Meet Lance Zaal | President and Founder of US Ghost Adventures

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lance Zaal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lance, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk management is key to every important decision I make. You need to account for the impact of risk on both your short- and long-term goals and how they impact all stakeholders involved. Risk needs to be considered from different perspectives, and risk is more than financial. When I evaluate risk, I think about likelihood and impact. How likely is something to happen, and if it happens, how could it hurt us? What are the opportunity costs?
This year, I turned down the purchase of a famous tourist attraction (which was mostly an eCommerce business under the hood) I was selected as the buyer for. After looking at important information behind the numbers, and weighing the financial and operational risk, I made a personally difficult decision to pass on it not only because of the risk of that business, but because of the risks it would create for the entire company and the people in it. I may buy it one day, when the risks are justifiable.

My first purchase was The Historic Lizzie Borden House. It was a big investment, and as soon as I took over, I went looking specifically for risks to the property and people. One of many things I found was an antique stove restored to function as a gas stove. The stove had pilot lights on at all times, and when the previous owners had the house, a guest or a breeze would blow out the pilot light, filling the house with dangerous gas and forcing people to evacuate and the fire department to arrive on scene. That was a clearly unacceptable risk to the property and people, so I moved the antique stove and disconnected it from the gas line and bought an electric stove for our staff to cook on. A thousand dollars to eliminate a potentially catastrophic risk was clearly worth it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
After my first success following an app I created in 2013, I started a coffee company, a brewery, and a few other small businesses. I took on too much and stretched myself too thin at a time when I should have focused on growing what was working. In 2021, I decided to focus on the tourism market. I found that not only was I happier, but I was able to grow the business quickly and start scaling for a better future.

Now, I run US Ghost Adventures which offers entertaining, historic, and authentic ghost tours of the United States most haunted cities and operates and owns some of the most (real) haunted houses in the country. Junket is a second and similar business that focuses on non-haunted themed experiences. Some things that set me apart from others is I understand the value of technology and processes, and merge them together in tour experiences. I also respect and preserve history and ensure stories are being told correctly and historic and haunted landmarks are being well cared for.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One thing I wanted to accomplish when making my tours was ensuring a variety of options for everyone to enjoy. For those interested in all things spooky, they can try the LA Ghosts: Terrors of Tinseltown tour or the LA Ghosts Boos and Booze Haunted Pub Crawl. If you are interested in getting active, try the Hollywood Sign and Adventure tour, and those interested in entertainment would like the Walk of Fame: 100 Years of Hollywood tour. Even foodies have an option with the Flavors of Venice Beach Food tour. My personal favorite is our Hollywood sign hike. There are even some additional tours here: https://usghostadventures.com/los-angeles/.

My goal is always to ensure my guests have the best time on whatever experience they take, and I know the team in LA will ensure that these tours are some of the best in the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I was inspired by my dad, who started his own business when I was born. Growing up, my parents instilled a strong work ethic starting from a young age. They always had me helping around the house cleaning and learning to cook. When I was older, I worked with my dad in his business in setting up phone lines and connections, and started my first business in elementary school, the classic lemonade stand. Though I didn’t think of it as a business at the time, later I realized how important that time was for my development. I am thankful to both of my parents for challenging me.

My time in the military also helped. Though I didn’t want to leave home when I first joined, joining the Marine Corps forced me to get out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes to the rest of the world. I had opportunities for growth and to develop leadership skills. I wasn’t a good leader at first because I didn’t know what I was doing and did not have the confidence, but I had incredible mentors who did not give up on me and continued to push me until I excelled. The skills I learned from my time in service help me every day.

Website: https://usghostadventures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usghostadv/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usgadventures

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usghostadventures

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@usghostadventures? http://www.usghostadventures.com/blog

Image Credits
US Ghost Adventures