Lifestyle

Serving Up Success: How Ex-Tennis Pro Kasia Siwosz Became a Powerhouse in Life Coaching

Published

8 months ago

September 24, 2024

Michelle Langton

Photo credit: Kasia Siwosz

By: Mae Cornes

Kasia Siwosz’s journey from professional tennis to elite life coaching is a story of resilience and adaptability. Born in Poland, Siwosz discovered tennis at age six, quickly turning it into her life’s passion. By 18, she had bootstrapped her way to the top 400 in doubles and 700 in singles on the WTA tour.

However, the financial realities of professional tennis forced a pivot. “I knew it would take another 3-5 years and serious money to reach the top 100 – money I simply didn’t have,” Siwosz recalls. This crossroads led her to pursue education in the United States, ultimately landing a full scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Transition: From Athlete to Investment Banker

After graduating from Berkeley, Siwosz faced the competitive world of investment banking. Her persistence paid off after six months of networking and interviews, as she secured a position in London. The transition wasn’t easy, as she found herself in a high-pressure environment reminiscent of her athletic career.

“It was tough, yet strangely familiar. It reminded me of my days as a professional tennis player, except this time I was competing in the banking game,” she notes. The long hours and intense competition in banking provided valuable insights that would later inform her coaching methodology.

Entrepreneurial Ventures and Lessons Learned

Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, Siwosz left banking to start a restaurant business in London. This venture ultimately did not succeed, but it offered crucial lessons in resilience and adaptability. The experience humbled her and provided firsthand knowledge of the challenges entrepreneurs face.

Following the restaurant closure, her unique combination of banking and entrepreneurial experience led her to venture capital. She worked with high-profile startups, assisting in capital raising and operational efficiencies. However, the pandemic’s impact on the VC fund led to another career reassessment.

The Birth of a Coaching Career

During this period of reflection, Siwosz discovered her calling in life coaching. Drawing from her diverse background, she developed a coaching program tailored for high-achieving individuals.

“With a wealth of both successes and failures, I can deeply connect with my clients and help them tap into their true purpose,” Siwosz explains. C-suite executives, top-tier professionals, and elite athletes – individuals operating at levels where marginal gains can make significant differences – are included in her client base.

A Unique Coaching Methodology

People describe Siwosz’s coaching program as intensive and focused on achieving rapid results. Unlike traditional coaching or therapy, her technique aims to eliminate challenges rather than just provide tools or advice.

While she does not disclose specific metrics on client numbers and success rates, Siwosz emphasizes the transformative nature of her program. She focuses on helping clients bridge the gap between their current state and desired outcomes, addressing hidden blocks that may sabotage wealth, health, and happiness.

Global Reach and Future Aspirations

Currently based in London, Siwosz’s influence extends beyond the U.K. She has coached clients from various global hubs, including the United States, Monaco, Dubai, Luxembourg, Milan, and Paris. She has made these international connections through LinkedIn, social media, and referrals.

Looking ahead, Siwosz aims to establish herself as a leading life coach in London while remaining open to global opportunities. Her immediate goal is to build a robust client base in the U.K. capital, focusing on quality over quantity in her coaching relationships.

The high-end sector of the life coaching industry remains competitive, with coaches differentiating themselves through unique value propositions. Siwosz’s diverse background across professional tennis, investment banking, entrepreneurship, and venture capital allows her to connect deeply with the multifaceted challenges her high-achieving clients face. This unique blend of experiences sets her apart, offering clients a personalized and transformative coaching approach that addresses their specific needs.

However, the industry needs standardized metrics for success, making it challenging to objectively quantify the impact of coaching services. Because universal benchmarks are absent, coaches like Siwosz rely heavily on client testimonials and word-of-mouth referrals to build their reputation.

The life coaching industry continues to grow, with the International Coach Federation reporting a 33% increase in members from 2015 to 2019. As the field evolves, coaches like Siwosz must adapt to changing client needs and industry trends while maintaining the personal touch that defines their practice.

Kasia Siwosz’s journey from the tennis courts of Poland to the coaching rooms of London exemplifies the diverse paths that can lead to a career in life coaching. Her story underscores the value of varied life experiences in shaping a coaching philosophy that resonates with high-achieving clients across multiple industries.

Lifestyle

Derik Fay: The Quiet Architect of Impact-First Entrepreneurship

Published

1 min ago

May 8, 2025

Michelle Langton

In an era where noise often overshadows results, Derik Fay is quietly shaping a different kind of legacy — one built not on showmanship, but on undeniable substance. For more than two decades, Fay has engineered the rise of over 30 companies across industries as diverse as real estate, technology, healthcare, and entertainment. Yet his name rarely leads headlines — not because he hasn’t earned it, but because he never needed it to validate his success.

Growing up in Rhode Island, Fay learned early that the world rarely hands out opportunity; it must be seized, created, and multiplied. While many of his peers pursued traditional paths, he took a risk that would define the rest of his life: at just 22, he founded 3F Management, a venture firm with an entirely different mission — to build companies that would outlast trends, outperform markets, and, most importantly, out-impact their competition.

Instead of obsessing over short-term wins, Fay approached entrepreneurship like a craftsman. Much like Henry Ford, who famously said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business,” Fay built companies that weren’t just profitable — they were purposeful. Every venture was designed to create real, sustainable value, both for shareholders and for the communities they served.

Through his relentless focus on structure and leadership, Fay’s ecosystem of businesses now touches thousands of lives daily — from employees finding new opportunities to entrepreneurs gaining the mentorship they never had before. But unlike typical moguls who boast about headcounts, Fay views every job created as a ripple in a larger mission: empowering individuals to write better futures for themselves.

Where others have scaled fast and crashed harder, Fay’s model thrives on foundations few are patient enough to build anymore. His method is slower, smarter, and almost surgical: find what others overlook, fix what others fear, and grow what others abandoned too early. It’s this principle that led him to not just build companies — but to resurrect them, reimagine them, and sometimes even walk away if the mission no longer aligned with the impact he envisioned.

Fay’s philosophy extends far beyond boardrooms. Philanthropy isn’t a checkbox at the end of his success story — it’s embedded into the way he scales. His ventures are built with giving back written into their DNA, from local community initiatives to broader mentorship platforms that help emerging entrepreneurs get their first real shot at success. His life’s work is proof that wealth and generosity are not mutually exclusive — they are, in fact, essential partners.

Today, while newer generations of entrepreneurs hustle for likes and magazine covers, Fay’s name is whispered in rooms where real power moves. His reputation — built quietly but relentlessly — is that of a man who delivers, builds, and elevates without the need for public validation.

In a business world increasingly built on spectacle, Derik Fay reminds us that the most lasting legacies are forged not in the glare of the spotlight, but in the thousands of lives changed quietly along the way.

For more insights into Derik Fay’s ventures and philanthropic efforts, visit www.derikfay.com and follow him on Instagram @derikfay