Women in iGaming: Nordic Partners CEO Sara Hagge on Building Confidence and Leading with Integrity

As part of the iGaming News Women in iGaming initiative, we are thrilled to speak with Sara Hagge, CEO of Nordic Partners, about her unconventional route into the industry and the experiences that have shaped her journey from Affiliate Manager to CEO.

In this candid interview, Sara discusses overcoming imposter syndrome, earning recognition in a male-dominated industry and why confidence comes through action rather than waiting until you feel completely ready. She also shares her approach to leading a global remote team, the value experienced women and working mothers bring to businesses, and the importance of remaining true to your values—even when that means accepting that you cannot please everyone.

For those who may not know you, Sara, could you tell us a little about yourself, your career journey and how you first found your way into the wonderful world of iGaming?

I come from a marketing and communications background and began my career in Sweden. In 2018, I moved to London and started looking for a new role. A recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn and invited me to interview with an iGaming company.

I’ll be honest: my initial reaction was that probably iGaming was not for me. I knew very little about the industry at that time and had quite a few preconceptions about what working in it would actually be like .  But I’ve always believed in learning by doing, particularly when it comes to subjects or industries I know very little about.

So, I thought that, whatever happened, it would still be a great opportunity to practise interviewing for a job.

I met the casino’s founder, we had a really interesting conversation and he offered me the job on the spot. I decided to put my preconceptions aside and give it a chance. After all, if I hated it, I could always find another job.

That was almost ten years ago and I’m still in the industry, so it turned out to be a pretty good decision. 

You’ve progressed from an Affiliate Manager role through positions spanning marketing, CRM and acquisition, and you are now CEO of Nordic Partners. What was it about the industry that kept you engaged and motivated to continue progressing?

I like to optimise things, and one thing we have in abundance in this industry is data. There are always small improvements to be found and, as with everything in life, those incremental changes add up over time. I think that is one of the things that kept me interested in iGaming. It is a very fast-moving industry, so there is always something changing and always something that can be improved. You can make a change, look at the data, understand whether it worked and then keep building from there.

Every business has areas it can improve. It might involve changing how something is done, strengthening tracking, improving CRM or introducing clearer structures across the company. When you continually identify and optimise those details, the business keeps growing and developing.

I don’t think I ever had my sights set specifically on becoming a CEO. I was simply focused on what we could do better and gradually took on more responsibility as a result. The titles I’ve held have largely followed the work I was already doing.

For anyone discovering Nordic Partners for the first time, could you tell us a little about the company, what it stands for and who you work with?

Nordic Partners is an affiliate network, but we consider ourselves to be much more than that—we aim to be a genuine growth partner.

Despite our name, we are not limited to the Nordic markets. The name reflects the company’s origins, as its first team members came from Norway, and Finland. Since then, we have expanded and now have people from across the world.

For operators, the goal is to bring in relevant, high-quality traffic rather than simply more volume. For affiliates, it is about access to strong brands, the right commercial opportunities, reliable payments and a team that understands their traffic and can help them get more value from it.

Technology is also an important part of how we work. Within the wider Nordic Network, we have AffCollect, our proprietary affiliate reporting and financial platform. It brings affiliate data and reporting into one place, giving us better visibility across performance, revenue and payments. 

For us, AffCollect supports the same idea Nordic Partners was built around: better information, more transparency and fewer unnecessary complications between affiliates and operators.

Ultimately, we want to make affiliate partnerships easier to manage, easier to understand and more valuable for everyone involved.

What would you say have been some of the biggest milestones in Nordic Partners’ journey so far?

One of our most important milestones might seem relatively small, but it means a great deal to me: affiliates and casinos now approach us directly because they want to work with us.

It is a real honour because it shows that we are doing something right. Our existing partners are happy with what we deliver, and that reputation is helping us attract new partnerships. For me, that is a significant milestone.

More recently, we entered esports with Nordic Partners Gaming (NPG) and acquired the AM Gaming Counter-Strike 2 team. This is a completely new area for us, but there is a natural connection between esports, gaming audiences and the iGaming industry we already know so well. With NPG, we are learning how to build something on the other side of that relationship: not only working with affiliates and operators, but also understanding how audiences, content, partnerships and esports can work together.

On a personal level, it has also been a very different journey for me. I knew very little about esports when we started and never expected to become interested in it, but now I find myself watching the games, following the team and learning about a completely new part of the industry. That has probably been one of the most unexpected milestones for me.

