In conversation with Nicola Sheppey, Head of Communications at NLA

Please note that this article was published prior to the new brand name of PREACH Inclusion® on 25 April 2024, so you will notice references to BAME in Property.

We’re thrilled to bring you an interview with Nicola Sheppey, Head of Communications at New London Architecture (NLA). In this piece, Nicola shares with us her interesting career history, from working within arts and culture in Malaysia, to forging a career path in marketing and communications in London’s thriving built environment scene, namely in her current role at NLA.

Nicola shares with us the issues she feels there are with hiring based on culture, often related to unconscious bias, along with why diversity and inclusion is needed in the built environment, given how diverse our towns and cities are. There’s no doubt in her mind that the best decisions come from people with lived experiences in the areas we are seeking to regenerate and work in.

A force of nature, it’s no surprise that Nicola takes inspiration from the one and only Beyonce, who she describes as ‘raising the bar for herself at every step in her career.’ Grab a cuppa and dive in!

Nicola Sheppey, Head of Communications at NLA.

Talk us through you career history and anything that stands out.

“I was shortlisted in 2021 for the 4th Estate short story prize for BAME writers living in the UK and Ireland, which was a big personal achievement for me."

I studied English with Creative Writing then spent four years working in the med-tech industry, where I cut my teeth in all things marketing and comms. I always loved arts and culture, however, so I was exploring ways of moving into that industry. I ended up working for a couple of arts festivals in Malaysia in 2018. I came back to London and found that an organisation called The City Centre were advertising for a Marketing and Comms Manager, mainly to run their project One City, which was a ‘what’s on’ guide to the City of London, celebrating the Square Mile to its young professional working audience. The City Centre and One City became folded into NLA, and here I am today!

On the side, I write fiction and am working on a novel set in a fictional state inspired by Malaysia, which is where most of my family live. I was shortlisted in 2021 for the 4th Estate short story prize for BAME writers living in the UK and Ireland, which was a big personal achievement for me.

Tell us about your role at NLA. Any key projects or accomplishments that stand out?

As Head of Comms my role is pretty encompassing. The NLA team create a HUGE amount of content and value for built environment professionals and enthusiasts, so it’s mine and my team’s job to take that content and push it into the right hands through a number of channels like our websites, newsletters, social media platforms, press, and more. I also oversee the design outputs like our magazines, print publications and exhibitions. As the head of the department, it’s my role to ensure everything is running smoothly and everyone is aware, comfortable and motivated with the work we’re doing, keeping stakeholders happy as well.

“I’ve always sought to find out the quick wins to keep my team motivated, like making sure they’ve got the right equipment or that their input is being listened to."

I started on One City and I remain proud of it – it’s my baby. I wasn’t a founder of the project but I saw huge potential for it when I came into it in 2018. The Instagram had about 13,000 followers at that time. My first step was doing some analysis and chatting to businesses and working out exactly what our audience wanted to see and why. I also tried to tap into the skills of our existing team – our digital content creator at the time was a fantastic photographer, so I arranged for her to hit the streets and start capturing content for the feed. The Instagram blew up as a result, recently hitting 100,000 followers. It taught me a lot about how to successfully navigate algorithms and digital comms.

I’m proud of where we are now as a team and my current comms team are fantastic. I’ve always sought to find out the quick wins to keep my team motivated, like making sure they’ve got the right equipment or that their input is being listened to. As the head of a team, I’m also acutely aware of how important it is to stay positive, and to look for proactive solutions to challenges rather than getting overly stressed myself and affecting the team dynamic as a result. I’m quite a calm person. I hope my team would agree…!

Have you faced any challenges? How did you overcome them?

