“I was always into the internet as a kid,” says Adam Ross, CEO of Awin. “We got the internet early in Ireland. I was building websites before anyone really knew what that was.”
Despite his latent passion, Ross followed his parents’ advice and studied dentistry at university.
“It was probably a mistake, I probably should have studied something computer-related,” he muses. “But, these things have a funny way of working themselves out.”
Ultimately, a career in dentistry was not on the cards for Ross. He moved to London, got in touch with a recruiter, and “purely by chance” she knew the Founder of Affiliate Window, Kevin Brown. One thing led to another and soon he was offered an interview.
“My friends thought I was absolutely crazy to even consider it,” he recalls. “Nobody had heard of this industry. (But) I just really loved the sound of it.”
Ross and Brown hit it off immediately and he was offered the job before even exiting the tube on the way home.
From there began a 20 year career that led to Ross taking the helm as CEO in 2021.
Last month, at Awin ThinkTank, Ross sat down with Hello Partner to reflect on his journey so far; the moment he knew the industry had real power, times of doubt, and what has kept the spark and passion for affiliate marketing going all these years.
You can watch our full interview below.
