Owner at Escape Me Mobile
Nunzio Smith is the owner of Escape Me Mobile, a mobile escape room business based in Jacksonville, Florida. He discovered his love for escape rooms during a 2012 family vacation in Gatlinburg, TN, and spent years planning to open a traditional brick-and-mortar location before pivoting to a mobile model after encountering high costs and unfavorable franchise agreements.
Nunzio brings a unique combination of skills to the business. He has worked full-time as an IT professional in the healthcare industry for 23 years, and alongside that career, he has been a professional magician for 30 years, performing at corporate events, parties, and hospitals. His background in theatrical performance and logistics made him a natural fit for the mobile escape room world.
The Escape Me Mobile experience is built inside a 2003 RV featuring two 20-minute escape room themes: Meltdown (stopping a nuclear reactor) and Monstorium of Madness. The business is family-run, with Nunzio, his wife, and his tech-savvy son handling operations. Nunzio plays the character Dr. Escape Jr. with a theatrical flair that keeps guests fully immersed.
Fun fact: Nunzio has been a professional magician for 30 years and performed at hospitals entertaining doctors and nurses in high-stress environments.
Nunzio Smith shares his journey from planning a traditional escape room to building a mobile escape room inside a 2003 RV. He covers the operational realities of running a mobile attraction, including marketing, maintenance, pricing, and his plans for AI-driven storylines in a new trailer.
Host Dmitry Mikhaylov interviews Nunzio Smith about his mobile escape room business, Escape Me Mobile, based in Jacksonville, Florida.
Key topics: the pivot from brick-and-mortar to mobile, synergy between magic and escape rooms, pricing and booking systems, game mechanics, challenges of operating without a physical storefront, and future plans for AI-driven storylines.
Notable quotes: "We're selling to the public an illusion. We're selling to them an environment." - Nunzio Smith. "Expect the unexpected, because if anything will happen, it will happen at the worst time possible." - Nunzio Smith
