Throughout her career, Ella d’Amato has carved a path of innovation and leadership, moving from marketing to interim CEO of Notonthehighstreet.com, and now co-founding the social commerce platform “i love it.” In this exclusive interview with The Executive Magazine, Ella discusses her leadership journey, the driving force behind her mission to reshape online shopping, and the unique challenges she has faced as a female entrepreneur in traditionally male-dominated industries. Her insights offer a glimpse into the future of commerce and what it takes to lead with authenticity.
Your career trajectory has been remarkable, from starting in marketing at Omnicom to leading NOTHS and now co-founding i love it. Could you share some key lessons you’ve learned along the way that have been instrumental in shaping your leadership style?
“My style has evolved over time from when I joined as a PA in Marketing, and throughout all the different experiences, but overall I try to lead through kindness. You can have the best idea in the world but if you don’t have a thriving team, and culture that nurtures them, the results won’t come. For me, the team is the most important part of any business. I try to help people direct their energy towards the things they can control and not waste time on things they can’t.
“I believe in being open and honest with each other, using time to prepare and prioritise the right things, being brave and not perfect, staying curious and always learning. One thing’s for sure, it won’t always go your way, but resilience forms around the challenges – and those hard things make you more well-rounded. I have learned to accept that there will be good and bad days, and forever try to ensure there are more good than bad. I am not scared to make tough decisions but I do them inline with my values. In fact, the first thing we did as a team was to align on the behaviours we wanted to shape i love it around, and they are kindness, courage, passion, fairness and fun.”
With the launch of i love it, you’re entering the rapidly evolving social commerce sector. What do you see as the most significant opportunities and challenges in this space, and how do you plan to position i love it to capitalise on these trends?
“As you say, the pace of change and growth around social commerce is crazy. It’s predicted to reach $30trn by 2030. For me the major challenge with social commerce is authenticity and trust. The number of times I hear from brands, shoppers and friends that they don’t trust social media platforms or influencers, is staggering. A recent study suggested 77% of us in fact don’t trust influencers. What we do however trust is our friends, family and people with real experience and passion. For us, this was the start of our story. What we found is that when we know that a person genuinely loves something, what they share matters more – to themselves, brands and others. And thus i love it was born. Where other social commerce platforms might feature people selling to each other, or for brands, on our platform you actually have to love it. Bottle that and I believe we can become the platform that offers shoppers, brands and creators no regrets. We become the positive corner of that huge social commerce industry.”
The i love it platform is built around the idea of creating a fairer shopping environment with fewer returns and greater customer satisfaction. What inspired this mission, and how do you see it impacting consumer behaviour in the long term?
“We live in a world where shopping socially is the new highstreet – the problem, as we just alluded to, is who and what we can trust? Paid ads, paid influence, #sponcon, and the rising use of inauthentic product recommendations all make shopping a minefield. Often the people promoting the product haven’t even tried and tested it. Some are even in contracts that mean that they can’t actually tell people what they really think about a product or what alternatives they like.
“It is also incredibly hard for smaller brands, even if they are brilliant at what they do, to get any visibility, because huge giants like Shien or Temu dominate ad spaces. Just getting discovered is so tough. So with that in mind, that’s why there are no ads on i love it. Why people, when they sign up to share, need to sign that they love the product in question. Why we have a flat commercial structure for all brands, meaning that sharers are not being incentivised to push one product more than another. In short, the best products and most trusted sharers, whatever their size, will naturally rise to the top. For us, the intention is to create a fairer and flatter playground for brands and people alike.
“A big ambition from this approach also relates to the environment. We all hate having to return things bought online, it’s commercially tough for brands and of course the planet doesn’t thank us for it either, so we are using AI to train our feeds on understanding the customer so that we can put the best products infront of them, whatever their passions. Our goal, as we learn and get better, is to reduce online returns by half.
“Bringing it back to the question though, we hope i love it impacts on consumer behaviour by planting one simple thought in people’s minds as they go to shop; ‘why shop elsewhere when I can use a platform I trust, where everyone wins together – the customer, the brand, the sharer and the planet?”
As a female leader in a predominantly male-dominated business world, what unique challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them? What advice would you give to aspiring female executives who are navigating similar paths?
“While media, retail and tech are very much male-dominated, I have been incredibly lucky to work with some amazing people throughout my career, many of which were super inspiring women. I believe in women supporting women, as much as I believe in giving opportunities whatever a person’s background, race, gender or beliefs.
“Philippa Brown was an incredible role model for me at Omnicom, always facing difficult things straight on and creating amazing teams. At notonthehightstreet 90% of the small businesses we supported were female led, and the executive team were mostly female too. We supported each other and our male colleagues were incredibly supportive too. Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish who founded noths, were trailblazers for their time and grew one of the first marketplaces in the UK with amazing success.
“Those experiences have thus carried through. I now work with some amazing women, like Sophie Robinson, ex MD of Stylist UK, whose energy and positivity is incredible. Malin Gregeren and Jessica Chapplow who are leading the way for women in AI, product development and tech, proving themselves to be innovators in a challenging space.
