CoCOCRISSI
ABOUT
LOUIS TORRES
Owner & Chief Executive Officer
Mantra: "You'll never know until you ask"
Louis A. Torres, Jr. or Lou as most affectionately refer to him was raised in both the Bronx and Newburgh, New York. There's two things you'll recognize about Lou when you interact with him; he is prideful about where he comes from and his Puerto Rican heritage. As a young man, Lou moved to North Carolina in August of '98 to pursue his education. He graduated from Shaw University, the oldest Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in the southern United States. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Management in '02. Education was not Lou's only purpose at Shaw, during his time there he became a member of the Delta Gamma chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated and is proud to represent his organization through his many achievements.
Lou is the father to three sons. Here is a little fact, two of his sons are how he created the name for first business venture, CocoCrissi. CocoCrissi Tropical Icees was established in the spring of 2009. Prior to contributing his every effort to this particular empire, Lou was successful in software sales. In an Q&A with Lou, he mentioned "I was making good money; I had a good position, but I was unfulfilled." Having that mindset, he went home and prayed to God, asking God to specifically show him what business he should start. That very next day, he saw Icees and knew that his purpose was create a business where his primary focus would be to sell New York Style Italian ice.
Moreover, Lou believes his calling in Christ is to mold young men to be men through various aspects of CocoCrissi. Over the years, he has had the opportunity to plant seeds in young men that have been employed through the company. I employ you to find out about their experiences and journeys on our Staff and Scoopers page.
Through apprenticeships, internships, mentorship, lessons in entrepreneurship, and how to be their best overall man and an upright citizen, Lou has tremendously impacted the youth in his surroundings communities. He uses his deliberate teachings to assist in their transition from young adults into the full swing of what it means to be an adult.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Serving and giving back to our surrounding communities is necessary for the growth and prosperity of our staff, scoopers, and the overall company. We are not oblivious to the mere fact that without the support of the those right next door, we won't be successful. Make no mistake, we are not selfish or self-serving in our efforts to better our communities; however, we do realize how vital our customers and clients are to our purpose and mission to do great work. In everything we do and everywhere we go, we are always considering is what we are doing selfless? Is what we are contributing benefitting? Is what we are giving a blessing? CocoCrissi prides itself on believing that success without paying it forward is no true success at all. By our definition, success is helping others become successful.
We provide a number of programs within our company that are designed to aid our communities in a number of different ways. These programs are established, but are constantly being developed to better serve those that most distinctly represent our communities. We provide financial literacy courses, scholarship opportunities, mentorship, internships, and much more. Most of the benefits provided by our company are open to all unless otherwise stated. To learn more about our resources for the community, visit Community Resources for details.
