Hello, Tamara here

As a self-confessed marketing nerd, there’s nothing that gets me more excited than coming up with fresh, creative ideas to help you grow your children’s activity business.

I am always brimming with ideas – Whether it’s crafting the perfect marketing content or finding clever ways to engage with parents, I’m here to make your marketing as fun as the activities you offer

WORK WITH ME

How it started…

I have been where you are (and got my hands dirty too) running a messy play franchise after the birth of my daughter in 2016.

I had worked in a corporate marketing role for many years and the appeal of running my own business, whilst being able to do more of what I love, converted me.

I’ve been on both sides of the children’s activities industry – as a franchisee trying to sell more spaces in my sessions and leading the marketing for the franchise too.

And so I combined this industry knowledge and my 20+ years of marketing knowledge and created, Dot & Stripe.

I have now worked with independent activities providers, franchisees and franchisors to make marketing an enjoyable part of their business and not just something you have to get around it.

In fact, I will love nothing more than showing activities providers how marketing can save you time, money and energy in your business.

WORK WITH ME

Things you might like to know about me.

I’m super flexible.

I love a natter (on Zoom, with coffee!) to really get to know you and your business. Sometimes we don’t know what we need until we speak to an expert, so I’ll help by understanding your goals and challenges first.
I also work flexibly around both my clients and young family, knowing your time is precious – I’m here to help

I LOVE coming up with ideas

There’s nothing I love more than finding clever, fun ways to promote other businesses and push things to the next level. Whether it’s uncovering free tools or repurposing content, I’m always on the lookout for smart ways to help you get the most out of your efforts!

No Waffle.

I want to make marketing as accessible as possible and will always use honest and clear messaging. No jargon just fuss-free marketing advice.

I help you find solutions not problems.

I work with business owners who are action takers and want accountability to make their business a success. I know the juggle struggle is real so I will keep you accountable and in the right direction.

Useless Facts About Me

  • Known to love a polka dot or stripe (hence the name)
  • Charity shop and thrifting addict
  • Mum of two (Esme and Freddie) and wife to Loz (Lawrence)
  • Self-confessed coffee addict
WORK WITH ME

What others say about me

Kim
Music Bugs

"The Capture & Convert course is an amazing tool for me and my business. As someone who is not the best at IT/Canva, the ease of having everything ready made for me made my life so much easier! I literally just had to create the content and copy and paste it in. My end result is a well polished document that I’m not embarrassed to send out! It looks amazingly professional. Being able to reuse the tools I’ve learned will be a massive help in the future to. So invest in yourself and sign up!"

Yoga Business

"DO it, It is so worth the investment I found the Capture & Convert programme really easy to follow. Tamara's videos are great and show you what to do step by step so even if like me you have no idea what to do with technology it is easy to complete each step. I have increased my number of website enquiries and sign ups as a result of the programme too."

Franchisor
Dot Kids

Tamara's Capture & Convert course was amazing! Her expert guidance and support made all the difference. The course is divided into easy-to-follow, bite-sized chunks, with a clear step-by-step system. Tamara excels at explaining the tech, and her invaluable support and feedback were crucial. I highly recommend working with Tamara and taking her Capture & Convert course!

Sales Director
Igloo Books

I would recommend anybody who needs advise on social media and marketing to get in touch with Tamara. She is excellent!

CEO
Igloo Books

I would recommend Tamara. A great help to our business at the time she was there.

CEO
Anni Townend

If you are looking for someone with energy and focus, and to point you in the right direction where you need to make changes then Tamara is a great person to hire

Avril O'Brien
Mitchy Titch

I met Tamara at a zoom networking event during lockdown. I liked her ideas, her enthusiasm and friendly approach. I contacted Tamara afterwards and we hit it off straight away, I knew this was going to be a great collaboration. Within weeks Tamara is running my social media campaigns; marketing my brand, merchandise, recruitment but most of all....Tamara has given me time. Time to think on my business, decide my next step, time is what we all need and I cannot thank Tamara enough for her fantastic fresh approach, taking it, owning it, running with it and for the TIME!

Jenine Rees
Cransley Hospice

Thank you Tamara for all your hard work. You've enabled us to continue our growth strategy consistently across all channels and it's been a real pleasure working with you over the last few months.

