In 2015, together with three other partners, he founded Captive Escape Room, which has now become one of the most appreciated escape room venues in Romania. He is also a partner at Breakout Escape Rooms and Gateway VR Studio. In his spare time, he sings with the band Alex & The Fat Penguins and records voice-overs for commercials. He has a golden retriever named Freddie and believes that in life you should do what you love if you want to be happy. His name is Mihai Ungureanu and, at 40 years old, he declares that he has already lived as much as others in three lifetimes. Today, we talk with him about business, decisions, challenges, and what is happening in the escape room market.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to spark the curiosity of those who don’t know you yet?
Mihai Ungureanu: As they were coming out one by one from one of Captive’s escape rooms, a few clients who had just escaped from our hardest room asked the game master who designs the rooms, who creates them. The game master pointed at me, giving me undeserved credit, since out of the four partners, I was the only one there, sitting in a corner, doing something on my laptop. At that moment, the team began to applaud me. Somewhat shocked and not knowing how to react, I stood up and bowed to them. That’s when I realized we had managed to build more than just games—we had created real experiences and that, more than entrepreneurs, we were a bunch of guys who had taken play and gaming to another level. It’s not a single sentence, but I found the story and its meaning relevant.

C&B: If we were to look at the narrative arc of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?
Mihai Ungureanu: I would say that the beginning of the business was among the moments that marked me the most. To make my answer more relevant and to explain why it had such an impact, I’ll give some context. At the time, I was working as a voice-over and MC, I was involved in a few music projects, and I was also doing audio production for commercials. So, I had a rather relaxed schedule and plenty of free time. In addition, most of the projects I was part of were collaborations, so I didn’t really have a team or colleagues. Captive Escape Room fundamentally changed that entire context and, along with it, my life. Suddenly, I had a daily schedule, clear responsibilities, and a team to collaborate with for everything to work. Obviously, I transformed. Then, naturally, other defining moments followed: from positive client feedback, which confirmed we were on the right track, to investments in expansion and, most importantly, the pandemic, which brought major challenges.

C&B: What were the initial challenges in bringing to market a relatively new concept at that time?
Mihai Ungureanu: The first and most important challenge was making the concept known. We knew we had gold in our hands—it was obvious from the clients’ feedback—but we were facing great reluctance from those who had never tried an escape room experience. Back then, we were trying to explain to friends, acquaintances, or even curious potential clients what such an experience was about, and it wasn’t easy at all. It’s the kind of activity that has to be lived to be fully understood. Communication and marketing were the toughest parts. In addition, there was also the challenge of earning people’s trust, since it wasn’t yet a proven concept in Romania at that time.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, no matter the obstacles?
Mihai Ungureanu: I’ve always been guided by the idea of doing what I love. I strongly believe that if you don’t find pleasure in what you do, there’s a big chance you’ll end up unhappy. I’m not saying every day is perfect and challenge-free, but the overall satisfaction you get when working on something you’re passionate about makes up for the tougher moments.

C&B: What did you look like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed since then?
Mihai Ungureanu: On the outside, pretty much the same, but deeply changed on the inside. As I mentioned earlier, Captive Escape Room changed my perspective on work, responsibility, and success. At the beginning, I was a pretty laid-back guy, going from project to project without too many worries. Today I am much more grounded in reality, more responsible, but also more aware of the importance of balance between work and personal life.

C&B: If we met with your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Mihai Ungureanu: I think they would say I’m an open, smiling guy and a good communicator. I also like to believe they trust me or feel safe knowing I’m in charge of something. They would probably also say that I can be a perfectionist at times and that I insist on doing things “by the book.”

C&B: What is the most important decision you’ve made that changed your trajectory?
Mihai Ungureanu: The most important decision I made was to move music into the hobby category, rather than treating it as a career. I felt that, despite my huge passion for music, I didn’t have the consistency and discipline necessary to build a solid career in this field. By letting go of the pressure to make it a job, I freed myself and was able to enjoy it in a different, healthier way.

C&B: How did you build your leadership style or your way of making decisions? Was it a natural process or learned?
Mihai Ungureanu: I think it was both. I was gifted with an ease in communicating with people around me, which has helped me a lot in life. But at the same time, I learned a lot from the experiences I had, from mistakes, from what I observed in other leaders. I pay attention to people and try to adapt to each situation.

