Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Teacher Built a Side Hustle in Educational Escape Rooms
Transcript
- Lucas: So earlier this week I stumbled into a world I didn't know existed — educational escape rooms. Not the commercial ones where you pay thirty bucks to get locked in a room with friends. I mean a side hustle where a teacher builds and runs escape room kits for schools and companies. Luna: Wait — like, a teacher who designs these as a business? That sounds super niche but also kind of brilliant. Lucas: Exactly. Her name is Rachel, middle school science teacher in suburban Ohio. She started two years ago because she was already making puzzles for her own classroom — review games, lab safety challenges. Students loved them. Then a colleague asked if she could create something for a school-wide STEM night. That first public event got so much buzz she realized there might be a market. Luna: So she's selling a service, not a product. She runs the event herself? Lucas: Correct. She brings the kit — locks, boxes, decoders, props, narrative cards — sets it up in a classroom or conference room, and facilitates for about an hour. She charges $1,200 per event. And she's doing about three to four events a month, most of them on weekends or after school. That puts her at roughly $4,000 monthly, sometimes more in Q4 when corporate team-building spikes. Luna: That's impressive for something that started as a classroom tool. But the upfront cost — building a kit, buying locks and props — must be significant. Lucas: She told me she invested about $2,500 total to get her first two kits ready. That includes combination locks, a UV light decoder, a locked box with a hidden compartment, some themed props like a fake 'radioactive' sample for the science one, and a portable backdrop. Each kit can be reused dozens of times. She replaces lost pieces maybe once a quarter. So the marginal cost per event is essentially her time and gas. Luna: So after the first five events she's in profit. That's pretty fast payback. But who's hiring her? Schools are famously underfunded. Lucas: Great question. She has two customer segments. The first is schools — but not the classroom budget. PTA funds, STEM grants, after-school program stipends. She did one for a middle school's 'family science night' funded by a local education foundation. The second segment is corporate. HR departments are always looking for unique team-building that isn't the same old trust fall. Her escape room themes — 'The Lab Accident', 'The Missing Prototype' — are perfect for companies wanting something interactive that also exercises problem-solving. Luna: I can see that. A mobile escape room that comes to you. No need to book a venue. But is the demand real? I feel like I've seen a lot of escape room businesses struggle. Lucas: The commercial escape room industry is actually mature — there are over 2,300 locations in the US. But Rachel is in a different lane. She's mobile, she's educational, and she's affordable compared to renting a brick and mortar space. Plus she's lean. She runs it herself, no employees. Her biggest challenge is marketing — getting the word out to school administrators and HR managers. Luna: How does she find clients? Cold email? Referrals? Lucas: Mostly referrals now. Her first corporate client was the parent of a student who worked in HR at a local insurance company. That led to three more events at other departments. She also set up a simple website and did a few Facebook ads targeting 'teacher in Ohio' — but she says the best channel is just showing up at school events with a mini demo. When people see a locked box and a timer, they get curious. Luna: Makes sense. I'm also wondering about the logistics. She has to carry all that equipment, set it up, run the game, pack up. That's a lot for one person. Lucas: Agreed. She uses a rolling crate with compartments. Set-up takes about 45 minutes. She arrives an hour before the event. The game itself runs 45 to 60 minutes, then she does a debrief. Total time per event is about three hours excluding travel. So she's earning roughly $400 per hour of active work — but that includes the prep and pack-down time. If you factor in the admin and marketing, maybe $200 per hour. Still very good for a side hustle. Luna: That's solid. And it's a skill she already had — puzzle design and facilitation. She didn't need to learn coding or a new software. Lucas: Exactly. And here's a detail I loved: she keeps a spreadsheet of every team's solve time and feedback. She iterates the puzzles based on what trips people up. If a clue is too vague, she rewords it. If a lock is too easy, she adds a step. She's basically A/B testing a physical product. Luna: That's so data-driven for a side hustle. Most people would just wing it. So what's the biggest barrier for someone listening who thinks, 'I could do this'? Lucas: Two things. First, you need a knack for puzzles and narrative. Not everyone can craft a coherent story with clues that are challenging but solvable. Second, you need the confidence to facilitate — leading a group of adults or kids through a game without giving away the answer. Rachel is a teacher, so that's natural for her. If you're not comfortable being in front of a room, this might be tough. Luna: Right. But if you have those skills, the market might be bigger than people assume. Especially for corporate — companies are spending real money on team-building. I've seen numbers like $50 per person per hour. Lucas: She charges $1,200 for up to 12 participants. That's $100 per person. For a company, that's competitive with a bowling alley or a catered lunch. And they get something memorable. One client told her it was the first team event where people actually talked to each other afterwards instead of just leaving. Luna: That's the kind of feedback that builds a business. So where does she see this going? Does she want to scale or keep it as a side hustle? Lucas: She's at a crossroads. She's been doing this for two years and now has a waitlist. She could hire other facilitators and essentially rent out her kits and scripts. But she's hesitant because she worries about quality control. Her brand is tied to her personally. She's considering training one or two other teachers as part-time facilitators, maybe paying them 40% of the event fee. Luna: That could work if she finds the right people. Teachers are natural facilitators. She could treat it like a licensing model. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the side hustle could become a real small business. But even if she stays solo, she's pulling in $4,000 a month with relatively low overhead. That's a nice second income for a teacher whose base salary might be in the mid-forties. Luna: Definitely. And it's not just the money. She's doing something creative and she owns it. That's a powerful feeling. Lucas: You know, before we wrap, I want to mention something that keeps shows like this going. We don't run ads, we don't have sponsors. The entire Fexingo network is supported by listeners who toss in a couple dollars a month. If you've gotten anything useful from this episode — or any of the previous ones — you can go to buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Even a small contribution makes a real difference. It's what keeps this ad-free and independent. Luna: Yeah, and honestly, we pour a lot of research into each episode. If you've found one that helps you think about your own career or side hustle, that's exactly why we do it. Lucas: Absolutely. And speaking of side hustles, I love that Rachel's story proves you don't need a tech startup or a huge investment. You just need a skill you already have, repackaged for a market that doesn't know it needs it. An escape room kit isn't scalable, but the idea — turning your classroom expertise into a service — is totally replicable. Luna: Right. So the takeaway for our listeners: look at what you do every day at work and ask, 'Could someone pay me to do this in a different context?' For a teacher, it's puzzle design and facilitation. For a nurse, maybe it's health literacy workshops. For a librarian, it's research consulting, like we covered in episode 41. Lucas: Exactly. Rachel's story is a reminder that the best side hustles often come from the thing you're already good at, applied in a new setting. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with another angle on building a second income.