The Female forces series
Female founders redefining rich in one of the world’s wealthiest countries
In a world that rewards doing over being and achievements over happiness, it’s a rare thing to successfully leave the ‘rat race’, slow down, breathe deep and still feel content, free and make a living - especially in Switzerland.
But this is a new kind of wealth that Sandra Tettamanti and Donna Williams are creating – and they’re showing other women how to redefine being rich in one of the world’s most expensive countries.
For many years these two women gave their heart and soul to their humanitarian work as delegates for the International Committee of the Red Cross, their lives a melange of missions back and forth between some of the world’s most war torn places and the organization’s headquarters in tranquil Geneva.
In 2023, they both decided separately that life had other, slower and more beautiful things in store for each of them and they left the ICRC to set up their own businesses. Sandra, born in Zürich to parents of Swiss Italian origins, and her partner André took a leap and brought Villa Oleandro, a chugging bed and breakfast with one of the most beautiful terraces in the Valle di Muggio in Ticino – its view overlooking the hill where Sandra’s grandfather had been born many years before.
Donna, a Sports Scientist by trade and adventurous Australian who had already made the Swiss mountains her stomping ground as an alternative to beach life downunder, took her longtime side hustle teaching yoga and hosting retreats and launched it into full time wellbeing entrepreneurship, adding feminist mentorship and consultancy work to her portfolio.
Through their many mutual connections, women kept asking them why aren’t you doing a retreat together? And so Wild Soul, or Anima Selvaggia as they say in Switzerland’s southernmost canton Ticino, was born.
Both Sandra and Donna have a deep love of dance, music and movement and a commitment to slow, locally sourced, sustainable food sources. Donna, who never planned to host retreats, found her motivation after attending one too many yoga retreats as a participant where the poor food quality was a stark contrast to the yoga on offer. She ran her first retreat in Sri Lanka while on mission there with the ICRC because she was fed up with the gap in the market. ‘I was annoyed that you could find great yoga, or a beautiful location but rarely both and never with incredible, high prana food and that was always the place I felt let down. It seemed so strange to pour into my body, mind and soul with all the yoga and then eat poor quality food the whole week on retreat.’
In the meantime, Sandra’s COVID sour dough session started to reach professional baking levels and she studied in Zürich with Claudio del Principe to refine her craft. Her love of all things art and beauty also found a new place for expression as she worked closely with Geneva based Italian interior designers to refurbish Villa Oleandro in Switzerland’s southernmost Valle di Muggio in Ticino and she today curates a complete experience combining art, antiques, design and food, offering the Villa’s guests a luxury stay.
“Having spent years dropping in on friends’ and sleeping on their sofas in between my Red Cross missions, this is my time to give back the generosity I received so often.” says Sandra. “Villa Oleandro is my way of returning the hospitality to people we know AND to all the new people we meet as they discover this valley. And after years of working around the world, the villa has become a sacred space for all the art, textiles, statuary and furniture we’ve collected – each with their own story to share with our guests.”
Together these women from very different cultural backgrounds have found a joint love of creating and sharing beautiful spaces, food and wellbeing experiences with other women seeking to slow down, find stillness and reconnect with what truly matters to them. Through Wild Soul they aim to offer an alternative way of life, even if just for a few days, that gives women permission to let go of the mental load, and instead practice receiving. It’s also a chance for Sandra and Donna to showcase the very best of the Ticino region and especially Valle di Muggio, and to show people another, more Mediterranean side to Switzerland. And as Wild Soul is intentionally designed for women, it’s only natural that the female forces of the region are mobilized for this retreat.
Anna Poggi of Osteria Ul Furmighin fame joins this retreat to share her culinary secrets and impart her slow food wisdom with participants, providing an experiential cooking evening unique to Wild Soul.
Irene Petraglio, known locally as The Milleress will be on hand offering a private tour and dinner at the Bruzella Mill where Ticino’s famous red polenta is the talk of the table, hosted beside the fast flowing river Breggia.
Cristina Bernaschina-Livi, the valley’s femme de la force with a passion for ‘cucina nostrana’ is with us all retreat-long to tempt us with her sweet treats and share her favourite, locally sourced and lovingly prepared recipes
Wild Soul might look like a retreat on the surface but it’s a labour of love from two women who were brave enough to take the leap into a slower, more connected way of life and who are deeply inspired and motivated to share their passions with a wider community of women.
They talk about Wild Soul as being ‘home grown and heart led’ but make no mistake, this is a luxury retreat of a different kind. One where the luxury isn’t an expensive massage or a Michelin starred chef, but wealth in the form of time for yourself, long deep breaths, deeply nourishing food, soulful movement and awe in Mother Nature – the kind of richness that makes you fall in love with yourself and life all over again. It’s a new definition of what being abundant means in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and Sandra and Donna have found the perfect way to package it for women ready to travel to Switzerland’s southernmost and sunniest canton this May.