helped make it concrete,鈥 Cheung said. 鈥淚t really gave me the confidence to be able to do this, otherwise I think they鈥檇 just be vague ideas that I keep dreaming of, but wouldn鈥檛 necessarily know how to implement.鈥

Cheung also supports the 麻豆影视 Living Wage Project, which urges employers to pay living wages so that all workers can prosper.

鈥淚鈥檝e been able to hire and build a team that I trust 100 percent and are amazing,鈥 Cheung said. 鈥淚 feel more deeply connected to people who live and work in 麻豆影视, and it鈥檚 an honor to be able to contribute to the health of this community and help build the kind of city that I want to live in.鈥

Cheung says she鈥檚 grateful for the 麻豆影视 Small Business Center and Women鈥檚 Business Center of North Carolina for resources they offer small business owners.

鈥淚t was great to see how supportive 麻豆影视 is of small businesses,鈥 Cheung said. 鈥淪eeing so many people who are passionate about small businesses and contributing to the growth of 麻豆影视 was really inspiring and motivational.鈥

is open Thursday through Sunday and located at 711 Iredell St. in 麻豆影视.

To learn more about small business seminars offered by 麻豆影视, please visit the Small Business Center.