Photo © L. Jobin
No plan. No childhood dream. No predefined path. And yet Laurence Jobin, born into a third-generation farming estate in a family of four daughters, is now president of Femmes PME Suisse romande, manages 60 to 70% of an agricultural and orchard business, and quietly embodies a form of entrepreneurship firmly rooted in reality. Not through declared ambition, but through a constant fidelity to herself.
Growing up on a Vaud farm with three sisters meant learning early on that work is not a choice but a given. School holidays were spent in the vineyard or among the apples. The setting was beautiful and demanding, but also marked by the line her father would repeat, not with any particular malice but with a sincerity that hurt: “I’ll never be able to hand this estate over; I only have daughters.” Four daughters. “Four failures,” in the unspoken logic of a farming world that was still very patriarchal.
That background could have shaped a resigned woman. Instead, it forged something more subtle: a woman who moves forward without fuss, who observes, listens and seizes opportunities as they arise, never forcing them.
In the soft light of morning, before the world stirs, Laurence Jobin always begins with a moment of silence. A breath, a walk, a few steps in the fresh air. A simple ritual, almost invisible, yet one that already says a great deal about her. As a child, she did not envision a career; she imagined neither pilot nor doctor nor executive. She moved ahead without a plan, with only one wish: to earn her own living and secure her independence. She studied languages, then attended a business school in Lausanne, before heading to London to complete a First. On her return, chance or life intervened: a family doctor was looking for an assistant. She accepted, as a temporary fix. “That temporary fix lasted eighteen years.”
That anecdote says everything about her way of life: not a five-year career strategy, but a willingness to embrace what life offers. As an assistant in that practice and without any specific training, Laurence learned on the job. “I’m not an academic type, but I’ve always liked to learn,” she tells us. Laurence Jobin observes, listens and adapts. Almost without realising it, a guiding thread emerges: human connection. Understanding people, responding to their needs, building relationships. She then went through several professional experiences, in insurance and at the local administration, before going freelance.
Yet agriculture remained in the background. Neither calling nor ambition. Until that decisive turning point. Her husband Philippe Jobin, from a confectionery background, was the one who saw an opportunity in the family estate. They took it over in 2000. Laurence settled into the business step by step. First the bookkeeping, because one has to start somewhere and she had three children. Then, gradually, she took on more space. Processed products, partner relations, business development. Today, she is the estate’s operational face. “I absolutely did not see myself in this profession. And today, I am completely aligned with it.” Much later, she obtained a federal diploma as a SME management specialist, then trained in spiritual accompaniment. An atypical path, but one that reflects her: cross-disciplinary, human and deeply coherent.
At over 50, another stage began: the presidency of Femmes PME Suisse romande. A responsibility she had long avoided. “I often ran away from these roles.” That choice marked a shift. Laurence is not trying to fit a model. On the contrary, she embraces her singularity: a leader who does not claim to master everything, but who knows how to bring people together. “I’m a conductor. I don’t play every instrument, but I know how to create harmony.”
Laurence quietly and firmly embodies the figure of entrepreneurship rooted in reality. Not through declared ambition, but through a constant fidelity to herself.
At the helm of the association, she carries a clear vision: easing the pressure on women entrepreneurs. Restoring the right to balance. Putting people back at the centre. “You can’t carry everything at once. And that’s okay.” There is something profoundly agricultural in the way Laurence Jobin runs her professional life. She plants seeds, builds connections, waits. When she was denied a position as an expert for the federal exams, she did not force the issue. She kept weaving ties. Three years later, they came looking for her. “You work, you build relationships and then all of a sudden, things fall into place.” The same logic guided her appointment as president of Femmes PME. For years, she deflected every proposal for a leadership role. There was always a better candidate imagined, always an excuse found. Until the moment she asked herself directly: “Laurence, when are you going to take your place?” The answer was: now.
Deep down, Laurence Jobin never drew up a plan, and her journey follows no straight line. It resembles her land: you plant without any guarantee of harvest, you care for it without certainty of outcome. What she has built, no one handed to her. She allowed it to ripen. Her story is one of quiet legitimacy, of a strength that asserts itself without noise, of a conviction that what grows slowly grows right. A woman who had not dreamed her life but who, today, fully inhabits it.
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