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We quit our corporate jobs to set up Escape the City. A community of professionals who want to ‘Do Something Different’.
Our journey and the journey of the making of Escape the City demonstrates if we can do it so can anyone. We want to make 2011 the year people Start Something They Love.
www.escapethecity.org
The Escape The City success story is a testament to how many people are unsatifised with their current job. Escape The City founders Dom Jackman and Rob Symington are on a mission to help talented people escape from unfulfilling corporate jobs.
Their numbers speak for volumes for how much people want to do something different.
31 Aug ’09: 2 members
01 Dec ’09: 1000 members
22 Mar ’10: 5,050 members
09 Aug ’10: 14,671 members
02 Sep ’10: 15,344 members
26 Oct ’10: 16,866 members
22 Nov ’10: 19,067 members
09 Dec ’10: 20,000 members
26 Jan ’11: 22,394 members
09 Feb ’11: 23,811 members
01 Mar ’11: 26,080 members
I was lucky enough to score an interview with Escape The City co-founder Rob Symington.
1. Since you co-started Esc you have had incredible press coverage including Times magazine & Forbes and also incredible growth in membership (now at 17,000+) did you expect this? What have you learnt from this? What do you think was the reason for your growth?
No we didn’t expect it. If someone had told us we would be where we are 12 months after launching we wouldn’t have believed them. I think the reason for our growth so far has been that we appeal to that question that everyone asks themselves: ‘what should I be doing with my life?”. Esc isn’t a traditional business, it is a call to action. We are on a mission to help people escape from unfulfilling corporate jobs. Lots of people out there also want to escape. It’s a good fit!
2. If you only had one piece to advice to give someone who wanted to escape the city what would that be?
Save an escape fund. Money gives you choice.
3. Now that you personally have ‘escaped the city’ and doing more fulfilling work what was the biggest lesson learnt starting this?
The biggest lesson is that the best way to fight procrastination is to just commit yourself. Read Innocent’s book (Our story and some things we have learnt). They have a fantastic section where they say “Just start. Start small, but start. The lesson is that whatever project, plan, idea, business, job, etc you are considering you should put the first actions in place towards starting. You’ll never know a) if it will work or b) if you will like it until you start. So just start! It’s incredible what you can achieve with determination and by chucking yourself into the current.
4. If you could turn back the clock and change one thing when you started Esc what would that be?
Hmmm… don’t want to tempt fate by saying nothing. It has gone really well so far. I would say that we have made some bad web development decisions over the past 12 months which have slowed our progress towards the new site we are launching. But overall nothing that has greatly hampered our progress.
5. What was the hardest thing about starting this and how did you overcome it?
Overcoming the fear (ongoing process). We’re not selling carpets, we’ve started a business around a pretty big concept: DO STUFF THAT MATTERS TO YOU. It’s relatively provocative. People can easily come out with all sorts of (boring, cynical, pessimistic) reasons why Escaping the City is unrealistic. Stuff em! There are enough people who feel like this for Esc to be addressing a really considerable need. But yes, overcoming fear and allowing yourself to do the work you want to do is the hardest thing (Seth Godin style).
6. In one sentence please what Esc means to you?
To me Esc represents an aspiration to spend your short and precious life doing things that matter.
7. Esc now offers coaching, do you have any other plans to move Esc to another level?
Lots and lots of plans. We’re building a new website at the moment. The current one is a kitchen-table job that has done fantastically well for us but we are outgrowing it. The idea merits a platform that really fulfills its potential. We’re expanding a presence to New York this year. And yes we’ll be introducing additional products and services as the new platform comes online (new coaching programmes, e-books, etc).
8. Can you tell us about the first person you helped escape and what it meant to you? How many have followed?
We don’t actually know how many people have escaped through Esc. We often hear about people having found opportunities or partners or started things having been inspired by our site. The first email we received was this one from Tom: Tom: Halo Trust, Mine-clearing charity, Cambodia: “I’m writing to you from Cambodia, having spent the day learning about how to clear minefields… One of your earliest emails had a link for the HALO Trust saying they were recruiting. All I can say is that because of you guys, I’m doing my dream job. Thank you so much, I’m not sure if you get told it but what you are doing really does work.”
What did it mean to us? It meant everything because it meant that our concept worked and that people were actually going to change what they did in their lives because of what we had built.
9. Realistically where do you see Esc in 5 years time? What would be the ideal situation for Esc?
Our vision is for the Escape the City community to become the default global destination for high-flying professionals who are looking for exciting alternatives to their corporate jobs.
Escape The City are on a mission to help people do what they love. Join the revolution.
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