Jani de Kock
Conceptual Lead and Lead Facilitator
Jani is a Qualitative Researcher and Design Thinking Insights coach with 21 years of experience. She holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. She founded First Person in 2015.
Businesses trust her to facilitate conversations with vulnerable groups or groups in vulnerable moments on topics that carry significant reputational or relational risk. Her strength as moderator lies in translating business questions into everyday conversations that invite openness and insight. Recent feedback from a client’s Head of Marketing noted, "The directors will feel comfortable opening up to you," while a 6-year-old child participant once said to her: “Teacher, I’m not scared of you.” These cherished accolades reflect her skill in establishing rapport and leading a productive interview with any target market.
Jani lives in Pretoria, South Africa with her trophy husband and two daughters.
Sonja Klopper
Analysis and Report Writing Lead
Sonja holds an Honours degree in Fine Art from the University of Pretoria and has 8 years of experience in sense-making. She is interested in how we can challenge the thoughts and motives behind habitual behavior. Not only has she consulted on this topic for brands in consumer goods and services, but it has also been a recurring theme in her private art practice.
She is a craftsman and maker. Using her art-based skills of seeing, every word, image, and sound fragment from our studies moves through her hands like found objects. Themes and meaning emerge from this meticulous process, allowing us to make new connections and see lived realities in a new light.
She lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa, with her husband and three daughters. As visual artist, she works in a diverse range of mediums, including illustration, wood and stone sculpture, and painting.
Lara Kruger Nieuwenhuis
Workshop Lead
Lara brings a unique blend of expertise in art and design thinking, shaped by 16 years in art and design education, a Master’s in Fine Art, and collaborations with a diverse range of organizations, and initiatives.
Art thinking embraces open-ended exploration and creates meaning through process, while design thinking offers a structured, user-centered approach to problem-solving. Combining these approaches enables Lara to guide others in using insights, and developing innovative solutions.
Lara is skilled in both traditional qualitative research methods, as well as art-based research methods and has extensive experience in designing and facilitating impactful workshops and engagement strategies. She leads initiatives where we help our clients take a step beyond the research report.
She lives in Paarl, South Africa with her husband and two daughters. She is a martial artist and a practicing visual artist with mark-making and painting as main disciplines.
