Janne Brok

A pro-cyclist with a penchant for applied physics

A former professional cyclist, Janne Brok learned a valuable lesson on the adaptability of relationships through her passion for the sport. She describes cycling as an individual sport within a team setting, highlighting the tension between individual competition and collective effort.

Janne notes, "One must be competitive during a race, but one should always keep in mind that next year, your competitor can become your colleague in a team." Little did she know, this would be one of the lessons she would teach corporations later in her career- helping them reimagine their industry dynamics using Vacation Logic.

Janne crossed paths with Erik de Ruijter early on in her career and she noticed that Erik had a particular knack for thinking differently. She recalls working on an exciting proposal with some of the brightest minds in her small consulting firm. The team had crafted an impressive proposal, but their enthusiasm was dampened when they realized the budget was only half what they had anticipated. It was in this moment of uncertainty that Erik's approach caught Janne’s eye. "Erik, just in a matter of seconds, came up with a different approach. It was so logical that it couldn’t have been just a lucky shot. I recognized that he was, on a conceptual level, doing something completely different. And I asked him ‘What’s your method?’ and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Janne's proclivity for conceptual thinking and curiosity led her to codify Erik's intuition - laying the groundwork for the development of Vacation Logic. Her ability to take seemingly disparate ideas and identify the consistent thread across them - a trait that served her well in her role as leader of her team in the consulting world - has been instrumental in shaping Vacation Logic into a framework.