C&B: What sets Captive Escape Room apart from other escape rooms in Romania?
Mihai Ungureanu: I’d say that from the very beginning Captive stood out through its business vision. While most escape room venues, in the early days of the industry, had between one and, rarely, three game rooms, we planned from the start to have five. That helped us make a bigger impact and quickly attract public attention. On top of that, we put a lot of focus on original scenarios, high-quality set design, and the client’s experience. It wasn’t just about puzzles, but about creating an engaging and memorable story.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments of the day bring you the most satisfaction?
Mihai Ungureanu: Lately, since we’ve also become partners in the Gateway VR Studio business, I have to split my time between three locations, which can be quite tiring considering the distances and traffic in Bucharest. My day usually starts with checking messages and reservations, then continues with trips between locations, meetings, technical and administrative checks. What makes me happiest is seeing clients coming out excited from the rooms or receiving positive feedback. That confirms that all our work makes sense.

C&B: How has the Romanian audience changed in terms of appetite for interactive experiences like escape rooms?
Mihai Ungureanu: Obviously, the interest is much higher now than it was a few years ago. First of all, nowadays it has become a very popular concept. In the beginning, as I said, people were reluctant or didn’t quite understand what it was about. Today, escape rooms are a go-to option for team buildings, birthdays, or outings with friends. The audience has also become more demanding, which forces us to constantly keep up with their expectations.

C&B: How did you discover the escape room concept and what inspired you to launch Captive Escape Room in Romania?
Mihai Ungureanu: I discovered it through friends who were planning to open an escape room venue themselves. I went to play at their place and I was instantly hooked. I found it to be an incredible experience and immediately realized it had huge potential in Romania. The idea of stepping into a story, solving puzzles, and collaborating with your team to escape seemed extraordinary to me. That’s how Captive Escape Room was born.

Mihai Ungureanu’s story is one of passion, courage, and the ability to turn play into unforgettable experiences.

The post The Story of Mihai Ungureanu, Entrepreneur of Memorable Experiences appeared first on careers-business.com.

Irina Ditu, entrepreneur and beauty enthusiast, celebrates in 2025 ten years of entrepreneurship and says she loves every single day of her life. After years of challenges and trials, Irina is in love with her business: Homesign, a real estate, design & build agency. Her motto is buy, design, rent with us.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence, in order to spark curiosity in those who don’t know you yet?
Irina Ditu: “The greatest adventure is to live the life of your dreams” – I believe that in life you can be or become whoever you want, and it’s only up to you to fulfill your dreams. I am calm and warm, ambitious and perfectionist, creative and brutally honest, I don’t like things done halfway and if I have something to tell you, you can be sure I will. I also love numbers, as I believe that’s the only way to efficiently measure progress and success. Entrepreneurship is the only job that truly represents me and allows me to be authentic.

C&B: If we were to look at the storyline of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?
Irina Ditu: In 2015, right after finishing university, my mentor advised me to open my first business in web design and graphic design. That’s how I started my entrepreneurial journey.
Then, in 2017, being in love with my creative side, with growth potential, and also with the opportunity to access non-reimbursable funds, I applied for Start Up Nation and received funding to create a print workshop and an interior design office in Dorobanți. Those were some beautiful but also tough years, full of valuable lessons.
After the pandemic, in December 2020, I decided to close the workshop and accept that a stage of my life was coming to an end.
Of course, it didn’t take long for me to bounce back after failure, to start over, and return stronger on the market through the integrated service concept offered by Homesign – buy, design, rent with us.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?
Irina Ditu: The hardest moment was closing the workshop in Dorobanți, where I had invested all my resources: time, money, health, relationships, and having to accept failure as part of the success that would come a few years later.
Mentally it was very hard to get past that moment. The year 2021 was the toughest year of my life – I had to gather myself and start again from zero.
I managed not to give up, supported by my loved ones and with patience. Together with new business partners, I began working on the Homesign concept.
Then, in 2022, at exactly 30 years old, I realized that the wisest teacher is failure, and it is part of success. You can’t have success without failure.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Irina Ditu: I’ve always believed that my place is in entrepreneurship, that I create myself, that I decide what I do with my life no matter the obstacles, and that alongside the right people, I will succeed again. I just need patience.

C&B: How did you look at the beginning of the road and how do you feel you have transformed until now?
Irina Ditu: At the beginning, I was a naïve, dreamy girl, eager to learn and achieve great things. Today I am me, Irina, a woman, an entrepreneur with 10 years of experience in design and real estate, who has learned to say NO, who trusts her judgment, and acts as she believes is right, for herself and for others.

C&B: If we were to meet your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Irina Ditu: I think opinions would be divided – no one is perfect. They would probably say that I am demanding, honest, and involved. Most collaborators and clients are people with whom I share a history, and I assume they are satisfied with me, since they have continued the collaboration or recommended me to their close ones.

