April 17, 2017

Meet Rachel Foti of Horror Escapes LA

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Foti.

Rachel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Boston, MA as the eldest of three sisters. At a young age, I had to look for ways to help my single Mom raise and support my younger siblings. Being raised in this environment, developed a desire to have more in my life. I moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 traveling cross country on a greyhound bus with $700 in my pocket. For most people, it would’ve been incredibly scary to take this leap of faith, but I’ve always been fearless with taking risks and knew I could better my life and my Mom’s back in Boston. My first business venture was a makeup company I started at age of 18. At 21, I had sold the makeup company to a major retailer and was excited to start a new adventure. I found myself working in a corporate office and felt depressed and at a stalemate with life. By 2009, I was a young mom and tired of spending most of my days stuck in LA traffic commuting to work. I wanted an outlet for my creativity, more flexibility and most important time with my young son. Since that time, I have been a real estate agent, mobile spa owner and professional high stakes poker player. It wasn’t until Horror Escapes LA, where I found the perfect opportunity for my entrepreneurial spirit.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road, but one with new adventures and possibilities. I’ve always loved going to escape rooms. I was the unique person that spent an entire Sunday visiting escape rooms and figuring out the puzzles. The thought of starting my own escape room came when I started to ask myself, “if I had an escape room, I would do XYZ”. These small thoughts developed and grew into Horror Escapes LA-DR. X. In September 2016, I signed a lease to open up a temporary pop up escape room that was horror themed for Halloween. I’ve always loved Halloween, horror movies, haunted houses and everything scary. I wanted an escape room experience centered around this theme. By the middle of October, our Horror themed escape room was a hit and I opened up additional rooms with more challenging puzzles to solve. I decided to keep Horror Escapes LA open over the Holidays. I’ve found that I wasn’t the only one with a love of horror themed movies. Now, we have moved to a permanent location in Downtown Los Angeles and offer a year-round Horror theme experience. Blood, sweat, tears and tireless nights have gone into building Horror Escapes LA. I’ve personally greeted every guest that has walked through our doors, to provide the best (and scariest) customer experience possible.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Horror Escapes LA – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Horror Escapes LA sets itself apart from other escape rooms because of the unique experience. It is a fully immersive escape room, where all of your senses are engaged. Live actors bring an element of surprise and terror to the guest’s experience. Horror Escapes LA follows one central story line of Dr. X, and his experiments with his subjects that went horribly wrong. Participants need to work together to escape the room, so they don’t become Dr. X’s next victim. Each room is a different chapter of this horror story that you are immersed in. In this respect, most guests love coming back to complete the story. One of the greatest joys I have experienced from Horror Escapes LA, is to see a group work together and exit their doom with Dr. X with high fives, laughs and an occasional scream. To see family, friends and co-workers bond in a fantasy horror themed environment outside of the hectic, crazy, 9-5 reality.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m excited to grow Horror Escapes LA in the future. I’m currently in the works to open up a Horror Circus Ring Master themed room in the San Fernando Valley in the Summer of 2017. This new location will introduce a new theme and story line to entertain and challenge guests.

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