Business Echo - Alexi McGreer

Before Alexi McGreer was bringing mothers and local businesses together, she was organizing rock shows in Vancouver. If she wanted a stage to perform on, she learned how to make it happen herself. Years later, she would bring that same initiative to a challenge she knew personally: finding support as a mom.

After returning to the Okanagan, the mother of two found that knowing the region didn’t mean knowing where to turn. She struggled to make new connections and spent nights searching online for parenting advice. Even years later, she was discovering local services she wished she had known about when her children were younger.

Through The Main Mom Event, Alexi is working to close that gap for other moms. Bringing together more than 60 exhibitors, alongside expert speakers and community partners, she is creating a place where mothers can ask questions, meet local professionals and discover resources for themselves and their families. Those conversations offer a starting point for support that can continue long after the event ends.

Behind it is the year-round work of an entrepreneur drawing on her communications and marketing experience to get those resources in front of the people who need them. In this Business Echo conversation, Alexi shares what it takes to bring that vision to life, why she believes so strongly in connecting moms, and how she is learning to support her community while making room for her own family.

OE: Tell us a little about yourself and the path that led you to Lexicon Creative and The Main Mom Event.

AM: I used to be a singer. When I was 19, I moved to Vancouver to pursue music and started a rock band. I performed around the city and organized shows. Eventually, I realized that making a living from music would mean touring all the time, and that wasn’t what I wanted. I was serving at restaurants to pay the bills, and I knew I wanted to do something different. I went back to school and completed a communications degree at Simon Fraser University. At the time, I was working as an administrative assistant at a nonprofit supporting people with disabilities. While I was studying, they moved me into communications and marketing, so I was able to get work experience alongside my degree.

When I had my first son in 2017, I knew I wanted to work for myself. I wanted the flexibility to be at home with my children when they needed me, so I slowly started building my business. I now have two young boys.

Through my nonprofit work, I had also planned a couple of events and really enjoyed it. Combined with my background coordinating live music performances, there was always a part of me that wanted to create an event of my own. I had lots of ideas, but The Main Mom Event was the one that stuck.

OE: Lexicon Creative specializes in turning complex ideas into clear, accessible communication. What drew you to that work, and how did it become a business?

AM: I have a very strategic brain. When there are lots of different problems or things happening, I like taking them all and simplifying them. I’ve also always been creative, and there’s a lot of room for creativity in communications and marketing.

Most of my career has been spent working with nonprofits that support people with disabilities. A big part of that work is making sure communication is clear and to the point, so that anyone can understand it. That’s how I communicate in everyday life, too. I like getting to the point.

Before going on maternity leave, I was on the board of directors for a nonprofit called Vela Canada. They needed help with their marketing and eventually hired me as a very part-time contractor. That gave me a starting point for building my own business.

OE: Many creatives enjoy doing the work but find selling their services more difficult. What has that side of business been like for you?

AM: I actually don’t mind the sales part. I do need to be passionate about the business, organization or client I’m supporting. When I believe in what I’m offering, it comes more naturally.

With The Main Mom Event, I’m selling it all the time. My passion for the event keeps me motivated, but the first year was very, very hard. Now that it’s in its third edition, I’m more confident in what I’m building and what I can offer. That confidence makes selling easier. On the communications side, I’m fortunate to get a lot of referrals. I’m also a one-person business, so my time is limited. I can see how constantly needing to find new clients or customers could become daunting.

OE: What gap did you see in the Okanagan that inspired you to create The Main Mom Event?

AM: I grew up in Peachland and moved to Vancouver after high school. When I was expecting my first son, I wanted to come back to the Okanagan. It took a couple of years to convince my husband, but after our son arrived, it all worked out.

I had great friends here who I’d grown up with, but they already had their own social circles. I wanted to make new connections of my own, and I found that difficult. Working for myself made it harder because I wasn’t going back to an office where I could meet people.

I also found it challenging to find resources as a new mom. I’d be awake in the middle of the night, searching online because my baby wasn’t sleeping. Everything seemed to offer a solution to something I was already worrying about, and that could create even more stress. I didn’t know where to go to speak to someone.

I started with an idea called Okanagan Moms, which was about small get-togethers. With my marketing hat on, I could also see an opportunity to bring moms into local businesses and help those businesses introduce themselves. But I knew how much work it would take to organize and promote lots of smaller events. Eventually, I thought, ‘I need one big event.’ All those ideas came together as The Main Mom Event.

OE: How much of the event has been shaped by your own experience of motherhood?

AM: A lot of it comes from my own experience, and that continues as my children get older. Now that I’m past the baby and toddler years, I’m noticing different things happening with my body and finding myself asking, ‘What do I do now?’ Those experiences influence what I bring into the event. It’s for mothers at different stages. Wherever you are in parenthood, there may be something new you’re trying to understand or support you’re looking for. You don’t know what you don’t know.

There are so many knowledgeable, experienced people in this community. I love being able to bring them together so people can have an actual conversation and follow up afterwards. I really believe in the value of that in-person connection, especially when so much of our information comes from social media, Google or AI.

OE: Bringing together more than 60 exhibitors, along with speakers, sponsors and partners, takes considerable coordination. What does the public not see behind the scenes?