C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?
Irina Ditu: Closing the workshop, moving from Dorobanți to the North, accepting failure, and starting over. After all the lessons I had learned, the perfect moment came to put them into practice through Homesign.

C&B: How did you build your leadership style or the way you make decisions? Was it a natural or learned process?
Irina Ditu: It was a natural process. I’ve always wanted to work in a team and to lead a team. I am endlessly curious and empathetic, I care about what motivates those around me, I like to help, I am involved. I also believe that sales and leadership are directly connected to psychology and personal development, topics I explore through my readings.

C&B: What do you think differentiates your business or your professional approach from the rest of the industry?
Irina Ditu: I believe people make the difference, and the unique concept of a real estate agency that creates and delivers turnkey design projects are key elements that define Homesign.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments bring you the greatest satisfaction?
Irina Ditu: My mornings begin in harmony with my life partner, then around 9:30 I start my activity in the field, with client meetings and team meetings. There are days when I finish work late, at 8 or 9 PM, but the satisfaction is huge when I close collaborations with great people, no matter the hour. The freedom to make my own schedule is the greatest satisfaction, always.

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them daily?
Irina Ditu: Values such as discipline, self-learning, honesty, positivity, success-orientation, and respect are the foundation stones of Homesign, and you need to resonate with them in order to thrive in our team. In addition, patience is essential. The real estate market is competitive, just like design & build.
We manage to successfully apply these values through systems, an organized workflow – CRM, to-do list, calendar, database – and through monthly monitoring. Numbers bring clarity.

C&B: How did you come up with the idea to open this business and give it this name?
Irina Ditu: Homesign comes from two English words: home and sign (signature), and it perfectly reflects our activity. The business is a concept I created from scratch: visual identity, graphics, marketing, website.
The idea came as I advanced as a real estate agent, with patience and small steps, until I named the business Homesign – buy, design, rent with us!

C&B: If you were to send a message to people who follow your example, what would it be?
Irina Ditu: Never stop dreaming, embrace lessons and failure as your best friends, and always find the good in every situation – focus on the positive. Being a good human in business is the most honorable thing you can do.

Irina Ditu’s journey proves that entrepreneurship is about courage, patience, and resilience. With Homesign, she turned past lessons into a success story in real estate, design, and build.

The post Irina Ditu: 10 Years of Entrepreneurship – Challenges, Lessons, and Success with Homesign appeared first on careers-business.com.

Alina Donici is the founder and driving force behind Artesana, the first Romanian brand to bring to market minimally processed, authentic dairy products packaged in glass. With a vision to offer clean and nutritious products, she built—together with her team—a brand based on quality, transparency, and respect for tradition. Through courage and perseverance, she transformed a modest beginning into a nationally and internationally recognized name, becoming a role model in entrepreneurship and a promoter of food education and sustainable production. Through Artesana, she continues to inspire a new generation of consumers to make conscious choices, proving that a business built on solid values can have a real impact on society.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in one sentence, in a way that makes people who don’t know you yet curious?
Alina Donici: I am a woman who once dreamed of becoming a diplomat, but who—through what seemed like a simple coincidence, tasting a piece of aged goat cheese in Spain—ended up becoming the “soul” of an artisanal dairy brand, built with persistence, passion, and without compromise.

C&B: If we were to look at the storyline of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?
Alina Donici: My story isn’t linear; it’s full of ups and downs. The first key moment was when Daniel came home with the idea of making that Spanish cheese he had fallen in love with. And me, a graduate in International Relations with dreams of becoming a diplomat, said: “That’s impossible.” But little by little, he convinced me, and I said: “Let’s give it a try.”
The second key moment was building our first factory, with all the sacrifices that entailed (our parents mortgaged their homes), while we threw ourselves completely into the unknown. Then came insolvency—the hardest life lesson—when we felt like we were losing everything. Even when we were receiving foreclosure letters, we kept going.
After that came a rebirth: getting listed in retail, winning our first international awards, and building our second factory, where we applied everything we had learned from early mistakes. All of these moments shaped me and made me believe that nothing is impossible when you have a real purpose.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?
Alina Donici: Without a doubt, it was insolvency. When the bank began foreclosing on our factory and our parents’ homes, when we didn’t have money for salaries and wondered how we’d make it through the next day… it was a shock and a pain hard to put into words. I remember lying in bed at night, repeating to myself: “It was a hard day, but tomorrow has to be better.” The only way to get through it was not to give up. We kept going to fairs, looking customers in the eye, believing in our product. In the end, retail—and all those who chose us on the shelf—gave us another chance. It proved that when you don’t quit and remain authentic, salvation will come.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Alina Donici: Yes! To make clean, natural dairy products that I can give my children with peace of mind. In fact, the whole philosophy of Artesana is summed up in the principle: “I offer you what I would give to my own family.” It was never just about business—it was about a personal mission: to show Romanians that it can be done differently, without tricks, without additives, without deceiving people.

