Hooked On Code - Entrepreneur of the Year
Company: Hooked On Code, Frisco, TX
Entry Submitted By:The Power Group
Company Description: Hooked On Code is a boutique WordPress website and marketing consulting agency with the purpose of creating delightful experiences for its clientele. Founded by Torre Capistran in 2014, Hooked On Code is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise and an Accredited Business recognized by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Nomination Category: Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Entrepreneur of the Year - Computer Services
Nomination Title: Hooked On Code - Torre Capistran, Owner & Founder
In 2014, Torre Capistran founded Hooked On Code, a boutique WordPress website agency as a 24-year old. A graduate of the SMU Cox School of Business, Torre now finds herself fulfilling her creative calling. She is a self-taught web designer with a passion for continuous learning and skill development. After working in digital marketing for a few years, Torre decided to move into entrepreneurship. Through her client-side experiences, Torre observed a gap in the market in both pricing and service excellence with regards to website development projects. She set out on a mission to cut the bullsh*t out of the web development industry and make the process an enjoyable journey for all involved.
Today, Torre leads a small but mighty team of three women who live by the agency’s core values: Keep it Simple, Be Yourself, Relentless Forward Motion, Do What You Say, and Be Delightful AF. In 2019, Torre established these values for the agency which have since led to the development of the agency’s 100% Happiness Guarantee and unlimited vacation policy. Torre’s goal is not strictly to create an impeccable end product, but to remain focused on delight and simplicity. Her and her team are always asking themselves, “will the client understand and be able to change this if they want to in the future,” a question most agencies wouldn’t consider as crucial to their success. This core foundation is to ensure the experience is one clients will actually enjoy, and to always be a company where her growing team can thrive. From venture-backed startups to global corporations, Torre and her team help clients tell their stories and engage visitors through sophisticated, user-friendly websites, and have fun while doing it.
Torre relies on a few key, trusted systems and tools to run her business. Instead of utilizing strength tests, she started integrating Culture Index as a tool in 2020 to survey potential employees and clients to ensure her team remains full of efficient, self-motivated, and detail oriented creatives. In 2019 she began implementing EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), a system that helps her operate her business efficiently and effectively, while encouraging a positive workplace culture.
Her distinct focus on company culture has led Torre to be recognized in local publications and viewed as a thought leader within her industry. In 2020, Hooked On Code was recognized as a finalist for the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Awards for Business Ethics. She credits the company’s strong values as the reason she was able to double the agency’s revenue in 2019, retain her team and 95% of her clientele during the COVID-19 crisis, while continuing to bring on impactful new business including major projects for global product testing company SGS and World Class Dentistry.
As a young entrepreneur and mother of two small children, Torre is passionate about providing opportunities for women to become involved in the technology industry. In 2019, Torre began an informal mentoring process for women interested in web design and development that she plans on making a permanent program at Hooked On Code this year. Her goal is to keep the door open to women who are interested in learning more about web development, while giving them access to the tools they need to develop their skills, and mentorship during their journeys. She has been involved with Girl Develop It DFW, Great Girls Network and is currently a part of the Entrepreneur’s Organization Accelerator Program (EOA).
As 2021 progresses, Torre is looking forward to growing her team, advocating for the presence of women in web development and taking her capabilities to service companies abroad. A few fun facts - she has studied German, Mandarin, Spanish and is starting to learn Arabic, and while living in China she hugged a real baby panda.
-Worked with SGS’ North American locations, a global company that has the potential to continue as the agency’s first international project.
-ThroughoutCOVID-19, kept her full team employed while retaining 95% of her clientele.
-Worked with World Class Dentistry to take its large-scale website built in Drupal and redesigned it to be modern, SEO and user friendly. The major project for the agency was a success.
-Agency recognized as a Finalist for the 2020 Torch Awards for Business Ethics by the Better Business Bureau.
-Doubled in revenue in 2019, strictly from word of mouth referrals.
-Created jobs for 3 women in tech.
-Introduced an unlimited vacation policy for employees.
-Published a thought leadership piece on LinkedIn documenting the evolution of the Hooked On Code’s Core Values.
-Appeared on the cover of Prosper Living Magazine, and was featured in a two-page client-satisfaction article.
-Launched a 100% Happiness Guarantee for clients.