Mac & Cheese Productions 'Injects Summer Camp Into Adulthood'

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Business: Mac & Cheese Productions in Roscoe Village

Owner: Saya Hillman

Founded: 2004

Learn more about Mac & Cheese Productions on its website. 

How did the business come to be?

I got fired! And didn't know what I wanted to do but knew I never wanted a boss again.

Why did you choose the area? 

Quality of life became the most important aspect for me, and that included a commute from my bedroom to my home office. And since I lived in Roscoe Village, it was a no brainer where my business would open.

What does your business offer?

Mac & Cheese Productions injects summer camp into adulthood. 

We offer opportunities to grow community and yourself in environments where you feel comfortable solo and with people you’ve just met, where discovery and laughter abound. 

At our core is the belief that the segments which make up our lives – work, making friends, dating, self-development – shouldn’t be sources of stress but sources of joy, and that it’s a good thing to bring together people who share little in common save for the willingness to be open, proactive, and vulnerable. In other words, to live a Life of Yes!

What's your most popular product or service?

Fear Experiment: a unique, fun way to create community, push oneself, learn something new, and laugh. Strangers come together to learn an art-form they’re not particularly skilled at, rehearse for three months, and then are rockstars for a night, in front of 700+ at the famed Park West. They do this to challenge themselves, meet others, and have a consistent source of laughter and support!

The art forms for FE5 (Fall 2013) are a capella and stepping. The art forms for FE6 (January 2014) are dance and improv. You apply for one art-form or the other.

What's something interesting about your business your customers might not know?

Nothing I do started as a business venture. Each offering was born out of my dissatisfaction -- with how to meet people (socially, romantically, professionally), how to experience personal development, and with the lack of fun, laughter, and play in adulthood. Turns out, others are dissatisfied too!