Some events leave you inspired for a day or two. Others hand you the push to actually change how you work. FutureProof Women, a new initiative launching in Switzerland, is aiming squarely for the second kind. Created by two Swiss entrepreneurs, Liliane Maibach and Fanny Wicky, it is billed as an immersive day built for women running businesses who want to step back, get clear on where they are headed, and leave with tools they can use the next morning.
The idea was born, fittingly, abroad. Both founders had long wanted to create something like this at home. “We were two Swiss women abroad, living exactly what we would have loved to find back home,” Wicky recalled of the Paris entrepreneurial event where the plan took shape. “That was the trigger.” The two had reached the same conclusion independently: Switzerland lacked spaces where women could gather, connect, challenge one another, and think bigger.
Rather than copy an existing format, they set out to build one suited to their own ecosystem. “In Switzerland, many women run businesses, but they sometimes lack spaces to speak frankly about growth, ambition, business models, or shifting their mindset,” Maibach said.
The event is designed around three needs the founders kept hearing. The first is simply not being alone. Many entrepreneurs push forward with their questions and doubts without anyone around them who truly understands the reality of building something. The second is learning to anticipate rather than just fighting the fire of any given week: which skills will still matter in five or ten years. The third is the move to the concrete. Plenty of women already sense their business must evolve, Maibach noted, but do not know where to start. That, she said, is where practical tools around marketing, positioning, and business models come in, helping women clarify what actually fits them instead of chasing every passing trend.
What sets the format apart, the founders argue, is its refusal to be a one-off high. “FutureProof Women was designed with a before, a during, and an after,” Maibach said. Something begins the moment a ticket is bought; the November gathering is the peak, but there is a follow-up built in to keep the momentum going. The day itself is meant to be highly interactive, alternating talks, workshops, and exchanges, with real time set aside for participants to work on their own projects.
The founders are clear about who the day is for. “It’s aimed at women who want to grow their business and make it last,” Wicky said, adding that the field of work matters little; what counts is the willingness to question one’s trajectory. Maibach put it more pointedly: this is not an event for a “business hobby,” but for women who have already tested and experimented, and who are serious about building a viable model, generating revenue, and claiming their place.
They also insisted the day be held in person. “You can learn a lot online, but there’s a particular energy in a day spent face to face,” Wicky said. “You step out of your usual setting, you create space, you meet people living similar realities. That can spark very powerful realizations.”
Both founders see this first edition as a beginning rather than a single date on the calendar. “We feel there’s something to create in French-speaking Switzerland around these themes,” Maibach said, describing a gap where women entrepreneurs could talk openly about money, mindset, and the future alongside the more personal realities of the journey. Their message to anyone still hesitating is direct. “If you sense your business needs to evolve but you don’t know where to begin, this day can help you unlock something,” Maibach said.
FutureProof Women takes place on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at the Opéra de Lausanne, with details and registration available through the organizers.
