As business owners and senior leaders, we spend almost all our time looking outward, at where the business is going, rather than how we are developing and managing. We manage teams, drive growth and put out daily fires. But as they say it’s tough at the top and it can be incredibly isolating.

Who appraises your performance? Who provides your feedback? Who forces you to step away from the day to day grind to actually look at the big picture?

For me, the answer for the last two years has been the Elevate Retreat, run by the incredible Louise Knutsson CEO & Founder of MatchesTalent . I’ve just returned from the 2026 retreat, and if you are a driven, busy woman running a business or leading an organisation, here is why this experience needs to be on your radar.

The Perfect Setting: Marche, Italy

Picture this: the historic, rolling hills of Civitanova Alta in the Marche region of Italy, tucked away at the breathtaking Oliveto Estate. It’s the kind of place that instantly forces your shoulders to drop and your mind to clear.

How I became involved with the Elevate Retreat is quite random as it started at my son’s weekend football match. I got chatting with another parent on the sidelines and that’s where I met Louise who runs these retreats as part of her business, Matches Recruitment and Coaching. We connected, we talked shop, and the rest is history. Two years later, I can confidently say it’s one of the best professional investments I’ve ever made.

14 Women, 14 Cheerleaders

This year’s cohort brought together 14 established, highly driven women from completely different backgrounds and industries. There are business women from massage and wellbeing specialists, to innovators of medical products and smell elimination products, from oil and gas industry professionals, to foreign property investment specialists, from sleep experts to HR and marketing professionals and many more.

But despite our diverse business models, our core challenges were identical.

Even at the highest levels, female entrepreneurs still battle with the phantom of imposter syndrome, while handling the emotional mental load of the family. We question if we’re doing enough or if we truly belong in the rooms we’ve built.

That is where the magic of Elevate happens.

Every single person on this retreat influenced me. Imagine going away for a weekend with close friends, where their positive energy completely rubs off on you and you return home floating. Now imagine that, but amplified by a room full of powerhouse women whose collective energy is immense. It felt like having 13 brilliant cheerleaders in my corner, a supportive dynamic that was just as powerful this year as it was during my first Elevate Retrear. The raw positivity you bring home with you is immeasurable.

My Top 5 Takeaways from Elevate 2026

Stepping away from the daily noise gave me the rare clarity to reflect on what’s working, what isn’t, and where the real opportunities lie. I left Italy with five core truths written on my heart:

• Lean into things. Don’t hesitate or overthink the next big move.
• Embrace what scares you. Growth lives right on the edge of your comfort zone.
• I am an expert. Owning my knowledge and my worth without qualification.
• I am doing enough. Releasing the guilt of the endless to do list.
• I have earned my seat at the table. Full stop.

Moving Forward with Focus

A retreat shouldn’t just feel good in the moment; it should change how you operate when you get back to reality.

Armed with the clarity and confidence I found at Oliveto Estate, I am stepping into the rest of 2026 with laser focus. First, I am officially leaning into the future by developing my expertise in AI governance, starting a formal qualification with the London School of Economics (LSE). I’m already two assignments in!

Second, I am driving forward with shizl in a highly structured, focused manner with deeply defined goals.

If you are a female founder stuck in the thick of daily operations, do yourself a favor: find your space to pause, reflect, and elevate. You’ve earned your seat at the table now, give yourself the room to lead from it.