Professor Game Podcast — Episode 410

Title: Escape Rooms for Growth with Sarah Iverson
Date: September 15, 2025
Host: Rob Alvarez
Guest: Sarah Iverson, Founder of Curious Sunshine

Episode Overview

In this episode, Rob Alvarez sits down with Sarah Iverson, a multidisciplinary artist, holistic coach, and founder of Curious Sunshine—a play-based wellness initiative. The conversation centers on using escape rooms and playful, gamified experiences as engines for personal growth, wellbeing, and imaginative engagement. Sarah unpacks her creative process, shares her journey of bringing more playfulness into the self-growth and corporate wellness space, and explores how embracing play can help individuals and organizations shift from being "stuck to sparked." The episode intertwines actionable advice, personal anecdotes, and recommendations for anyone looking to add magic to the mundane through gamification and playful thinking.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sarah’s Daily and Weekly Flow

[03:02]

• Sarah describes an intentionally balanced routine combining meditation, physical wellness, and creative deep work.

• Administrative and client-related tasks fill the morning; afternoons are reserved for artistic and conceptual development.

• Quote:

  "I'll spend the first half doing the emails and handling more admin work. And then I usually ideally like to spend the last half of the day doing creative work, whether it's painting, drawing, working on the conceptions of a project." – Sarah (03:30)

• Weekends are for external engagement: hosting retreats, attending markets, or networking—“crawl out of my hermit cave and socialize.”

2. Challenges in Communicating Creative Experiences

[05:21]

• Sarah candidly reflects on marketing hurdles, especially explaining unconventional, gamified offerings to non-initiated audiences.
• Maintains that imaginative language sometimes doesn't clearly convey the experience to clients or the public.
• Quote:

  "There's this colorful definition in my head and I'm like, yes, we're going to be whisked away into this whimsical journey. And people are like, I don't even know those words that you said. What are we doing?" – Sarah (06:01)

• She’s learned the importance of simplifying and clarifying, identifying the "fail" as marketing from her own perspective rather than the needs of users.

3. Translating Personal Success: The Wellness Escape Room

[08:21]

• Sarah details her most recent achievement: launching a virtual Wellness Escape Room in June.
• The project was a breakthrough, moving from "corporate educational" PowerPoints to immersive, playful learning experiences.
• Her goal: Merge wellness and play, making complex concepts accessible and memorable.
• Included a goal-setting element so participants leave with actionable steps.
• Invited collaboration and feedback from "play colleagues," leading to simplification and user-friendly design.
• Quote:

  "I want people to walk away with something. I don't want them to just play the game... But what tools can you gain from it?" – Sarah (09:12)

• Beta testers praised the approach as helping them “view my goals in this playful lens and really understand myself deeply as well as why these goals are so important.” (11:40)
• The game intentionally evokes a "computer game vibe, like in elementary school," blending innocence with depth.

4. Sarah’s Creative Process: From Client Need to Playful Solution

[13:36]

• Sarah’s methodology starts with deeply understanding the client’s "why" and the intended outcome.
• Works backward to craft structure—identifying the audience, delivery mode (in-person/virtual), recurring/repeatable format, and supportive materials.
• Storytelling is central, placing the player or a character at the heart of the experience.
• Draws from her “theoretical toy chest” of puzzles, arts, stories, and physical activities to shape the adventure.
• Quote:

  "I have a toy chest, like a theoretical toy chest of all these activities, games and puzzles and techniques that I could use." – Sarah (15:40)

• Emphasizes designing around her own creative strengths and ensuring alignment with her authentic style (e.g., not designing sports games if that's not her area).

5. Best Practices: Honor Play and Imagination

[18:28]

• Sarah encourages discovering your personal play style (movement, art, social, imagination, etc.), using research on play personalities as a base.
• Advocates being present to what types of play bring joy—then finding ways to integrate them into daily life and work.
• Quote:

  "Getting to know how you play as your own individual self... is a key to our path and our authenticity." – Sarah (19:00)

• The importance of imagination: Sarah frames imagination as a sacred, divine connection—every individual’s is different and worthy of exploration.
• Calls for “pushing outside our comfort zone on purpose,” combining playful approaches with imagination for innovation and wellbeing.

6. Book & Guest Recommendations

[24:32]

• Book: Playful Intelligence – A favorite of Sarah’s because it demonstrates real-life applications of play to foster resilience, flexible thinking, and humor even amid life’s challenges.
• Quote:

  "It just shows these real life scenarios of how people have used playfulness in these very real applications." – Sarah (26:55)

• Future Guest: Sarah nominates Ishan, the Play Priest, who merges spirituality and play, offering a unique approach on viewing life and spiritual connection as a game.

7. Superpower and Personal Philosophy

[27:27]

• Superpower: “Adding magic to the mundane.”
  Sarah identifies her ability to transform boredom and routine into adventure and joy—"transmuting" everyday experiences through playful alchemy.
• Quote:

  "...being able to add magic to the mundane, I think is my superpower." – Sarah (28:25)

• Sees this as a (playfully) rebellious act, challenging the status quo of 'adulting' by infusing levity and excitement into ordinary tasks.

8. Favorite Games

[29:32]

• Video Game: Paper Mario series—drawn to its mystery/adventure elements and personal nostalgia.
• Board/Game: Sudoku—used as a tool for calming anxiety, mental regulation, and mindfulness, especially during stressful moments like flying.
• Quote:

  "I do play it more than Scrabble because you need another person to play Scrabble. And I could play Sudoku whenever I want. And… it calms my mind down." – Sarah (31:02)

9. Final Advice and Where to Find Sarah

[33:47]

• Sarah invites listeners to explore and be intentional about their own play styles, seeing play as essential to human experience, on par with sleep or food.
• Emphasizes sustainable integration of play, both as scheduled activity and as an approach to everyday life.
• Where to find Sarah and her work:
  • Website: Curious Sunshine — includes a "play alchemy" quiz and access to her virtual escape room (Labyrinth of Mystery).
  • Instagram: @PlayfullySarah
  • YouTube: At Play with Curious Sunshine

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Marketing Struggles:
  “I promote it in a way that makes sense to me and doesn’t make sense to anybody else.” – Sarah (06:35)

• Purpose of Play:
  "To be playful means to go against the status quo. And to be playful and to gamify life goes against the traditional outlook on how we're supposed to navigate life." – Sarah (28:09)

• Imagination as Sacred:
  "Our imagination is an act of divine connection... There's something magical and sacred to that." – Sarah (20:25)

• On the Utility of Play:
  "If we can't necessarily stop suffering, because that is part of the human experience... these are the ways that we can use a playful mindset to create liberation and… joy, even in the hardest days." – Sarah (26:12)

• Final Encouragement:
  "Just as much as sleep and food are important to us, so is play." – Sarah (34:43)

Segment Timestamps

• Introduction to Sarah and Curious Sunshine: 01:52
• Typical Day/Week: 03:02
• Marketing & Communication Challenges: 05:21
• Wellness Escape Room — Project Success: 08:21
• Sarah’s Creative Process: 13:36
• Best Practice Recommendations: 18:28
• Book and Guest Recommendations: 23:02 & 24:32
• Superpower & Play Philosophy: 27:27
• Favorite Games: 29:28
• Final Thoughts & Where to Find Sarah: 33:47

Episode Tone

Conversational, warm, and insightful. Rob and Sarah blend practical advice with personal storytelling, highlighting both professional frameworks and the emotional journey of gamification practitioners.

For more strategies, inspiration, and play-driven solutions, visit Curious Sunshine and follow Sarah’s playful adventures across social media!