Maya Lekhi believes everyone has something to gain from entrepreneurship.

At just 15, she started a French tutoring business that grew so quickly, she had to hire other tutors to keep up. That early success ignited a passion for entrepreneurship that has only deepened over time.

After finishing her first year at Western University, Maya spent the summer in Toronto, where she joined a vibrant co-working community with other young people from different backgrounds pursuing passion projects and sharing workspace and resources. Inspired by the experience, she returned to campus with an idea. That idea became Momentum, a program that brings makers – artists, researchers, technologists  and creators – together every Sunday to co-work, collaborate and support each other’s passion projects.

“I wanted to bring something like this to Western, not only for co-working, but as an avenue to celebrate the kind of things people are working on outside of school or work,” says Maya, who is pursuing a dual degree in business and computer science.  

Some Momentum attendees are traditional entrepreneurs creating start-up companies, while others are simply looking for a collaborative forum where their ideas can grow into something tangible.

“People come to work on their passion projects and side hustles. We have a really wonderful array of people working on amazing things, from robotics to content creation to watercolor paintings to cancer research. It's incredible.”

Maya sees Momentum as more than just a workspace. It’s a place to develop the attitude and skills that help people thrive both personally and professionally.

“Success as an entrepreneur often comes down to a mindset that leads to success in other areas of life,” she says. “It involves putting yourself out there and taking calculated risks. These skills are becoming more critically important not just for launching your own ideas, but for working on ventures within a company or organization.”

And she believes entrepreneurship also develops creativity and resilience, and a stronger sense of accountability to others.  

“I'm such a big advocate for building out things that you care about, because you're never going to be able to tell whether or not an idea is valuable enough by just pondering it on your own. It’s important to go out and show it to the world and see how it holds up.”