Resilience // Confidence // Boundaries // Set Backs // Empowerment // Dating Reset
Cici Coleman is a presenter, actress and dating confidence coach best known as the beloved waitress on Channel 4’s BAFTA award-winning series First Dates, where for more than 12 years she has witnessed thousands of real first encounters unfold.
But the woman behind the UK’s most famous waitress has lived a life defined by resilience, reinvention and radical self-honesty.
At 14, Cici experienced a devastating loss that led to several turbulent years of grief, risk-taking and searching for meaning. She went on to take a bold and unconventional step into banking at HSBC, before working four jobs to fund a move to New York at 23, where she earned a full scholarship to the New York Film Academy and began pursuing acting.
What followed were dramatic highs and lows: life in New York, a toxic relationship, declining mental health, visa struggles and eventually moving back home to rebuild from scratch, even working as a builder with her father and later returning to waitressing in London, serving some of her former banking clients.
Then came the opportunity that would change everything: First Dates. Over the next decade, Cici became a familiar and comforting presence on British television while quietly developing a deep understanding of human behaviour, confidence, vulnerability and emotional intelligence.
Those insights, combined with her own personal journey, led her to create The Dating Reset: a series of women’s confidence workshops focused on self-worth, boundaries and empowered decision-making.
Today, Cici speaks about empowerment, resilience and reinvention, showing audiences that rock bottom isn’t the end of the story. Often, it’s simply the place where rebuilding begins.
Her talks blend humour, honesty and practical tools, exploring how emotional awareness, clear boundaries and courageous decision-making can transform not only relationships but leadership, careers and the way we live our lives.
Cici’s story is proof that life rarely moves in a straight line. From personal loss and toxic relationships to career rejection and rebuilding from scratch, she shares how moments that feel like failure often become the foundation for reinvention.
Drawing on her own experiences, as well as thousands of real-life interactions witnessed on First Dates, Cici shows how resilience is built, how identity can evolve and why it’s never too late to change direction.
Audience takeaway:
How to reframe setbacks, rebuild confidence and create momentum after difficult chapters in life or career.
A self-confessed recovering people-pleaser, Cici spent years prioritising everyone else’s needs over her own, a pattern shaped by growing up in a family struggling with mental health challenges.
It wasn’t until she left a toxic relationship and set a simple boundary 'no contact', that everything began to shift. As she learned to set boundaries in friendships, work and relationships, her confidence grew and so did her opportunities.
Today she teaches audiences how boundaries are not about pushing people away, but about recognising that your needs matter too.
Audience takeaway:
How to communicate boundaries with confidence and use them to build healthier relationships, stronger leadership and greater self-respect.
After a difficult breakup left her questioning everything, Cici created what she calls a “Happy List”, a simple exercise that helped her rediscover the small and big things that brought her joy. That list led to solo travel, new experiences and eventually living in Bali.
Later she asked herself a deeper question: What would I regret on my deathbed if I never tried it?
This idea sparked a new chapter, leading to taking acting classes again and moving to Sydney.
In this talk, Cici introduces the “Deathbed Thoughts” principle, a powerful mindset shift that encourages people to make courageous choices and reconnect with what truly matters.
Audience takeaway:
A framework for overcoming fear, rediscovering purpose and building a life that feels fully lived.