FRIENDSHIP IN THE AFFILIATE MARKET - TRUTH OR MYTH? A sincere conversation with Yulia Donska about people, trust, and relationships outside of business

HWYD: How long have you been in the affiliate market and how did it all start for you?

Yulia: I have been in the affiliate market for 10 years and it all started with a job fair. That was the first time I got a full-time job as an affiliate manager in mobile marketing.

HWYD: What challenges did you face at the beginning of your career?

Yulia: The main challenge for me was the prejudice of society, in particular, stereotypes that a young age and pleasant appearance cannot be combined with a girl's analytical mind. This manifested itself in the form of ageism, objectivism, and gender discrimination. At the beginning of my career, I literally had to insist on integrations, join negotiations with partners on technical issues, explain that my role in the company was not a servant or escort, etc. It was not just a challenge, but a daily need to prove my competence through actions.

Over time, I have learned to build clear boundaries in communication, and my market recognition has reduced the risk of such situations at times. And this opened up an opportunity for me to be a voice of support for those who face similar difficulties in their team or profession (in either direction by gender and age).

HWYD: What do you love most about your job?

Yulia: The opportunity to grow, scale ideas and influence, and not just be aware of trends, but shape them. And also, people...

I'm inspired by the combination of technology, marketing, public relations, and especially by the focus on people, the team, and the HR aspect. It's a rare synergy that allows you not only to create products or campaigns, but also to shape the environment in which they are born.

HWYD: You are a person who knows how to be "at ease" with both the tops and the newcomers. How do you do it?

Yulia: For newcomers, it is enough to remember their personal experience and honor the hard work and the path these people are going through now. Believe, support, and guide them.

For the tops, it is an understanding of what these people went through, having an unknown number of issues outside of work that accompanied their path to the "top" status among others. It's about great responsibility, an incredible amount of knowledge, skills, and diverse abilities. It's about the peaks reached from the outside, and the impostor syndrome and dissatisfaction because "it could have been better."

HWYD: In your personal opinion, is friendship in affiliate marketing a reality or more of a beautiful illusion?

Yulia: I am happy to say that this is a reality. And I even know cases where it is also a great beautiful love!

HWYD: What qualities do you value in your market partner friends?

Yulia: Mutual respect, honesty, openness, responsibility, trust, and concern.

HWYD: Have there been any cases in your career when friendship helped you overcome difficult situations? Tell us.

Yulia: There were many such cases! From professional issues to help with car evacuation (Oleksandr, CEO of Triangles) and returning personal belongings from Warsaw (there was a whole delegation here - Anastasia, CCO of Gambeat; Kateryna, Head of Advertisers of LeadHeaven; Maria and Anna, CEO and TL of Affiliates of Spyro). I even still have 2 hair dryers, because one was given to me by Olya PR TL WWGroup when I was without personal belongings for a month.

I sought support to get through the stress. For attention that she might not receive in the required amount from managers, colleagues, etc. Friendships helped me to find the right contacts for any purpose. Someone can tell you an agency that prints business cards in another country, someone can suggest a little-known product or team, and someone can recommend a person for your open position in the company.

HWYD: What mistakes most often prevent you from maintaining friendly relations in a professional circle?

Yulia: One of the most common mistakes is to confuse working relationships with friendships without having an internal filter: "do I call this person a friend because we are really close, or just because we are united by a common cause every day?"

Another mistake is the unwillingness or inability to let go of a relationship when your values, goals, or career paths start moving in different directions. And this is normal. But attempts to "keep" the connection at the same level often lead to disappointment, resentment, or misunderstandings.

HWYD: In what cases do you think friendships with people from the industry can interfere with your work?

Yulia: When it's not really a friendship, or you put different meanings into the term.

HWYD: You once mentioned that your friends are mostly from the industry. Doesn't this blur the line between work and personal life?

Yulia: My friends know the golden rule of our communication - we MUST talk about more than just work. Usually, I'm the one who makes everyone change the subject, but it's an important reminder for each of us that we are interesting to each other for a variety of reasons.

HWYD: Do you have a story about a friendship that changed your attitude to work or the market?

Yulia: For me, my environment is a great resource for the opportunity to "look from a different angle" at everything around us. I think everyone has contributed to certain changes in my attitude to work.

But I have a lot of stories about work that changed my attitude to friendship - and the most striking one is the appearance of Anastasia, Gambeat's CCO, in my life in the neighboring building 3 years ago. We jokingly say about our friendship, "If it weren't for our guys, we'd already be living together with 4 cats in the center of Kyiv."

HWYD: As we know, there is a lot of controversy around the topic of friendship between men and women. Do you personally believe in it?

Yulia: I believe, know and feel. I consider Oleksandr Shchypak to be my closest friend among men - this man once chose me to be his boss. My longtime partners, for whom I used to be an affiliate manager (I send my warmest greetings to Misha Funk and Vadym Zavadiuk), as well as boyfriends and husbands of my friends from the industry.