SiGMA Magazine: What does it take to reinvent yourself in the game of life and business?
Karolina Pelc, VP at FanDuel, founder of BeyondPlay, and author of Her Play, is the subject of a feature in SiGMA Magazine Issue 34. In this exclusive conversation, she reflects on a career defined by resilience, reinvention and the courage to evolve, from casino floors to boardrooms and book launches. The full feature that follows explores her journey of transformation, leadership and the power of “becoming” in business and in life.
Grit, glamour and the game
Karolina Pelc’s journey into iGaming began not in a boardroom but at a casino table, where she dealt cards at barely 19. “First in Poland, shaped by the rougher edges of post-communist Eastern Europe, where glamour was a marketing slogan, not a reality,” she recalls.
Her career quickly became a whirlwind of cultures and characters. From London’s private members’ clubs to cruise ships crammed with high-stakes energy, Pelc absorbed the psychology of play from the ground up.“Each chapter taught me something new, but one lesson was constant: resilience” she says.
That resilience eventually carried her into the tech side of the industry, where she founded BeyondPlay, a pioneering multiplayer engagement platform, later acquired by FanDuel. In those early years, she developed “a deep understanding of human behaviour: what motivates players, how they respond to risk, what trust looks like at the tables.” That lived experience became her secret weapon, “I wasn’t guessing what users wanted. I knew”
The art of letting go
The process of leaving BeyondPlay has been deeply personal “ It was a dual-purpose therapy: on one side, it helped me process that the journey from cruise ship dealer to founder to exit wasn’t a fluke. It was remarkable, and I needed to finally own that. On the other side, it gave me something new to pour myself into. A creative and emotional container that was fully mine. That shift made it easier, bit by bit, to handover the keys to BeyondPlay”
Letting go, she explains, isn’t simply about walking away from operations. “It meant releasing something I’d poured myself into.” Through writing, she discovered a broader insight, “It’s identity work. And when you lead your own exit with clarity and care, you don’t lose the story. You evolve it.”
Turning the page
As Pelc began to transition from her operational role at BeyondPlay, she started distilling everything she had learned into something new. “When I was invited to keynote at NEXT.io Valletta and started the prep, something shifted… I knew I wanted to go deeper… That’s when Her Play took shape, not as a concept, but as a framework” Pelc showcased the Her Play framework through seven mindset pillars that are shaping her path and anchor her philosophy: Hustle, execution, risk, passion, luck, adaptability and you.
“This wasn’t something I crafted in hindsight. It was built in real time, through lived experience.” Pelc says. Together, these pillars form the architecture of a mindset. One that goes beyond building a business, but building a life with intention.
Startup of self
Pelc likens publishing Her Play to building another startup. “Both require you to bet on something that doesn’t exist yet.” Pelc self-published a limited edition run of Her Play, while continuing to pitch the book to publishers for a full 2026 release. But this time, she wasn’t pitching a product, she was pitching herself. “That vulnerability hit different…It’s your words. Your story. Your truth, on paper.”
The publishing world is crowded and often resistant to disruption. “There are around 16 million manuscripts submitted in the US alone each year” But the startup world had prepared her. Self-publishing the limited edition felt both liberating and empowering. “Full ownership. Full risk. Full reward.”
What surprised her most? “I thought I was telling stories I’d already made peace with. I wasn’t. Rewriting them forced me to process them again, this time with more honesty and less armour.”
At first, Pelc questioned herself. “I wasn’t sure I had the right to write a book… I didn’t have the kind of clean, cinematic ending” she admits. But her perspective shifted as she began connecting with others navigating the same messy middle. “Her Play isn’t about celebrating an arrival,” she says. “It’s about honouring the becoming.”
Part memoir, part mindset guide, Her Play aims to be a flashlight for others walking their own winding path, “Her Play is the origin story. The why, the how, the falling, the flying. And if it helps someone give themselves permission to start, or to keep going, then it’s already done its job”
Mission Necker
The defining moment came when Pelc set a near-impossible deadline: finish the book and launch it on Necker Island with Richard Branson. “I’d been invited to a leadership summit on Necker, and I decided that was it, the line in the sand” She had just 100 days to make it happen, “It was intense, emotional, and completely consuming. But it happened”.
When she handed a copy to Richard Branson his response spoke volumes, “‘Now that’s how you bring a story to life.’” That moment embodies the ethos of Her Play. Bold action, creative ownership and unapologetically telling your story. “Launching Her Play on Necker Island wasn’t about spectacle. It was about claiming the narrative” Soon, that narrative will be available to many more, with Her Play set to launch on Amazon and in online bookstores across Malta.
Fall, fly, repeat
Today, her filter for new opportunities is simple: “Does it align with my values? Does it create a real impact? Does it energise me?” Now, Pelc is pouring her experience into investing and mentoring early-stage startups and backing founders.
Her Play is also growing beyond the book into something bigger, “A platform. A community. Maybe even a fund. I don’t just want to tell stories. I want to be the kind of support I once needed and couldn’t always find”
She’s building at a pace that prioritises balance, depth and longevity. “Today, it’s about sustainability, of self, of energy, of impact.” One message Pelc hopes Her Play delivers: “The most meaningful paths are rarely linear… falling isn’t failure, it’s part of flight.”
And for anyone wondering whether they’re ready? “Clarity often comes after the leap, not before.”
Stay tuned for Issue 35 of SiGMA Magazine, released in conjunction with SiGMA Central Europe 2025 in Rome from 03 to 06 November.
