This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Let's talk about taking a mystery trip. You wanna take a mystery trip? Or you're interested in the mystery trip business? Personally, I'm not sure I want to take a mystery trip, but that's because I like to plan. I like to be in control.
But there are all kinds of people out there who are interested in this type of business. And that's what we're all about here on Side Hustle School, looking at different case studies and how people have found a way to make extra income without quitting their job. So in this week's Throwback Thursday segment, we're gonna take a look at Dave Green, or we're gonna hear from Dave actually. He's the founder of Mystery Trip, his in-person event planning service, adjusted well to a hybrid world. We first heard from Dave back during pandemic times.
He'd started his business a couple of years before that, worked with a lot of different brands and such, made it through the pandemic and is still going strong with Mystery Trip in a variety of cities. Last week in this episode, we heard from Jake Posco. He is the founder of the best guitar lessons in the universe, as he calls it, using some good little marketing, copywriting spin on the full-time income that he's been able to make for himself. So today, let's hear a bit from Dave. Mystery Trip business doubles down on thrills.
That's the episode. You're gonna hear from Dave. I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
My name is Dave Green. I am based in Los Angeles, California, and I'm the founder and chief mysterious officer of Mystery Trip, a leading team bonding event planning company.
Mystery Trip started out as a summer party for my friends. I was having a really good time hosting these annual parties, and so I decided to turn it into a business. I sent an email to everybody I know, and I said, "Hey, you know what I do?" And I'd appreciate it if you could spread the word. Within a month, I had my first client. I was featured in LA Weekly's Best Of, and it kind of took off from there.
Quickly started working with global brands, and over the years, I've had the extreme pleasure of taking teams from companies like Airbnb, Chevron, SpaceX, Facebook, Google, Kaiser, Netflix, NBC, Taco Bell, Deloitte, and hundreds more on mystery trips throughout the United States. We started offering virtual experiences prior to COVID, although our main product was in-person experiences, which included everything from scavenger hunts to culinary classes to behind-the-scenes tours, flash mobs, music videos, and things of that nature. But when shelter-in-place happened and everything shut down, we were unable to provide in-person experience. We doubled down on the virtual offerings and created completely unique games for our clients looking to inject levity and connectiveness into their team's work lives. We started out with trivia, and from there, we slowly introduced family feuds, scatagories, scavenger hunts, and game of games, which is a collection of mini-games to the mix.
And I'm really excited to share that we're officially launching our newest game, Minute to Win It, next week, which is a hybrid game where guests are shipped a mystery box, and they'll use the items received in that box to play the game. The beta test has received a ton of positive feedback, and I see it being a very popular experience for our clients in the upcoming holiday season and beyond. One of the most memorable trips that I've done for sure is for an international group that came in to Los Angeles. They were all YouTube employees, and we wanted to create an international experience for them. So we took them to the studio where We Are the World was originally recorded, and we recreated the music video in that studio with everybody singing a different part.
Truly an amazing experience, and I've got the video to show it, for sure. The advice I'd give somebody who is looking to follow my footsteps is be prepared for change. Expect and plan for the unexpected. Be open and be willing to change. I certainly never thought that virtual and hybrid events would be a main part of my arsenal, but now I'm forecasting them to be about 50% of mystery troops revenue for at least the next few years.
And at all times, you have to keep your head held high. In every situation, the best course of action is always to remain true to yourself and go after work that inspires you and that you love and that makes you happy. 'Cause if you do that, you're gonna bring, it's gonna bring out who you really are in your work life and bridge the personal with the professional. And that's really where the heart is. That's what will lift you above the competition and provide you with a certain sort of laser-focused vision and generate novel ideas that don't just drive revenue, which is an important goal, of course, but also helps you be a person on a mission to make a positive lasting impact on the communities you touch through your work.
We're really excited about our new hybrid offerings, and we're equally overjoyed to be offering in-person mystery trips again. The last few months, we've had the pleasure of hosting trips in LA, New York, Las Vegas, and elsewhere for leading brands. And it's great to see our clients in person again. [Music]
Well, you heard it from Dave. Be prepared for change.
Be prepared for change. Expect the unexpected mysterytrip.co. It's experimental team bonding with a twist. Corporate team bonding with Mystery Trip. They've been doing it for over 14 years now.
Website looks great. They are still out booking experiences. So go and check it out. Dave, thank you for sharing the updates. Listeners, let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of thousands of stories.
We've been going strong for a long time. All thanks to your support. So thank you for being out there. You can download or stream the entire archives of the podcast at sidehustleschool.com. You can subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes.
And of course, much more is coming out. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
