What I did next: from creative producer to entrepreneur and business leader
Alumnus Nick Sherrard on founding Label Sessions, achieving previously impossible solutions, and the power of re-naming a brand.
1. Tell me about your career path and your motivations for founding Label Sessions.
I love the process of creating concepts, and in particular, concepts which are unfamiliar or previously impossible.
I was motivated to start Label Sessions because I wanted to help clients make new things happen. We’re an innovation expert network helping clients spot previously impossible opportunities. Label Sessions itself is a previously impossible thing too and evolved post-pandemic, alongside the remote working revolution.
2. What have you found most rewarding about building and scaling a business?
This journey has been all about the people I work with.
Some amazing people put their hand up to join Label Sessions and so I’m super grateful for that. As a result, it’s been a lot of fun and I can see everyone’s influence on the company. I’m super proud of what they’ve accomplished.
When you grow a business, you meet people in client and partner teams who become your friends, and that’s a real joy too.
3. What’s been the most unusual creative project you’ve worked on at Label Sessions?
I think my favourite project was a naming project.
We were working with two very big companies in travel and tech who were launching a new product together, and asked Label Sessions to create a new product name in a short space of time.
We drew together a team that included a real Who’s Who of brand strategists, big tech leaders, a couple of ex-Deloitte colleagues, and also musicians and artists. The last two were so important because diversity of thinking is key in this area.
The result was beautifully simple and a lightyear from where everyone started. The product name became the name of the company division, demonstrating the power of naming, and also the importance of diversity in creative teams.
4. How have you stayed connected to Deloitte and with former colleagues?
I really value the relationships I have from Deloitte. Whenever I meet a new client or partner and one of us spots that we both spent some time at the firm, it really opens up the conversation.
There’s also been lots of informal contact through WhatsApp, and I attend alumni events when I can. The Alumni Network is a fantastic way to stay connected with other parts of the firm beyond the people I know in Edinburgh and London.
5. Is there a particular nugget or learning from Deloitte that you’d like to share which has impacted on your career?
I always tell people that the access Deloitte gives you is extraordinary. You’re able to hear directly from leaders at incredible companies and learn about their challenges. That experience really stays with you.
Deloitte taught me that the best strategy work is taking command of the complex detail and making the solution simple. And these are skills I now use daily in my business.
We often spoke with clients who were c-suite leaders in high stress situations. When they presented their challenges to us, our task was to analyse the detail, challenge assumptions and make the findings bulletproof. I learned how to create a story so clear that they could repeat it to their teams without a deck or a model by their side.
When we could do this, we made all kinds of progress.
Read more Deloitte alumni profiles:
Jamie Gill, Fashion and Luxury CEO, on increasing diversity in the industry
Nneka Orji, Senior Director in Asset and Weath Management, on the power of career sponsorship
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