MEET OUR EXPERTS
Karen Dudley
Karen Dudley is a South African chef, food writer and restaurateur. She is best known for her restaurant, The Kitchen, in Cape Town’s Woodstock neighbourhood, which was visited by former First Lady Michelle Obama in June 2011. Karen has appeared on CNN and TEDx and has been interviewed by The New York Times and The Guardian. She has been a guest judge on the reality cooking show My Kitchen Rules South Africa and is often interviewed on national TV.
ALWIJN BURGER
To many in the events and marketing industry, Alwijn Burger is perhaps better known as BLOMBOY, a floral alter ego he created when he applied his boundless creative talents to establishing his personal brand in 2013. From designing flower arrangements for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Elton John to founding highly lauded Gentleman’s Flower Arranging Clubs, directing prestigious events like the EatOut Awards and Jackie Burger’s Salon 58 sessions, Alwijn has earned his keep as one of South Africa’s most exciting creative minds. It was only a matter of time until he would join the JAN brand as Creative Director.
CAITLIN HILL
We met Caitlin through our friends at Rémy Cointreau, and we’d dare say it was love at first sight. Her official title reads Rémy Cointreau On-Trade Portfolio Ambassador, Africa, Middle East, and India; and her heart is set on spirits, even though Caitlin studied fashion design and previously worked as a chef, so we have a lot more in common than cocktails. She’s a self-confessed sneakerhead, a brilliant creative and a force behind the bar, and is the kind of person to hide in the walk-in fridge on a hot summer’s day, as she did on the day we filmed the Academy sessions on all things cocktails and bartending.
Hannerie Visser
Hannerie Visser is the creative mind behind Studio H – a culinary-minded design studio with offices in Cape Town and the Netherlands. Since founding her company in 2013, Hannerie has built a reputation as one of South Africa’s leading future food designer. Working across industries, Hannerie designs creative strategies for brands through trend forecasting, new product development and sensory design. In 2019 Hannerie founded FOOD XX, a support network and annual Awards for women in food in South Africa. Hannerie is also the Lead Curator for Makers Landing, the V&A Waterfront’s Food Incubator.
Gabi Lowe
Gabi Lowe is a professionally qualified coach, mentor, facilitator, international speaker and the founder of The Coaching Nest and The Resilience Factory. She has years of executive-level corporate experience in the fields of media, marketing and retail. Gabi is known to South Africans for her set of interpersonal skills she brings to her coaching, most notably, an ability to process emotional complexity developed over many years of dealing with adversity, challenge and deep personal loss. The result is a coaching method built on a depth of life experience, compassion, courage and insight that offers clients a unique and powerful roadmap on the journey of self-development, personal resilience and conscious leadership allowing you to lead an authentic and full life. She joined forces with Pippa Shaper in 2017 to start The Resilience Factory and they have recently launched an international online course on Authentic Resilience which you can access here: www.authentic-resilience.com.
HANFRED RAUCH
With a diverse background ranging from writing and directing award-winning short films, television inserts and commercials to photography and writing for a variety of prestigious local and international newspapers, magazines and websites, Hanfred Rauch is Head of Content at JAN Innovation Studio, and Deputy Editor of JAN the Journal. His passion for capturing the life behind food, cinema and the arts, design and culture have afforded him a wide range of storytelling skills, unconfined by medium and augmented by his experiences of having lived on four continents. His work within the JAN brand continues to be one of his greatest sources of inspiration.
SARAH GRAHAM
Sarah Graham is a celebrated South-African based cook, food writer and TV show host. Sarah grew up on a small wildlife conservancy in Zimbabwe, and this instilled in her a food philosophy that is built on sharing beautiful, simple, healthy food with family and friends. She started her food blog, A Foodie Lives Here, in May 2010 and later that year was the first South African food blogger to be awarded a cookbook contract by Penguin Random House. South-African based cook, food writer and TV show host, Sarah has gone on to film two cooking shows which have aired both in South Africa and internationally, including the United States.
