CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in one local couple who currently operates a range of small businesses at the 1130 Center in Clarion.

Hillary and Leo LeFay first moved to the Clarion area in 2002.

Hillary had been teaching music for several years before coming to Clarion and decided to continue doing so right from the start.

“I was teaching music from pretty much the moment we moved here,” Hillary told exploreClarion.com.

They also opened Raz & Mataz, a comic book and gaming store, in 2002, formerly located at 507 Main Street.

While Raz and Mataz only operated for a few years, closing its doors in 2005, Hillary’s Music has continued steadily and has also grown over the years.

More recently, she has not only taken on more students but has also trained some of her advanced students as apprentices, so they can begin taking on their own students.

Along with music, Hillary is also a crafter, making a range of fused-glass jewelry, mosaics, and other items, which she sells under the business name Stars that Dance. In addition, she offers workshops on everything from mosaics and glass fusing to jewelry making, metalwork, and more under the name Workshops with Hillary.

The couple found another opportunity in 2009 when a renewed interest in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) was bringing a lot of attention to the realm of mix martial arts.

“We had discovered UFC and at first we thought what a lot of people did, that it was just a brawl, but when we learned a bit more, we realized it’s fascinating, looking at all the techniques and the people of different backgrounds,” Hillary explained.

With her own background in kickboxing, and her husband’s background in karate, as well as his training from his time in the Army, they both discovered a liking for the newly burgeoning realm of mixed martial arts and decided to start learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is martial art-based primarily on grappling and submission holds.

“It just made sense in a town with a major wrestling program at the university to take advantage of some of the experts available.”

They soon decided to start their own mixed martial arts program, with Clarion Mixed Martial Arts starting out in their own garage, at first. Then they had the opportunity to move to a small building between Clarion and Strattanville on U.S. 322.

“We just kind of kept expanding from there.”

They built up the program over the years, adding more and different teachers and techniques, offering classes for a range of abilities and age groups.

A few years later, a fateful trip to Erie led them on yet another new path after they visited an escape room with friends in Erie, and found themselves fascinated again.

Between Leo’s background in gaming, with a taste for the intricacies of developing and solving puzzles, and Hillary’s education in architecture and taste for artistry, they decided to design their own escape room in the building where they housed the MMA business, and Escape Room Clarion was born.

As the businesses continued to expand over the years, though, they soon began to outgrow their space.

“We were kind of bursting at the seams,” Hillary noted.

They began looking for a new location to purchase, and about two years ago were pleased to find that the former Agway building, located at 1130 East Main Street in Clarion Borough, could more than meet their needs.

“That gave us a ton more square footage. We were able to create an expanded gym and went from one escape room to four, and still had lots of extra space.”

With multiple businesses, from music and glass products to MMA and escape rooms, already in their repertoire, they decided to name the new location the 1130 Center, turning it into a center for all of their endeavors and even adding some special touches, including an array of tropical plants and an indoor pond that houses six turtles.

Nevertheless, the LeFay’s endeavors still didn’t stop there, either.

After moving into the new building, they began brainstorming about what to do with some of the extra space. It was then that their friend and fellow MMA enthusiast, Rob Sintobin, asked about the possibility of using some of the space for axe throwing.

According to Hillary, they had gone to an axe-throwing venue previously and had enjoyed it, so they started considering the idea and looking at the possibilities.

Once they decided to actually move forward, the initial plan was to open 9 Worlds Axe Throwing in April of 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works, but while the business didn’t open until summer, the first few months have gone very well.

“We’re already looking at expanding to more lanes.”

The pandemic has changed some of their other businesses as well, with Hillary’s Music moving to online teaching for a time. However, that also allowed the couple to devote more time to develop the 1130 Center.

“We’re about to build our 16th escape room. They’ve definitely gotten a thousand times better over the years, and we know we’re at a good level now.”

They are also working on the music classrooms, as well as looking at putting in a stage and performance area, areas for larger music classes, and an area for Hillary’s artistic products and workshops.

Hillary noted that people sometimes ask them how they have time for all of their ventures.

“It’s our jobs. Normally I spend a huge portion of my week teaching music, but that’s been trickier with going online, so I’ve been thankful for all the other things to work on.”

She also noted that they have been fortunate to be able to build their businesses around their passions.

“We literally do only what we love.”