MEET
Bill Hoogterp
Based in New Jersey, United States
Fun Fact
Favorite thing to do for fun is sports. I play full court basketball a few times per week, golf with my wife when we can, (we also take HIIT classes a few days a week) and I am on the worst softball team in the history of men’s softball but we have such a blast.
Favorite Learning Resource
This new technology format for learning they just invented called… books. They take amazing content and arrange is in a certain way on a page and project it permanently onto 2D flimsy pulp based material which becomes 3D when bound together and it’s amazing. I have a stack of products of this new technology on my night stand.
Areas of Expertise
Communication, sales, leadership and executive coaching
Areas of Expertise
English
A Career Built on Mobilizing People at Scale
Bill Hoogterp doesn’t just study influence and leadership. He’s spent his entire career building it in the real world.
Fresh out of college, Bill tackled a challenge most organizations still struggle with: how to get young people to care, show up, and take action. He created systems that mobilized millions of volunteers, proving early on that when people are given purpose and ownership, they rise to the occasion.
Co-Founder of DoSomething.org: Turning Purpose into Action
Building on that early success, Bill co-founded DoSomething.org alongside Andrew Shue and Michael Sanchez, in partnership with MTV. What started as an idea became one of the most influential youth organizations in the world, activating millions of young people around social impact.
DoSomething wasn’t just a nonprofit. It was a masterclass in behavior change, engagement, and leadership at scale.
Building and Scaling a $252M Digital Media Company
Bill then took those same principles into the for-profit world. Along with his co-founders, he helped build what is now Raptive (formerly CafeMom/CafeMedia), one of the largest digital media companies in the U.S.
The company ultimately sold in a $252 million acquisition, and today Raptive ranks as the 9th largest digital property in the country, trailing only Disney and Apple with 226 million monthly unique visitors.
Throughout the company’s growth, Bill became known for a leadership approach that connected ideas across teams, surfaced untapped talent, and turned diverse perspectives into smart, aligned decisions.
From “Accidental Success” to Intentional Impact
After Raptive, Bill jokes that he was “accidentally successful” and not good enough at golf to retire. What he was good at was helping leaders communicate, influence, and perform under pressure.
That insight led to the creation of LifeHikes (previously Own The Room).
Founder of LifeHikes: Training Leaders People Want to Follow
Today, LifeHikes is one of the world’s fastest-growing training companies,
having trained over 700,000 people across 1,200+ organizations in 47
countries and 7 languages.
LifeHikes sessions are interactive, science-backed, genuinely fun, and designed to create lasting behavior change, not just a good workshop experience.
Why Leaders Choose Bill as Their Coach
Bill combines rare credibility with deep humanity. He has built movements, scaled companies, and advised C-suite executives at some of the world’s most influential organizations including Meta, Google, and Yahoo, while still knowing how to command a room without ego.
His edge is translating complex ideas into clarity and helping leaders show up powerfully when the stakes are high. If you’re looking for a coach who understands growth, pressure, people, and performance from the inside out, Bill Hoogterp is the person you want in the room.
See Bill In Action
Bill Has Worked With
