What happens when you combine a passion for WordPress with a relentless drive to innovate? You get Anna Hurko, the powerhouse behind Crocoblock. With over a decade of experience, Anna’s journey from technical support to CEO is nothing short of inspiring. Her leadership has turned Crocoblock into a go-to toolkit for building dynamic websites, helping developers bring their creative visions to life with powerful plugins.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Anna and dive deep into her journey—uncovering the lessons learned, the strategies that keep Crocoblock ahead of the curve, and her take on leadership in the ever-evolving WordPress ecosystem. So, sit back and explore the mind behind one of WordPress’s most innovative brands.

Q1. How long have you been in the WordPress industry?

Ans: 11 years personally. But, our core developers have been working with WordPress for 17 years.

Q2. Your journey from Product Owner to CEO is inspiring. What were your biggest challenges during this transition, and how did you overcome them?

Ans: Actually, it started with Technical Support. The biggest challenge at every stage was taking on an increasing level of responsibility. The more responsibility you take on, the more you face your own incorrect decisions. This requires a lot of inner work—acknowledging those mistakes, not being afraid to make them, and continuing to move forward.

Focusing on the goal has always helped me. Instead of looking for someone to blame or finding excuses, I concentrate on fixing what doesn’t work and improving the results. Continuous learning is another thing that boosts my confidence along the way.

The war was definitely the biggest challenge. Even on the first day of the war, we continued to work from our basements, bathrooms, and bomb shelters. In the first week of the war, we even released a plugin—I still remember it as JetFormBuilder.

And you always have work-related challenges, like some people going to the army, electricity issues, rocket attacks, etc. When it started, I was not the CEO; I was the COO, and the first thing I focused on was my team. I completely refocused my energy on helping the team members, motivating them, and keeping them together. And it was successful—we built a strong leads team. The Croco Team grew by 25 people during the war, and we continued to develop, market, and dream.

Q3. Can you share what Crocoblock does and highlight your major products?

Ans: Crocoblock is a toolkit for creating complex websites. We currently have 20 plugins. Our primary focus is on working with Elementor, WordPress Block Editor, and Bricks. However, we aim to cover developers’ needs—if they request integration with other builders, we will do it.

Our major plugins are JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, and JetFormBuilder. They are perfect for building websites with listings, relations, and advanced filtering. With these tools, you can create user profiles, show different content for various types of users, and more. Crocoblock is perfect for creating booking websites, real estate, car dealers, etc. Often, our users build website types we were not even thinking about.

Q4. How does your team approach innovation to ensure Crocoblock products remain relevant and ahead of the curve?

Ans: This is both a simple and tricky question for me. First, since day one, all our changes have been based on three pillars: customer feedback, developers’ vision, and competitors (in that order). We gather customer feedback from everywhere: GitHub, the Facebook community, and support systems. It’s also worth mentioning that many team members start in the support team and later move to management, development, QA, or marketing roles. So, we are very customer-oriented.

Of course, we are increasingly implementing standard tools like user interviews, polls, research, etc., but daily communication with customers remains the most important factor in all our decisions.

For example, we have added Bricks integration because our customers were asking about it a lot.

Q5. You have attended and participated in several WordCamps recently. How did these events help you network and collaborate with other WordPress business owners?

Ans: So, if we are talking about business owners or partnerships, the most helpful person is our partnership manager, Lana. Before going to any WordCamp, we try to prepare by checking who is going to attend and setting up some meetings or connecting virtually beforehand. Of course, offline events help establish better contact, but I can honestly say that they are not the most important. Communication between WordCamps is more important and effective.

However, WordCamps provided me with other valuable insights—live communication with customers and a better understanding of their needs, not only related to our plugins but more broadly. Now, I have more answers (and questions) about their lifestyles, differences in mindsets across countries, and how they select tools. It’s not the same as conducting an interview or survey. We drink, we laugh—at WordCamps, you get more open and honest answers. These real-life interactions bring a level of authenticity and connection that no virtual meeting can replace, ultimately enriching our understanding and approach.

Q6. Is WordPress a popular content publishing platform in Ukraine, too? How does WordPress help war-affected Ukrainians?

Ans: I don’t have a specific answer to this question since we don’t work much with the Ukrainian web market. Of course, we have some customers, but not many. Similarly, WordPress doesn’t offer specific help in the war. Everyone simply tries to help as much as possible by joining the army (four people from Croco are in the army), paying taxes, donating, and volunteering.

Q7. What do you think the WordPress community has given to you? Describe the WordPress community in three words.

Ans: Haha, that’s a cool question after the WordPress Drama. The WordPress community motivates and inspires me to connect with anyone I need—Matt, partners, WordPress influencers, or customers. If you’re part of the community, all doors are open.

Three words? They would have been different before September. Now: drama, friends, possibilities. (Previously: freedom, friends, possibilities.)

Q8. It seems you’re into fitness and running activities. How do you manage time from your busy working schedule? Any tips for newbie fitness enthusiasts?

Ans: Simple—I don’t have kids (toxic joke, of course). You need to make time for yourself, or else you aren’t truly living your own life. As Crocoblock grows, so does our team. At some point, I realized I wasn’t doing anything tangible myself—everything I did was managing people and Excel sheets. I needed results that were fully my own, so I started running.

My only advice is: just start. For my first run, I didn’t buy new shoes or clothes. I didn’t watch tutorials or look for a coach. I just went outside and ran. Later, of course, you should do it properly—with good shoes and maybe a Garmin watch. But at first, just go out and run. It’s easy, simple, and doesn’t take much time.

And I want to add that by being consistent in running, I have changed my entire daily routine—schedule, meal plan, and energy level. During the run, I have my own coaching sessions and time and space to rethink everything. It also teaches you to keep going no matter the weather, day of the week, country, or schedule. My longest run was at WordCamp Granada, on the morning after the party and before contribution day.

Q9. As the CEO, what leadership principles guide you in steering Crocoblock forward, especially in a competitive space like WordPress plugins and solutions?

Ans: Hire passionate people, respect your team, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and help them grow. Give full ownership to each manager in their area of responsibility, but always have a Plan B for them.

For me, being a CEO means keeping the team’s final destination in focus. I give them freedom, but I am ready to help. I always aim for a more significant global goal, leading the team to dream big.

Q10. What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs looking to build their own product or service in the WordPress ecosystem?

Ans: WordPress isn’t just about business—it can be your business, but it’s more than that. We’ve been in the WordPress world for a long time, but Crocoblock is six years old and our most successful project. The secret? We didn’t start with unit economics or numerical goals. We identified a pain point and solved it.

So, I advise entering the WordPress market only if you know what problem you’re solving and why people need your product. That’s it. The community will take care of the rest—they’ll make you popular if your product is excellent.

Time To Say Goodbye!

And that’s a wrap-up of our insightful conversation with Anna Hurko. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that success in the WordPress space isn’t just about great products; it’s about a relentless commitment to customer needs, innovation, and building a rock-solid team. Anna’s story proves that with the right mindset and determination, anything is possible.

Anna, thanks for taking us behind the scenes of Crocoblock and sharing your journey with us. Here’s to more innovation, more success, and, of course, more groundbreaking WordPress solutions!