C&B: How did you look at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed since then?
Alina Donici: At the beginning, we were two naïve young people with a small child and no experience, but with boundless enthusiasm. We traveled across the country with our trailer and fridge display case, explaining to people what unhomogenized milk meant or why using glass mattered. Today, I feel I have transformed into a leader who knows how to make tough decisions, support her team, and not let difficulties take away her courage. I no longer have the naivety I once had, but I still hold the same belief—that authenticity wins in the long run.

C&B: If we met your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Alina Donici: They’d probably say I’m demanding but fair. That I put my heart into everything and sometimes care too much, but that I don’t leave anyone behind. They know I consider them family and that I don’t make decisions that would compromise their work or values. In our factory, there’s no “boss” and “employee”—just people working together for a dream.
And I’ve noticed something beautiful: the way we work also inspires our external partners. More than once, I’ve seen suppliers or local companies—from those who put stickers on our windows to those we negotiate contracts with—start raising their own standards, respecting the same high bar we set for ourselves. It’s as if our attention and responsibility become contagious.

C&B: What is the most important decision you’ve made that changed your trajectory?
Alina Donici: The most important decision was saying “yes” to Daniel’s dream, even though it seemed completely crazy to me. I was dreaming of a diplomatic career, not a cheese factory in Tecuci. But that “yes” completely changed my life and took us from a small idea to a brand that is now in thousands of stores and winning international awards. That’s my professional journey.
But life and family are inevitably intertwined with being an entrepreneur. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing, because the decisions I made brought me exactly here: next to Daniel and our three children, of whom I am very proud.

C&B: How did you build your leadership style or your way of making decisions? Was it a natural process or one you had to learn?
Alina Donici: It was something I had to learn along the way. No leadership school shaped me, but the critical moments did: when I had to choose between closing the factory or moving forward, when I had to tell my team the truth even if it was painful, when I had to negotiate with banks or retailers. I learned that a leader doesn’t always have to have all the answers, but must be honest and inspire trust.

C&B: What makes Artesana’s products different from other dairy products on the Romanian market?
Alina Donici: Simple: we don’t compromise. Our milk is whole, unhomogenized, gently pasteurized, and packaged only in glass. We don’t add anything and we don’t take anything out. Milk batches are never mixed; each one has its own personality, so to speak. It’s a living, authentic product, completely unlike industrial dairy. And you can taste the difference from the very first spoonful.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments bring you the greatest satisfaction?
Alina Donici: A typical day doesn’t exist. Sometimes I’m in Bucharest, in meetings or at events, other times in Tecuci, at the factory, talking with the team or checking processes. But the greatest satisfaction comes from two things: mornings with my children, and the moments when I get messages from clients saying, “My daughter can only eat your products.” That gives you energy for a whole week.

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them day by day?
Alina Donici: Authenticity, respect, and responsibility. We don’t compromise for quick profit. We don’t write anything on the label that isn’t in the jar. We don’t negotiate with the truth. Even if sometimes you lose money in the short term, you win trust in the long run. We didn’t start our story for profit—because that might have meant making compromises. We’ve kept and will always keep our integrity. And that’s the most valuable currency in business.

C&B: How did the Artesana story begin, and what motivated you to start this artisanal dairy brand?
Alina Donici: It all started in Catalonia, with that artisanal goat cheese Daniel tasted, which sparked the idea. He came home with it, and although I was skeptical, we set off on this journey. We returned to Tecuci. We built our first factory, nearly went bankrupt, but rose again. What always motivated us was the thought that we were doing this for our children and for all children whose families want to put clean food on the table.

C&B: If you were to send a message to people who follow your example, what would it be?
Alina Donici: Don’t let fear or compromises ruin your dream. Life will knock you down, but if your dream has meaning and isn’t just about money, you’ll find the strength to rise again. And never forget: the most important capital isn’t financial—it’s the trust you build with the people around you.

The story of Alina Donici and Artesana proves that perseverance, authenticity, and respect for tradition can transform an impossible dream into a national and international success.

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