My journey into NLA was fairly coincidental – The City Centre and One City were absorbed into the work that the wider team of NLA do, and then I started as Head of Comms to cover maternity leave, before recently becoming permanent. It was challenging to adapt to that and to not feel a pinch of impostor syndrome, especially when I’m working with and alongside people who have studied architecture or have worked in the built environment since the start of their careers. Marketing and communications involve skills that are transferrable so it’s not unusual to jump around industries, but it requires a lot of quick learning. I’ve since found it’s OK to trust the learning process and not expect to know everything instantly. Common sense and curiosity play a big role.

“I think unconscious bias is one of the biggest issues we face in business and it’s a really thorny issue to try to wrestle..."

In terms of my identity, I’m relatively white-passing and have a very English name, so I know I’ve escaped a lot of the subtle and insidious discrimination that affects people of colour in business. I don’t worry that my CV is going to be subconsciously judged before I’ve even stepped into the room. I think unconscious bias is one of the biggest issues we face in business and it’s a really thorny issue to try to wrestle. It presents itself in a number of ways – when businesses are hiring, there’s often that line of ‘how well would they fit into the team?’ that subconsciously encourages a homogenous environment, where everyone has the same background, same interests, same schooling. Systemic racism is an issue; we don’t live in a meritocracy and it’s important to look for very real, tangible actions when it comes to getting more BAME voices and experiences into those senior, predominantly white board rooms. This has to start from the ground up, engaging with schoolchildren and examining the very real reasons they might not explore going into an industry, beyond token representation or diversity ticks.

Why is diversity and inclusion in the built environment important to you and more so in the events space?

A few years ago I read Caroline Criado-Perez’s ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Built for Men’ and it’s always stayed with me. In the book Caroline speaks to professionals about the subtle ways the world is built around use for a generic non-disabled young-ish white man, and how many industries, from the medical to construction, from the sizes of phones to the crash dummies tested for seatbelts, are not serving those who don’t fit into that very narrow type. The built environment is a supremely important industry where diversity and inclusion has to be at the very top. As an example, initiatives like TfL’s bridging device trial only works because of their step free access consultation – speaking directly to diverse individuals and ensuring their needs are considered when designing public spaces and amenities.

“It should be a number one priority for such an important sector [built environment] to represent the people who are actually living and working in the spaces the sector creates."

It’s crucial for diverse voices to be involved in every step of the decision-making process when it comes to the built environment, especially individuals who have grown up in the areas they might be working in and have unique experiences of living in it. It’s shocking that 18% of the UK’s population classifies as BAME (and that percentage is surely higher for London) but only 1.2% of the built environment sector is BAME. It should be a number one priority for such an important sector to represent the people who are actually living and working in the spaces the sector creates.

On a side note, this is why I’m particularly excited for this year’s London Festival of Architecture, which has the theme of ‘in common’. I’m hoping to see event organisers really explore what we don’t have in common and how we can learn from each other and use our differences to create a better city.

I’d like to shout out the Diverse Leaders Pledge, led by NLA alongside 18 organisations tackling diversity in our sector. It’s taken the perfect approach in my opinion – it encourages organisations to think about internal diversity and inclusion via three components: recruitment, progression and advocacy. The structure actively works against ‘token’ hires and ultimately a lack of representation in the most senior positions – instead, organisations are urged to hire and then empower their staff to rise within their roles. I’m really looking forward to see how the industry develops with this in practice.

Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

“Beyonce truly is probably the only person I look at from a distance whose activities directly encourage me to step my game up. I think everyone wants to be the Beyonce of their industry.

It’s a cliché, but I’m going to say it – Beyonce! Her only competition is herself – she consistently raises the bar for herself at every step in her career. As someone who has a creative hobby on the side I’m always motivated by seeing her next steps as a creative, and the way she experiments and challenges herself. She truly is probably the only person I look at from a distance whose activities directly encourage me to step my game up. I think everyone wants to be the Beyonce of their industry.

NLA is one of BAME in Property's Corporate Partners, and throughout 2023, we are supporting them with a range of initiatives to help promote more diversity and inclusion within the organisation and the members they support.