Meet Josh.

I definitely wasn’t meant to end up in this industry. I’m actually a trained actor, singer and dancer, so the original plan was to be on stage.

The reality of an actor’s life is a tough one, so I spent about a year working as a presenter for a national radio station. After that, I somehow found myself selling alarms door to door, which I absolutely hated.

Then I saw a job advert asking for a good level of English and no previous experience. I applied, got the job, and I’ve never looked back.

Since then, I’ve worked across several lead generation and affiliate marketing companies. I was drawn to performance marketing because I enjoy solving problems and seeing measurable results. Along the way, I learned what worked, what didn’t, and occasionally learned things the hard way, but it’s all been part of an exciting journey.

Selling door-to-door definitely taught me resilience, mainly because you hear “no” so often that it eventually stops bothering you.

After that, working across different lead generation and affiliate marketing companies gave me a proper understanding of how the industry works from all sides. I learned how to sell, manage relationships, analyse performance, solve problems and, just as importantly, spot when something didn’t feel right. I also saw a huge gap in the industry, which was lack of transparency.

By the time I started Digital Mojito, I had enough experience to know what I wanted to build, and probably more importantly, what I didn’t want to build, and working at other companies helped me with those decisions.

The biggest thing I noticed was the lack of transparency and, in some cases, a lack of integrity. Too many people treated performance marketing like a black box, where clients were expected to trust the numbers without really understanding what was happening.

That was one of the biggest reasons for starting Digital Mojito. Looking back, I’d like to think we’ve had a positive impact on the industry around us by proving that you can be open, honest and still build a successful business.

Because trust is everything in this industry. I’d seen too many situations where advertisers and affiliates weren’t being given the full picture, and I knew I didn’t want to build a business that worked that way.

For me, transparency creates better relationships, better decisions and better results. It is not always the easiest approach, but it is definitely the one I can sleep better with.

The biggest risk was leaving a secure job and backing myself to build something from scratch. There was no guarantee it would work, and in the early days every client, payment and decision felt extremely important.

It was exciting, but also slightly terrifying. Thankfully, the risk paid off and here we are 10 years later!

I try to take the emotion out of it and focus on what is right for the business in the long run, even if it’s the harder decision.

I’m lucky to have Sonia because we see things differently. I’ll usually bounce ideas off her, challenge my own thinking, and once we’ve got enough information, we make a decision together and move forward. I’ve learned that waiting for perfect certainty usually just means you’re waiting too long.

For me, it comes down to transparency, communication and whether there’s a genuine connection and opportunity to build something long-term.

We look for advertisers who understand the value of quality, and affiliates who are open about how they generate traffic. Good campaigns usually come from good relationships, not just good numbers.

And if something feels unnecessarily complicated from day one, it normally stays that way. We avoid those situations now.

Trying to do too much myself. In the early days, I thought being a good founder meant having a hand in everything, but it usually meant becoming the bottleneck.

I’ve learned that hiring good people, giving them clear direction and trusting them to do their job is far more effective. It also means I occasionally get to finish a coffee while it’s still warm.

In the beginning, I thought a good leader needed to have the answer to everything. Over time, I’ve realised it’s much more about building a great team, listening to different perspectives, and giving people the space to do what they’re good at.

I still like to be involved, probably more than I should sometimes, but I’ve learned that trusting the right people is one of the best decisions you can make as a founder.

I’m most proud of the reputation we’ve built. We’ve worked with some brilliant brands, but the real achievement is that people trust us, recommend us and genuinely enjoy working with us.

Building a business that’s successful without losing its values means more to me than any award (even though we have a few) or impressive-looking number.

Sonia brings a level of organisation, clarity and attention to detail that has shaped almost every part of Digital Mojito.

While I naturally focus on ideas, opportunities, and problem-solving, she ensures the business has the structure, processes, and standards to support that growth. She has an incredible ability to see what needs improving before it becomes an issue, and she genuinely cares about doing things properly.

A great example is how she built the operational side of the business, from onboarding and processes to branding and partner experience. A lot of what people trust and value about Digital Mojito today is a direct result of her work.

I honestly couldn’t have built this business with anyone better, and I think that’s what makes us such a strong team.

Working with Sonia has taught me that great leadership is about trust, respect and knowing when to challenge each other.

It has also taught me that when your business partner is your Spanish wife, every strategy meeting comes with very honest feedback, strong opinions and absolutely no chance of hiding behind corporate jargon.

Thankfully, we balance each other really well. We know where each other is strongest, we don’t take disagreements personally, and at the end of the day, we’re always on the same side.

I think the biggest opportunity is AI, especially in how we analyse data, optimise campaigns, create content and make faster decisions.

Used properly, AI can remove a lot of manual work and help teams spot opportunities they might otherwise miss. The important part is using it as a tool, not treating it like a magic button, because sadly it still can’t fix a bad campaign with one click.

The agencies that combine AI with real experience, strong relationships and good judgement will have the biggest advantage.

Don’t chase every client just because they’re willing to pay you. The wrong client can cost far more in time, energy and reputation than the revenue is worth. This I learnt the hard way.

Be clear about what you stand for, work with people who respect that, and protect your reputation from day one. You can rebuild a website. Rebuilding trust is much harder.

My vision has never been to build the biggest agency. It’s to build one of the most respected.

I want Digital Mojito to be the company people recommend when someone asks, “Who can I trust?” The kind of business where clients stay because they want to, publishers know they’ll be treated fairly, and our team is genuinely proud to say they work here.

If, years from now, we’ve helped raise the standard of transparency in our industry even more and left performance marketing in a better place than we found it, I’d consider that a far greater achievement than any revenue milestone.