How a single mom became a full-time networker

Two years ago, Becky Luther was a nurse practitioner and a single mom. She had no interest in professional networking and no idea she was about to become “Queenie Be.” Things have changed rapidly.

Her Hive Networking NWA group for small businesses started in late September and has grown to more than 17,800 members. Her singles group, Queenie Connects, helps people socialize and build friendships. Her personal profile, Queenie Be, is getting 1.5 million views a month between her Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. And her nonprofit, Gownsational, collects hundreds of used formal dresses for underprivileged teens to wear at proms.

“I had a career,” said the 44-year-old Luther. “I wasn’t trying to be famous. I wasn’t trying to start a business. I was just trying to bring people together. About four months into the singles group, it had already become this massive machine where I was bringing hundreds of people together every week, over seven events a week.”

Gownsational came first. It started after she launched her first Facebook group, Single Mom Sisterhood of NWA, in early 2024. When a member lamented that she couldn’t afford a prom dress for her daughter, Luther realized she had an unused gown in her closet. She had always been a medical professional, not a networker, but she wanted to help. On Jan. 24, 2024, she started a dress drive.

Luther ended up collecting more than 600 gowns while attracting media attention from places as far-flung as Seattle and Pittsburgh. A Cleveland boutique with the same name (it was “Gowntastic” then) told her that people were mistakenly dropping off used prom dresses there. Meanwhile, she worked with 70 local businesses to provide support.

Luther then started Queenie Connects, a private online group for Northwest Arkansas single men and women, under the pseudonym “Queenie Be.” She soon was planning one to four events a day — pool tournaments, movie-watching get-togethers and patio hangouts. She now hosts singles events at The Momentary, the largest of which has attracted 1,100 people. At first, Queenie Connects was free. Then it became a paid platform in September 2024. To the best of her knowledge, eight marriages and many friendships have resulted.

Her personal circumstances as a single mom of three children — now ages 17, 15 and 7 — had been her inspiration. Divorce “splinters your life,” she said. Single people want to socialize with other single people who understand their experiences. In the post-COVID world, online connections were high, but in-person connections were low. Her goal was to “eradicate loneliness.”

“I was just trying to build community and provide a platform for people to meet in person, get away from the screens and just connect authentically,” she said.

At first, she did not reveal who she was, instead posting on Facebook as Queenie Be with a graphic. While group members knew her identity, she didn’t come out publicly until a Christmas party in December 2024.

“There was a lot of mystery,” she said. “I remember about two months after I started the singles group sitting at a restaurant, and the table next to me was a group of people that were having a conversation: ‘Who do you think she is? Do you think it’s really like an old man that’s pretending to be?’ Which was shocking to me.”

The need for connection that had inspired her to create Queenie Connects didn’t go away once she owned a small business. Once again, she needed a community. She knew others did as well.

This past Sept. 28, she started Hive Networking NWA, a free public online group for small business owners. Like her previous ventures, the group grew quickly. After creating the page, she walked away from it for a couple of days and told no one about it. When she returned to it, it had 500 members.

The group has since grown to 17,800 members with 4 million group views. Members post information about themselves and their business but don’t post ads. Posters who authentically introduce themselves gain the most traction. She said she’s received messages from people saying they have doubled, tripled or quadrupled their business after posting.

“My goal is to provide a platform, virtually, a virtual connection platform for small business owners,” she said. “They have zero marketing budget. They may not know anyone else personally that owns a small business. And so what I’m trying to do is connect all these tiny businesses with one another so that they can work collaboratively and support one another.”

The business’s income comes from event sponsors. Luther had hosted five free in-person meetups as of Feb. 20, the smallest one being the first with 300 attendees. She said her role is to make introductions and get people having conversations. She said a successful networker thinks about what they can do for others rather than what others can do for them.

“I see people every day,” she said. “They’ll come to the events, and all they want to do is sell their products. That’s all they care about. And that doesn’t result in positive connections. So it’s about trying to uplift others. And I think that that ends up coming around and it’s positive for you and your business.”

Luther is considering where to take her business ventures from here. She compared their rapid, unintended growth to building a skyscraper first and then the foundation. She said some “very, very large names” are reaching out to her about hosting events. She might even create Hive groups elsewhere.

“If I’m able to find connection and I’m able to help people come together and feel a sense of belonging and community and help people feel like they’re truly cherished by their community, why would I (limit) that only to Northwest Arkansas?” she said. “Why would I not grow that elsewhere?”