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AI-ready data foundations

Decisions are only as fast as the data behind them. I help you define the metrics that matter and build the right data foundation for your scale, so your team finds answers they can trust.

About

I’m Julia Shem. Principal Analytics Engineer with 10+ years building analytics systems for high-growth consumer brands, most recently at Lifeforce, where I led the migration from legacy BI to a modern dbt + Omni stack. I started 8020analytics to help other brands who are feeling the same pain.

Most of my work is rebuilding broken data foundations, usually a migration off legacy BI, sometimes a fresh build. The destination is a modern, AI-ready stack,  sized for your scale: dbt + Snowflake + Fivetran + Omni at the high end, leaner alternatives for earlier-stage brands. The before-state is usually fragmented data, dashboards stakeholders don’t trust, and AI that can’t be reliably used for self-service analytics. The after-state is models and metrics everyone can rely on: stakeholders, investors, and AI.

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A complete modern data stack

from raw data to trusted decisions.

Metric Definition & Stakeholder Alignment

Defining the metrics that matter — cohort retention, LTV, conversion, health outcomes — and getting them agreed-on across stakeholders. The hardest part of the job, and the one a clean stack is meant to deliver on.

Modern Data Architecture

Snowflake warehouses provisioned to scale with your growth — one platform for all your data, no silos to maintain.

Data Centralization with Fivetran

Centralized data from your operational tools — payments, e-commerce, CRM, marketing — into Snowflake using Fivetran. Everything in one place, ready to model.

Data Modeling with DBT

Fast, well-documented dbt models your team can extend. Or migration and cleanup of an existing dbt project that’s grown into spaghetti.

Modern BI implementation (dbt + semantic layer)

Legacy BI (Tableau, Looker, Mode) migrated to a modern, AI-ready stack — dbt + a semantic layer like Omni. Reports are fast, metrics stay consistent, and your data is ready for AI.

Who I work with

Health & Longevity

Subscription supplement, clinical-data, and longevity brands. Cohort retention, biomarker timelines, member-journey models — the data foundation that supports investor-grade outcome reporting.

DTC Consumer Brands

Multi-channel commerce — Shopify, Amazon, retail. Cross-channel unit economics, repeat-purchase modeling, channel-mix margin analysis. Including subscription unit economics for recurring-revenue brands.

B2B Companies on Legacy BI

Replacing legacy BI (Tableau, Looker) with modern, AI-ready stacks.

Ready to take the next step?