AM: The spreadsheets! There’s a lot of organization, selling and relationship building that people don’t see. There’s also the time it takes to learn what works and what doesn’t. From the first event to the third, the event has changed, and I’ve changed with it. Planning the event is one part of the work. You also have to get people there. I’m fortunate to have a marketing background, so I can build a marketing plan, and I have connections in the media who have been very supportive in helping promote it.

Events cost money. Marketing costs money. Your time costs money. You have to build something where the income covers those costs and, hopefully, makes a profit. I’m also learning how to do that in a way that doesn’t burn me out.

OE: With so much of your time, energy and money going into it, what keeps you motivated?

AM: I believe in it. I believe mothers and women need that community, those resources and that opportunity to connect in person.

My kids are nine and seven, and I’m still discovering businesses that make me think, ‘Why didn’t I know about this seven years ago?’ Some of those resources could have changed so much of what I went through. As I get older and my kids get older, I am also looking for new resources, so I hope the event can tackle those questions as well. Knowing they exist and wanting other people to know about them keeps me going. 

It is also a business. I see a need, and I believe there are people and businesses who will pay to be involved as they too are also looking for ways to connect with people off-line. I want to build something that can grow. And there’s something really cool about watching an idea you created come to life. If I didn’t believe in it, I wouldn’t keep doing it.

OE: What is a moment in your career that you are particularly proud of?

AM: Moving to Vancouver at 19 to pursue music. I was so passionate about it, but I was alone in a new city and had to figure everything out. How do I enter the music scene? How do I start a band? How do I connect with record companies?

If I wanted to play a show, I had to work out how to get one, or organize one myself. I did that for years. Looking back, I can see how important that experience was to what I’m doing now. It taught me how to figure things out on my own and build something.

OE: How do you navigate building a business and a major community event while also raising your children?

AM: I’ve had to learn where my limits are. This is the third edition of the event, but I took a break last year, which would have been the third. I was stressed a lot of the time, and I wasn’t as focused on my kids as I wanted to be. I was getting short with them, and I didn’t like how that felt. I needed to stop and take a step back from the event. Even during that break, I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. I wanted to try again. This year, I promised myself that if I brought the event back, I wouldn’t take on any new work. Knowing your limit is one thing; reminding yourself not to go beyond it is another. That’s hard as an entrepreneur.

I’m lucky that my husband recognizes when I’m overwhelmed. We communicate and check -in with each other often. He’ll ask what he can do to take something off my plate, or remind me that I don’t have to take on an extra contract. Having that support helps. After the first event, I also started seeing a therapist monthly. I needed someone I could speak to regularly. When you’re passionate about something, it can be easy to take things personally. Having someone help me work through that has been important in maintaining my balance.

OE: What advice would you give women who are looking to start their own businesses?

AM: Make sure you charge enough. Do your homework and look at what other people with similar experience, offering similar services, are charging. It’s easy to think that charging less will bring in more work, but underpricing can affect other people in your industry, too.

Invest in your marketing and branding. I understand that it costs money, but a good website, a recognizable brand and even a simple marketing strategy can help your business. And know when to say no. If you have a conversation with someone and your gut is telling you it isn’t the right fit, listen to it. Don’t take on work just for the sake of taking on work.

OE: If you had unlimited funds for one day, what is the first thing you would do for your business or The Main Mom Event?

AM: I would hire more help. Definitely! And for The Main Mom Event, I would expand it into other communities.

OE: Looking ahead, what would you like The Main Mom Event to become, and what impact do you hope it will have?

AM: I hope it becomes a familiar resource in Kelowna, with hundreds of people attending each year and knowing it’s a place they can go to find businesses and support for themselves and their families.

I’d also love to see more dads come. I know it’s called The Main Mom Event and it’s geared towards moms, but I love seeing dads there and the support they’re showing their partners. Eventually, I’d love to expand into other communities, whether that’s elsewhere in the Okanagan or in other cities. I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but it would be really neat to see it happen.

OE: Where is your favourite Okanagan spot to relax or find inspiration?

AM: I love the beach, and I’m there in every season. Whether I’m relaxing on the beach, at the playground with my kids or we’re throwing rocks onto the frozen lake, we spend a lot of time there.

I also go to PACE Spin Studio. I’ve been going for years, and it’s one of the few places where I can turn my brain off. You’re in a dark room with loud music and a motivational instructor, and you have to focus on what you’re doing. I love it.

For inspiration, I enjoy sitting on a brewery patio with a cider. I don’t drink beer, but I love the welcoming and relaxed vibe of breweries. Having a drink, relaxing with friends, and letting my creative mind wander is often when the ideas start coming.

OE: What is one thing about you that people might not know?

AM: I was almost signed to a record label when I was 17. It didn’t happen, but it motivated me to keep pursuing music. I haven’t really done music since having my children, but I’ve recently joined a singing group called Treble in Paradise. I’m going to start singing again, with no stress, just singing. I love that.

OE: How can readers connect with you?

AM: Websites: www.mainmomevent.com  and www.lexiconcreative.ca

Socials: IG: mainmomevent  or lexiconcreative.ca  FB: mainmomevent