Her Free Networking Meetups Started at 300 People. That Was the Small One.

In late September 2025, Becky Luther started a free, public online group for small business owners in Northwest Arkansas. When she came back to the page a couple of days later, it already had 500 members.¹

The group, Hive Networking NWA, kept growing from there. Talk Business & Politics reported at the end of March 2026 that it had 17,800 members and 4 million group views.¹ Hive’s own events page now lists more than 32,000 members, a number the group reports about itself.³

The group was built for small business owners. “They have zero marketing budget,” Luther told Talk Business.¹

Introductions, not ads

Members post about themselves and their businesses, but they don’t post ads. According to Talk Business, the people who get the most attention are the ones who introduce themselves authentically.¹ In a group made up almost entirely of people with something to sell, the main rule is basically: don’t sell it.

“My goal is to provide a platform, virtually, a virtual connection platform for small business owners,” Luther said in the Talk Business profile.¹ The group’s site says it is open to professionals in all industries and at all experience levels across Northwest Arkansas.²

Sponsors pay for the meetups

The online group is only half of it. Hive makes its money from event sponsors, who fund in-person gatherings. As of Feb. 20, 2026, Luther had hosted five free meetups. The smallest was the very first one, with 300 people.¹

A February 2026 member news item from the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce put the group at 15,600 members and said its monthly events drew more than 300 people. That item lists large Monthly Buzz events, industry-specific Expert Buzz gatherings and curated private events.⁴

Hive’s own events page now says it holds two events a month, with an average attendance of more than 500. That figure is self-reported, like the 32,000 member count.³

The founder behind the Hive

Online, Luther goes by Queenie Be. Hive’s site lists Queenie Be as its founder.² Talk Business describes her as a 44-year-old single mom of three who was working as a nurse practitioner two years before the profile ran.¹

Hive isn’t her only project. She also runs Queenie Connects, a singles group that has charged for membership since September 2024, and Gownsational, a nonprofit that collects used formal dresses for underprivileged teens.¹

Lessons from the Hive

• Ask what you can do for others. Luther’s networking advice is to think about what you can offer people, not what they can do for you.¹ “So it’s about trying to uplift others,” she told Talk Business.¹
• Don’t show up just to sell. She says people who go to events only to sell their products don’t make positive connections.¹ The chamber item describes Hive’s approach as one with no cold pitching.⁴
• Introduce yourself honestly. In the group, authentic introductions get more traction than anything that reads like an ad.¹

Buzz Tank: a pitch night with an original Shark

In September, Hive tried a bigger stage. Its first Buzz Tank, held Sept. 25 at the Heartland Whole Health Institute in Bentonville, was billed as Northwest Arkansas’ live pitch event: six local founders pitching on stage to a panel of investors Hive calls the Hornets.⁵

The headline Hornet was Kevin Harrington, listed as joining virtually.⁵ Harrington was one of the original investors on ABC’s Shark Tank when it premiered in 2009.⁶ Sean Campbell, Jacob Frese, Karen and JC Hite, and Shannon Davis were also on the panel, and three former Shark Tank contestants coached the founders beforehand.⁵

Hive promoted the night with “$100K invested live” and a room of more than 500 people. It hasn’t published which founders landed deals.⁵

What comes next

Luther is still deciding where to take the venture. She told Talk Business that some big names have reached out about hosting events, and she may start Hive groups outside Northwest Arkansas.¹

Hive’s events page lists a Construction Buzz on Oct. 20, a Health and Wellness Buzz on Nov. 17 and a Monthly Buzz at the University of Arkansas on Dec. 1. In between, the group’s 1st Birthday Monthly Buzz is set for Thursday, Nov. 5, at Pig Trail Harley-Davidson.³

Disclosure: Hooray News editor Frankie Ragan and his wife, Angel, have attended Hive Networking NWA events, including Buzz Tank, and won a $250 gift card from a local contractor at a Hive event earlier this year.