From Invisible to Empowered: Becoming a Transformational Coach
Award-winning public speaker, and LGBTQ business coach, Fabio De Sio offers bespoke individualised coaching sessions.
Fabio has a new startup venture, Faablux, that is in the pipeline: a privately held luxury wellness and lifestyle platform designed for those who have been excluded for too long. Follow and watch it unfold.
Key Insights
Your niche is your superpower.
When you try to help everyone, you end up helping no one. Getting clear on who you serve (your ideal client) and what problem you solve for them gives you a massive head start. Specialisation builds trust faster — people want to hire a coach who feels tailor-made for them.
You don’t need a perfect brand to start.
New coaches often obsess over creating the perfect brand and website immediately. While a website (even a super simple one-pager) is very important as it’s your shop window, you can evolve your brand over time. Done is better than perfect early on — because your coaching style and brand will grow with you.
Understand and set up your basic business systems early: this is vital for scaling!
Having basic business structures like a CRM, revenue tracking, and understanding SEO helps grow your. You don't have to become a business operations expert early on, but laying simple foundations can make growing and scaling way less stressful later.
The Interview
Tell me how you became a coach.
I became a coach about seven years ago. Growing up as a gay boy in a small town in Italy, I often felt invisible and different. I studied art and performing arts but was always unhappy and struggled with my behavior.
At 33, I hit a low point and asked myself a big question: "Who am I?" That started my healing journey. I went to therapy, discovered coaching, and realized that my struggles could be turned into a strength to help others.
I trained at a coaching school in Geneva that taught integral coaching — looking at the mind, body, and emotions together. Later, I moved to London to fully start my coaching career.
Today, I’m an empowerment coach. I help people break through their inner barriers, especially when launching or growing a business. I've also studied NLP, CBT, mindfulness, and hypnotherapy, and created my own coaching method focused on finding real solutions within six months to a year.
Besides coaching, I’m also a public speaker. In 2018, I became the UK Public Speaking Champion and represented the UK in Chicago. Public speaking, especially about diversity, inclusion, and mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, is now one of my biggest passions — even though English was once my biggest fear!
What has been the biggest surprise when it comes to running your own coaching business?
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit — I even opened an events company in Italy when I was 27. When I moved to London, I believed it was the perfect place to start my coaching business because the UK is more open-minded about coaching.
At the start, it was really challenging. I used my savings to launch my business, and it wasn't easy. Networking helped a lot, especially through Toastmasters, where I built great connections. I realized that word of mouth is much more powerful than advertising — if people trust you, they’ll recommend you.
Another big surprise was understanding how lonely entrepreneurship can feel. Even when you have lots of clients, you can still feel isolated. But I learned there’s a difference between being alone and feeling lonely. I spend a lot of time alone now, but I don't feel lonely because I have a good relationship with myself and quality friendships.
Also, I became more aware of how loneliness is a serious issue globally, especially with technology making people more "connected" but less deeply connected. It’s something I see a lot in the LGBTQ+ community too. That’s why real, meaningful human connection is a big focus for me, both in my life and my work.
What have been some of the biggest challenges when it comes to running your own coaching business?
One big challenge for me has been the administrative side. I love speaking and working with people, but dealing with paperwork, invoices, and taxes was a nightmare at first! Luckily, I’m good at networking and quickly found someone to help me with accounting and explain how the process works. Also, being in the UK helped — there are a lot of tax benefits for small businesses in the first few years, but understanding the system was still tough.
Another challenge has been facing unconscious bias. As an Italian living and working in the UK, I sometimes felt marginalised by organisations that were supposed to support me. I always talk about how we all have unconscious biases based on our backgrounds, and as a foreigner, you have to be ready to deal with that.
When it comes to managing admin tasks now, I keep it simple — I send all my invoices to my accountant. At the beginning, I didn’t even know how to create an invoice! But I believe there’s no such thing as a stupid question, and asking for help is key — both in business and life..
What are the easiest parts of running your business?
The easiest part for me is definitely public speaking — it's my passion! Even though I’ve spoken at conferences around the world, I actually never did it in Italian, my native language. That’s how strongly I connected with speaking in English.
Now I coach people on public speaking, especially how to pitch an idea — which I absolutely love. Many people are terrified of public speaking (there’s even a statistic that says people fear it more than death!), but for me, it's my favourite moment — telling a story in just three minutes.
I also really enjoy helping my clients see how their weaknesses can actually become strengths. A big part of my coaching is encouraging authenticity. I always say: “Authenticity isn’t just the best way — it’s the only way.” I work with clients who want to be more open at work, like sharing their personal stories, and it’s so rewarding to help them feel safe and confident to do that.
In terms of business operations, things like handling finances are easier now because I have help from an accountant. But some parts like managing social media or building the perfect website are still more complicated for me. Finding the right niche was also a challenge — I initially wanted to coach everyone! But understanding who exactly I serve best made a huge difference in growing my business.
I use a lot of metaphors when I coach because I believe everyone’s life is like a movie — and it’s powerful when you learn how to tell your story well.
What do you think are the three top mistakes that you see new coaches making when they start?
Trying to coach everyone
A lot of new coaches want to help everybody, but it’s really important to find a specific niche. Without a clear niche, it’s much harder to attract the right clients and grow your business. I’ve mentored people through StartOut (the biggest organisation for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in San Francisco), and I’ve seen this often — for example, one of my mentees struggled because her business idea was too broad at first.
Avoiding networking
Many new coaches, especially younger ones, are afraid of networking. They’re comfortable posting on social media but avoid putting themselves out there in real life — like attending events or making personal connections. But real networking is key to building relationships and finding clients naturally.
Not being specific enough about their ideal client
I always advise new coaches to define their five ideal clients. Be really detailed — think about their age, background, even their income level. The more specific you are, the easier it becomes to attract the right people.
What task within your business energises you? And what drains you?
Administrative tasks and anything repetitive really drain me. I’m a very energised, creative person, so sitting down to do paperwork or repetitive work just isn’t my thing.
The tasks that really energise me are speaking, hosting conferences, and especially seeing my clients change and grow. Watching the transformation in my clients or mentees gives me the biggest satisfaction. It’s what motivates me to keep building my business and pushing forward with even bigger projects.
If you could optimise one thing in your coaching business, what would it be?
Definitely client onboarding!! I’ve tried a few tools, like Calendly, but honestly, I’m not very good at it. If I were better at it, I would tell everyone: really take the time to understand the tools that are available on the market. You don’t need to be a full expert, but you should be familiar with them because they can make a huge difference in running your business smoothly.
