Hello @LaHacienda,
This is a great work around! And it's still is relevant now in 2022. Which is amazing, considering how quickly things change. I'm working on an e-commerce site, and it's been really interesting to learn about GA, GTM, and SS. It sounds like you found a solution so all these products can work together seamlessly. If you're ever around these forums, it be great to chat. I'm hoping to attain my GA-GTM-SS-Seamlessness status soon 😁