When One Door Closes
When one door closes...
Like everyone, New Year's day 2020 was full of hope and possibilities. Just like most people do, we made plans and were excited to see what the new year had in store for us.
My husband and I had started a new life together and had been married a year.
Our family was healthy and happy, we were empty nesters, our new home was coming together, and we both had solid careers that kept us busy, challenged and on the road most weeks (which we both loved.)
Hello March 2020. Hello COVID-19. My career with a national entertainment company halted due to immediate and unforeseen business closures. I was very fortunate to maintain my position for 3 more months, but then June came and my position got Axed. (pun intended…)
Fortunately, my husband’s position was stable, and this allowed us to take some time to figure out what was next for us in the times of uncertainty. For anyone who knows us, you know we like to stay busy. I certainly don’t have it in me to NOT work, and I need a challenge to keep my mind occupied.
A couple of weeks after my position ended, we finally started getting out of the house for the first time in months. As we were walking downtown, I showed my husband a drawing I saw online of a mobile Axe Venue and said, “Isn’t this cool?” Without hesitation he said, “That’s it! We can do that and do it better than anyone!”
At first, I thought he was crazy, but once it sunk in, of course we could! We have well over 20 years of guest service experience, and I had spent the last 3 years in Regional Management with a National Axe Throwing and Escape Room company. Through attrition and living with me during this time, he knew almost as much as I did about the processes and procedures of the industry.
Both of us have high expectations and always strive to over deliver in everything we do. This would be no different. We immediately started with a business plan and developed a first-class design and a strong interactive and engaging service model.
We knew this would take us some time, but we were determined to not rush, cut corners or go in cheap so that our first venue would be one that represented exactly what we would expect as a customer. My husband is a master at design, vision, and construction, I am pretty strong at the guest experience planning. Together we make a great team!
COVID-19 has not made anything easy or predictable, and 2020 has had its fill of challenges and uncertainties. What we do know is we are ending this year in a place we could have never expected when it began, and we are Axe-cited to see what 2021 holds for us and the new business.
So here we are, 16 weeks into this new adventure and we are close to launching our first Mobile Axe Throwing Venue. We are Moving Target ATL. Our targets, your place!