STRATEGIC OPERATIONS & GROWTH

Operating structure for founders who think differently

Hi - I'm Emma Wallace.

I work with creative and founder-led businesses turning ambition into operating structure - strategy, commercial rigour, and the systems that let growth actually stick.

I do my best work with founders who think in webs rather than straight lines. If that's you, and you need someone who can own the messy middle between vision and execution, let's talk.

If you’re building something new and need someone who can own the messy middle between vision and execution, I'd love to chat.

How I Support You

I work across four interconnected areas. Always in service of the same goal: getting your thinking out of your head and into the business.

Strategy Translation

Taking what’s in your head and making it real. I work with you to sharpen and articulate your vision, then make sure every part of the business knows what it means for them. Not as a document that lives in a folder, but as a shared understanding that drives decisions.

Commercial Rigour

Getting honest about how the business is actually performing. I dig into the metrics that matter, create trading rhythms that have real teeth, and help you make decisions based on what’s true rather than what feels true.

Pace and Efficiency

Finding where time and energy are being wasted. I identify the bottlenecks, remove the busywork, and introduce smarter ways of working - including AI tools - so your team has bandwidth to think strategically, not just execute.

Culture and Capability

Building a team that can think, not just follow instructions. I help you define how you work, what good looks like, and how to bring people along - so you can empower rather than micromanage, and the business doesn’t grind to a halt every time a decision needs making.

Emma has been an invaluable COO at Borro - she brought a wealth of experience of the fashion industry, as well as expertise at operations, partnerships, and strategy. She excelled at running our Innovate UK grant project and the quality of her leadership and reporting was excellent.

Emma was always a calm and steadying voice for Borro - helping shape both strategy and everyday decisions with real impact. She worked brilliantly with the rest of the team, and was ready to help with any part of the business, from fundraising, to grant writing, to liaising with developers. I could always rely on Emma to take the initiative and run a project with diligence and intelligence.

Sarah Green, Founder of Borro