We were lucky to catch up with Stefania Xytakis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stefania , appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

A defining moment in my professional career was deciding to start my own health coaching company. I moved to Maui in my early 20’s shortly after college. A few years ago, I updated my credentials so I could work for a virtual health coaching company. At the time, no one was hiring people in Hawaii and the Maui healthcare system was still very stressed from covid so they didn’t have health coaches yet.

So I said, I guess I’m the Maui health coach. Now, when I see jobs I would have applied for, I don’t because I’m already all set up with my own company, we have good momentum and hired our first true employee.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My father is from Greece, so growing up, I ate a Mediterranean style cuisine, even though we lived in Virginia. I played sports all throughout childhood- swimming, soccer, and volleyball. While in college, I chose to study Kinesiology because I cured at the very least, I’d be healthy for life and I knew I loved movement. From there, I did personal training and group fitness until I move to Maui.

Here, I became the water women I am today. I started canoe paddling and surfing. Ten years later, my most popular services are Intro to Surfing and Pool/Ocean Safety. We work with all ages 3 years old and up, meeting every person where they are in the water.

I give children and families, a lifetime of water skills, safety and fun!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’ve always been athletic so when I moved to Maui and started doing water sports, I thought it was all about being able to paddle out, but it’s so much more. I actually had to take a step back and learn how to read the weather. I needed to be able to tell what the wind, swell, tide and current were doing in order to be a successful water woman.

A less athletic person who can read the weather will be a stronger surfer than an athletic person who can’t read the weather. That’s the first thing we do in our Intro to Surfing sessions.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Learning to surf as an adult is no easy task. I started surfing when most professional surfer’s careers are ending. It takes a lot of dedication to get a solid foundation. I paddled out five days a week for 3 years. The first year I called it drowning. I also had a big fear of the waves myself which makes me a good person so help others feel safe and confident on the water.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.swellhc.com
• Instagram: swell_health_coaching
• Facebook: Swell_Health_Coaching
• Linkedin: swellhc
• Youtube: swell_health_coaching

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Moses Slovatizki