As a woman who has progressed into a senior leadership role, have there been particular challenges or moments where you've had to push yourself outside of your comfort zone to get where you are today? I know you've covered a few examples already…

In any male-dominated industry, I think it’s always a little challenging to prove that I’m not just there as a pretty face. I’m actually there because I have something between my ears that I’d like to use.

In any male-dominated industry, I think there can be an assumption, particularly when you’re younger, that you have to prove you’re there for more than how you look. You want to be recognised for your knowledge, your ideas and what you can actually contribute.

I found that more challenging when I was younger. With experience, you become much more confident in what you know and what you bring to the table, and you feel less of a need to prove yourself to other people.

Is imposter syndrome something you’ve ever experienced as a woman in this industry? I can personally vouch for the fact that it has been a huge part of my own journey as a woman working in iGaming.

Yes, definitely. There have been plenty of times when I’ve thought, “Who am I, and why do people think I know anything?” But I’ve learned that the best way to deal with that feeling is to keep doing the work and let experience prove to you that you are capable.

I think everybody experiences imposter syndrome in some context. It’s like someone entering a gym for the first time and thinking, “What am I doing here? Everyone is looking at me. They know I don’t belong here.” In reality, most people are focused on themselves. The more you show up and do it, the more comfortable and confident you become.

Is that the advice you would give to women in the industry who may be experiencing imposter syndrome themselves?

Confidence grows from doing things, right? The more you do, the more confident you become.

I even teach my children this. I’ll say, “I know you can climb that tree. Just try it.” They might not believe they can do it, but when they succeed, they prove to themselves, “I did it.” That is where confidence comes from.

So my advice would be not to wait until you feel completely ready. Just try it and work it out as you go. Once you’ve proven to yourself that you can do something, the confidence follows.

Your career has involved moving into new areas and taking on responsibilities that you haven’t necessarily handled before. What advice would you give to women who are waiting until they feel 100% qualified?

You will never feel 100% qualified for everything a new role brings. If you wait until you do, you’ll probably be waiting forever. At some point, you just have to take the opportunity and trust that you’ll figure out the rest along the way.

You now lead a remote team at Nordic Partners. What does good leadership look like to you, and how do you create a culture where people, particularly women, feel confident enough to have their voices heard?

My job isn’t to show or tell my team members how to do their jobs. It’s to make sure they have what they need to be successful in their roles, remove obstacles when something is getting in their way and help steer the team in the right direction when needed.

I see myself as a supporter and a cheerleader for my team. Especially when you’re working remotely, you have to trust people to do what they’re good at rather than constantly looking over their shoulder.

Leading a remote team is ultimately about trust. 

I try to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to speak. During business meetings, we go around the table and ensure that everyone is involved and able to share their thoughts.

The iGaming industry has changed significantly in terms of female representation, but there is still a noticeable gap when it comes to women in senior leadership and C-suite positions. Do you think the industry is moving in the right direction, and what more could it do to support women coming through?

I definitely think we are moving in the right direction, and we are seeing more women in leadership positions. At Nordic Partners, we actually have a 50/50 split between women and men across the company, which I think is a very healthy balance.

However, we must make sure that women are not overlooked. Women in their 40s and 50s are one group that I believe is particularly vulnerable to this. They are incredibly valuable: they know what they want, they have developed so many skills over the years and they have confidence, yet they are still often overlooked.

The same applies to working mothers. . I live and work in Sweden, which is quite an equal country, but I know that many other countries don’t have the same level of equality.Women who have children know how precious their time is. They might not be able to answer your call at 7pm, but when they work, they work incredibly efficiently.

Finally, looking back at the woman who first entered iGaming and comparing her with the CEO you are today, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned about building a career, backing yourself and finding your place in this industry?

You can’t be a people pleaser. You will never be able to please everyone and, if you try, it will often come at a personal cost. At the same point you simply have to accept that not everybody agrees with you or likes the decision you have made. What has become more important to me over the years is knowing what I stand for and being able to stand behind my decisions. I  value transparency, honesty and continually looking for ways to improve.  I also believe in using data to support decisions rather than making them based on what will make everyone happy.

I don’t want to look back at a situation and feel that I compromised my values simply because it was the easier or more popular option. So for me, the biggest lesson has been to trust my judgement, accept that I won’t please everyone and always act with integrity