“I wouldn’t say the challenges I have faced are unique, more the general challenges many women face whilst navigating life; having my children, maternity leaves and returns, juggling being a mum and leader, and yes dealing with some people who seem hell bent on belittling or undermining my efforts. My advice is always centred on creating the best support system around you. I couldn’t do what I do without my amazing husband, friends and family. I have also found that my children are happy if I am happy.”
With your deep experience in both traditional e-commerce and the emerging social commerce landscape, where do you see these sectors heading in the next five to ten years? What innovations do you think will drive the next wave of growth?
“There’s loads that come to mind. I believe that the importance of building a purpose led brand is only going to increase over the next 5-10 years. That Gen Alpha will expect to earn money for the content they make, and will want to be owners not just users or followers of the social companies they spend time with. We intend to help people do more of what they love, by earning every time someone buys from their passion based recommendations, and in the future we want to make sure our community has an opportunity to be owners of i love it too.
“Video and peer-to-peer shopping is only going to get bigger and bigger. AI has been around for years, but the advancement to follow will be huge and I believe that the companies that leverage AI for the good of all, not just profit will win through. Related to this, I believe that social media platforms should come with a more stringent age restriction, like Alcohol. They should be far more regulated to protect the younger generation and those more vulnerable.
“And finally, linked to all the above, I believe that the companies that ensure everyone wins together, whilst adding a little joy to the world, will be the ones people love the most.”
Building a new venture like i love it comes with its own set of challenges. Could you share some of the toughest obstacles you’ve faced as an entrepreneur, and how you’ve managed to navigate them while staying true to your vision?
“Fundraising as a woman is super challenging – only 2% of VC money goes to women founders, so that instantly puts me at a disadvantage when out raising money. It was tough last year but I didn’t let that stop us. We raised £3m in January, we are out raising again now, and I honestly think i love it is such a fantastic opportunity for an investor, so it’s a pleasure to be out there hearing all the positivity around the business.
“Related to my leadership style, I value humbleness and that can sadly be mistaken for a lack of confidence in the investor world, so I have been working on how I stay true to myself, whilst doing justice to the amazing opportunity I believe i love it will bring us all for years to come.
“The vision is about creating a fairer and trusted shopping space for all. We have had some challenges from those stating that we would make money faster if we let brands determine the commission level, or placed ads on the platform. Whilst that may be true,it would completely destroy our vision.Therefore we have had to hold strongly to that, by explaining to them how being firm on authenticity will lead to a much bigger and better company in the long term. In fact, our early users say the thing they love the most about the experience is the authenticity.”
The tech and e-commerce sectors have historically been challenging for women to break into. Do you believe there are now greater opportunities for female leaders, and what can be done to support and encourage more women to step into these roles?
“I do believe there are greater opportunities for women in tech now. Much of which has come as more and more companies recognise the need to diversify their teams, and the positive impact that has on business results overall.
“I am a proud member of the WHITSEND community – a group of women in senior leadership positions in digital and tech. Which is full of amazing female tech leaders that inspire me daily.
“But there is always more we can do to support and encourage more women to step into these roles. If you are hiring a manager, simply insist on having an equal split of candidates to invite for interviews, as a minimum. And if you know a woman that is great, sing her praises to people you meet. Similarly, if you see potential in a girl or young women, support her by helping her get some work experience in tech or by introducing her to other women in tech.
“And lastly, to those women thinking, should I step into these roles, I would encourage you to be the role model you wished you had and do it.”
As someone who has transitioned from corporate leadership roles to launching your own startup, how do you balance the visionary aspects of entrepreneurship with the practical challenges of building and scaling a business from the ground up?
“Naturally it is incredibly different running a startup to a larger organisation. Everyone you hire has to have a growth mindset, be able to work at pace, be ok with change and get energy from learning and failing fast.
“We keep our heart on the vision and our mind on building it block by block. Time is your most precious element, so making decisions at pace, with the right mix of science and art is what makes it exciting. We’ve made sure to hire a team with a mix of start up experience and category experience to ensure we can learn from all the mistakes we’ve made in the past and create our own path to growth with i love it in the present.”
With i love it gaining momentum, what are your future goals both for the company and yourself? Are there other sectors or initiatives you’re passionate about exploring in the coming years?
“Our goal over time is to become the ‘Every Passion Store’, and reset what people powered shopping means. I love it will eventually include everything you could possibly love and recommend – it will be there for you, and feel personal and relevant throughout your whole ‘love life’. We want to be the most trusted platform out there and we will properly democratise the value of word of mouth and put money back into the hands of people so they can do more of what they love.
“For me, it’s about celebrating the little wins, keeping the team motivated and believing in what we’re building and being kind to myself and those rooting for us. I am really enjoying learning about the power of AI and how it can be a force for good in business, if used correctly and with the right company values, which puts the customer first.
Mostly, I can’t wait to prove that by leading a company with kindness and empathy you attract the best talent and can create one of the most loved companies in the world.”