Hi Far! Let’s start easy. For how long have you been working at clueQuest?
1 year as a Gamesmaker, 1 year as a Trainer and 1 year as the clueQuest Assessment Project Manager. So 3 years in total now, and counting!
There doesn’t seem to be much of a guidebook for those wanting to work in escape rooms. How did you know it was right for you, and that you’d be able to do it?
Coming from a media and TV presenting background (as well as growing up on a diet of Mission Impossible films!) the role fused together my skills in performing to an enthused and excited audience, as well as my appetite and knowledge in all things secret spy related! I’m a performer at heart, but also the customer is key and their journey is my focus so the job was just perfect in my eyes.
So in your three years at clueQuest, what’s been your proudest moment?
Oh wow, there have been many to choose from. Whether laying the foundations, structure and ethos of one of the industry’s first ever live assessment programmes, to fine-tuning the puzzles and missions and seeing them come to fruition - it’s all been a great roller-coaster ride. But I would say the most memorable and proudest moment was when a family of three came one afternoon to play our PLAN52 mission. A lady brought her young daughter and elderly mother here and by the end of their task when walking them out of the room, I asked how it was. The grandmother said to me “Oh my, I had the most fun, it was really amazing. You made my day. That was one of the best experiences of my life.” Well…. you can’t beat that!
The job seems to provide a lot of laughs. What’s the funniest thing you’ve witnessed from a team?
There are so many and I think it’s fair to say I’ve seen it all….. During a mission, the team could not solve one of the puzzles without having a specific item at hand. They searched and searched and I knew it was in there as they had discovered it earlier but had obviously lost or misplaced it. Well, the mission ended and although they did complete it still had no idea where the item was. When I came in to debrief them, I noticed one of the team members was wearing it around his neck and pointed it out. He screamed and said. “Omg, I put that there so I wouldn’t forget it!!!!”
If Professor Blacksheep blew up the place tomorrow, what would you miss the most about it?
The oohs and aahs, the wows and the OMGs and all the other exclamations of surprise and excitement I hear day in day out at clueQuest… And that’s just all of us that work here! Just kidding, the customer’s reactions are music to my ears and we are, after all, a fun company and so I would definitely miss the fun and funny times here for sure!
I’ll let you get back to work now, Far. Before you go though, Is there anything you feel you’ve learnt from this job, that you’ll remember for years to come?
My job has been so diverse. Dealing with sales, marketing, event management, customer service, people-management, creative design and so much more, it would be hard not to take those skills away with me. Oh, that and the 8-digit code that saves the world!