I FIND THE STORY IN THE DATA aND TURN IT INTO DECISIONS
Emily Dolton
I help founders of growing eCommerce businesses understand what’s really driving their growth, make better commercial decisions and work out where to focus next.
I’ve always been fascinated by what really drives a business – its purpose, why customers choose it, the nuances in how they behave, what the numbers tell us and the decisions that shape its direction. I love bringing those pieces together to understand what’s really going on – and what that means for where a business goes next.
My background is a slightly unusual one – and it’s a big part of how I approach businesses today.
I started with a first-class degree in Management Science – essentially using maths and data to make better business decisions – before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PwC.
I then spent 11 years at Bravissimo, where I built the sales forecasts and customer models for a £60m business and dug deep into customer behaviour – what people bought, what brought them back, what predicted future value and what was really driving the numbers.
From there I moved into growth and Meta advertising strategy, working with businesses on both their ads and the wider commercial picture: how marketing activity translated into customers, revenue and growth.
I went on to spend five years running my own consultancy, working directly with founders to understand their businesses, uncover opportunities and turn insight into action. Today, I head up Performance Marketing & Insight at Bravissimo, bringing together marketing performance, customer insight and commercial decision-making.
Alongside my role at Bravissimo, I continue to work with a small number of founders through my consultancy. I love being able to work closely with a business at an exciting stage of growth and bring my experience to the commercial questions and opportunities that matter most.
With limited consultancy capacity, I’m selective about the projects I take on and where I believe I can add real value.
When I work with a business, I want to understand the whole picture: where you’re trying to get to, what’s already working, what’s frustrating you, how your customers behave and what you and your team are seeing day-to-day.
I combine that understanding with the data to test assumptions, spot patterns and build the evidence behind better commercial decisions – adding an outside perspective, strategic thinking and clear recommendations on where to focus next.
STRATEGIC THINKING. ANALYTICAL RIGOUR. COMMERCIAL JUDGEMENT.
That combination is at the heart of how I work. I don’t look at customer data, marketing performance or commercial results in isolation. I bring them together, work out what really matters, and use the evidence to inform where I’d focus next.
Curiosity
The thing that drives my work more than anything else. I want to know why.
Why do some customers come back while others don’t? Why did that campaign produce lots of orders but fewer long-term customers? Why is one product, market or customer group behaving differently?
What’s changed? What haven’t we spotted yet? Curiosity gets us beyond reporting what happened and into understanding what it means.
Commercial instinct
Data is only useful if it helps you make better decisions.
So I’m always thinking beyond the numbers: what does this mean commercially? Where should you invest? What should you do more of? What should you stop doing? What could materially move revenue, profit or customer value?
That’s why I want to understand your whole business, not just whichever dataset happens to be in front of me.
joining the dots
“Emily’s talent for translating a mountain of data into a clear picture, along with her expertise in how to harness these insights for growth, is unique.”
The interesting answers rarely live neatly in one dashboard. They might be spread across Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta, Google, your CRM, spreadsheets or your own internal systems.
I bring those different pieces together to understand the whole customer and commercial story – then turn a mountain of information into something useful: what it means, why it matters and what I’d do next.
““Emily is FULL of energy, enthusiasm and expertise – and the thing I love most about working with her is that she offers so much more than a strategy. Emily looks at the bigger picture of your business and makes it easy for clients to work with you. Emily has felt like a real partner when it comes to my online marketing – honest, helpful with so much knowledge and insight.“
Nicky Thackray
I Love…
– Being outdoors… whether it’s rain or shine. Fresh air is so good for the soul.
– Road trips with great tunes (a 90s Britpop kid at heart, and a happy recipient of many a new song via my kids’ playlist skills).
– Fab food from sushi to a cracking roast.
– Dancing with enthusiasm (which makes up for my lack of rhythm).
– Rollerbooting, walking, gigs, kitchen discos.
I believe…
– Your gut and your data both matter. The interesting bit is often understanding why they disagree.
– There’s no point in analysis for analysis’s sake. A streamlined dashboard or complicated spreadsheet is worthless if it doesn’t help you make a better decision.
– The best strategy is usually about making choices. What to focus on, what to do more of – and what not to spend your time and money on.
– Everyone deserves freedom of choice and a sense of belonging. I love seeing the founders I work with build businesses that thrive – and create more freedom and choice in their own lives as a result.
BUILT SOMETHING SUCCESSFUl – and rEADY FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF GROWTH?
This is where it gets interesting…
Founders generally don’t come to me because something is wrong. Quite the opposite. Things are working – but growth has brought more customers, more channels, more data and more complexity with it.
Maybe you want to understand what’s really driving the numbers. Maybe there’s something in the business you can’t quite explain.
Or perhaps you know exactly where you want to get to – £5m, £10m or another milestone – but want to work out the strongest route from here to there. That’s the point where I can be particularly useful.
I’ll bring together the evidence, ask the questions that haven’t necessarily been asked yet, and help turn what we find into a practical view of what to focus on next.
And if I don’t think I’m the right person to help, I’ll tell you. I’m selective about the work I take on and I’d much rather have an honest conversation than sell you something you don’t need. For me, the value of my contribution isn’t the work itself. It’s what you’re able to do differently because of it.
