News from Karolina

As a pioneer in the online gaming field, Karolina Pelc has achieved extraordinary things. A mix of being in the right place at the right time and sheer hard work have seen her profile rise in a previously male-dominated industry.

Karolina Pelc’s career is a powerful story of repeated reinvention, resilience, and learning to operate through uncertainty. After moving from Poland to London for financial opportunity and adventure , she began her professional path on casino floors and spent over three years working on cruise ships. Pelc spent more than 15 years working for employers across multiple companies, roles, and countries before leaping into entrepreneurship.

Some people stumble into their lives. Karolina Pelc engineered hers. From the casino floors of post-communist Poland to the boardrooms of a global tech exit, she’s built a life that doesn’t look like anyone else’s blueprint, because she never followed one. Her debut book, Her Play: Make Your Own Luck, publishes on 9th June, and it makes the case that luck isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you create.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Pelc breaks down her journey from a teenager in Warsaw to her business success in Britain, and what future entrepreneurs can learn from it.

Karolina Pelc on building a company with the exit in mind, what she learned from selling BeyondPlay to FanDuel, and why HerPlay is as much a movement as it is a book.

Naomi Day sat down with Karolina Pelc, VP of FanDuel, founder of BeyondPlay and author of Her Play, to discuss the book capturing her lessons on resilience, reinvention and the mindset to navigate change.

Few founder stories begin on a casino floor. Pelc was born in communist Poland in 1984, just a few years before the system collapsed. Her childhood unfolded during the country’s turbulent transition into a post-communist economy - a time when industries were being rebuilt and entrepreneurship was only beginning to re-emerge. Career paths were far more predictable than they are today.

From casino dealer to tech founder to FanDuel acquisition — Karolina Pelc on why the messiest paths often lead to the best outcomes.

In a guest post for NEXT.io, BeyondPlay founder and FanDuel vice president Karolina Pelc explores the elusive nature of work-life balance for business founders.

Like many in the iGaming industry, I found myself in Las Vegas last week for the annual G2E show. But this time, my trip had a different feel compared to previous years. Back then, I was so busy that Vegas might as well have been any other city—I barely saw the Strip

Owning the Story: Karolina Pelc on leadership, growth and reinvention.