CEO
Beautifully Different Brackley

Tamara is efficient, flexible and always very easy to deal with. She is a great fit for my business due to her skill-set that brings style and timely posts to my companies social media pages. It would take me so much more time to achieve the same results doing the job myself.

Abeer Abdel-Salam
WOW World Group

Tamara is great to work with. She really listens to what is needed and always suggests solutions and produces high quality work. I particularly enjoy the monthly roundups and the video delivery of them as it makes it so much easier to digest. Thank you.

Tessa Day
Club Hub UK

Tamara has a wealth of knowledge in marketing and sales. I often contact her for her thoughts on different aspects of the children’s activities industry and she always responds quickly. She has helped so many small business owners understand key opportunities for growth and has lots of digital marketing tips. I look forward to working with her for years to come.

Franchisor
Music Bugs

"Tamara from Dot & Stripe provided two fantastic workshops for our franchise network at our annual meetup and everyone commented on how much they enjoyed the sessions. The workshops were packed full of information and everyone enjoyed Tamara's informative and friendly presentation style. We would love to have Tamara back to join us next year! Thank you so much Dot & Stripe!"

Rachelle Hutt
Mess Around UK

Tamara came to our annual conference to help with some marketing training - it was great. My franchisees found it useful and was completely at the right level for them. Tamara made it fun and engaging.

CEO
BookWhen

Great workshop with lots of useful info and tips to take away.

CEO
BookWhen

Lots to think about - really useful information. It was really well presented in a clear and understandable way. Thank you!

CEO
BookWhen

Tamara was so great and I’ll definitely be setting up an email lst.

CEO
BYHP Charity

We attended Tamara's jargon free Content Planning Masterclass last week and found it so helpful. She really took the time to explain how to get the best results for individual businesses. We are looking forward to the insta shop and insta reels classes next.

CEO
Samantha Alice

Running a small business with ZERO background in marketing felt overwhelming and was at the bottom of my ever-growing to-do pile, so I thank my lucky stars to have found Tamara. Not only is she incredibly friendly and genuinely interested in what I'm talking about, but she is so incredibly experienced and knowledgeable.

My business would not be in the confident position it is in now without the amount of training provided . We feel in a much stronger position moving forward knowing our content is stronger, meaningful & consistent and above all showing our customers clearly, who we are & what we are about. Thank you!

Tamara is fantastic! She is super experienced, knowledgeable and full of inspiration. I am really enjoying the training for resources and learning from the expert guest speakers too. Every very small biz owner needs this kind of community toolbox!

I attended a Marketing Workshop with Tamara and, I have to say, it was absolutely fantastic! I now have so many new ideas and Tamara offered lots of advice and suggestions throughout too. She is so personable and really makes marketing simple. I would definitely recommend her sessions - thank you for your help!

CEO
MPAV

I could not recommend Tamara enough! I knew nothing of marketing my business and felt completely overwhelmed with the information. After being part of the 'Create a jam packed content and social media plan' session I felt completely empowered and had something to keep me going for months. Tamara's personable approach makes it far easier to understand and enjoy!

CEO
Mama Blossom Classes

I have just completed a Marketing Workshop with Dot & Stripe and feeling very inspired and learnt lots of new ways to market my business. It was a very personalised, friendly session and Tamara gave some great points, ideas and new ways of marketing that were specific for my business needs. Compared to others this was the best value and most useful!

CEO

Thank you Tamara for all your hard work. You've enabled us to continue our growth strategy consistently across all channels and it's been a real pleasure working with you over the last few months.

Eleanor Dyer

Tamara is a really experienced marketer with a wealth of knowledge. She is very creative and a great person to bounce ideas around with. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working with her.

Becky Whittaker

I had a marketing strategy day with Tamara this week. First up, she chose a beaut venue and organised the whole day so well. We were so productive! It was invaluable to thrash out marketing ideas and I received some brilliant advice. I’m eager to now put these into practice!

Jo Bridson

Tamara is transforming the way I work on my marketing. She takes time to make sure you understand each step of the process and gives you a friendly kick up the backside to make the right changes. She has taken time to really understand my business and what I offer my clients. Then she has used this to shape a great marketing plan for me with ideas that I didn't even know were possible. I'm looking forward to seeing my business grow with Tamara's help.

Emily Kerrison
Tots Play

I used the ideas Tamara shared with me in a power hour and it was a massive hit with headteachers coming to find me to claim their goodies.