Big Talk About Small Business is a podcast dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate the challenges and opportunities of building and growing a successful company. Each episode dives into practical topics—ranging from financial transparency and marketing strategy to leadership and hiring—offering listeners real-world insights they can apply immediately. The show is co-hosted by Mark Zweig, a serial entrepreneur, author, and founder of Zweig Group, and Eric Howerton, a seasoned business leader and marketing expert. Together, they bring decades of experience and a no-nonsense approach to exploring what really works in small business, featuring guest interviews, personal stories, and actionable advice for business builders at every stage.
“Big Talk About Small Business” co-founder, Mark C. Zweig, has had a long career as an entrepreneur, management consultant, designer, developer, author, publisher, and trainer. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence teaching in the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation Department of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Mark started selling bicycles on his mom and dad’s street corner by the age of nine and later founded two Inc 500/5000 companies bearing his name—Zweig Group named to the list three times—and Mark Zweig, Inc., once. He has also been a founder or owner of multiple other privately-held businesses and served on the BODs of more than a dozen organizations. He has authored 13 books on various business topics for architecture and engineering firms, and given talks and seminars throughout the US and foreign countries. He created The Zweig Letter, the leading management newsletter for the architecture and engineering industry, now in its 34th year of publication, and was also the publisher of Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine, and others. Mark’s latest book, “Confessions of an Entrepreneur,” won the Goody Award for the best new general book on entrepreneurship in 2022.
Mark is currently an advisor and Brand Ambassador for Janus Motorcycles, as well as on the Board of Directors of Miyamoto Relief. He has his BS and MBA degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Zweig and Howerton met in 2010 working together at Zweig White (now Zweig Group), shortly after Mark Zweig was recruited back to run the firm he sold to private equity in 2004.
Eric Howerton has been living and breathing small-business strategy for 25 years. That’s why owners and strategists for some of America’s favorite brands turn up the volume, ready to soak up every drop of dropped knowledge when Eric speaks on his experiences.
This Big Talk About Small Business co-founder most recently served as the CEO, Chief Growth Officer, and Founder of WhyteSpyder - a powerful, premium-efficiency digital shopper agency specializing in driving online traffic and sales. WhyteSpyder quickly found their niche as Walmart’s go-to vendor-partner driving measurable sales and impressions through proprietary, data-driven, omni-channel strategies.
Leading up to WhyteSpyder, Howerton has had an extensive career harnessing the Technology and creative industries. After college, Eric found his lifelong passion in business and marketing when he founded Get Out Magazine, a bi-monthly publication about outdoor recreation in Arkansas. Through his management of publishing, editorial, advertising, distribution and subscription sales, he attracted over 1,200 paid subscribers and statewide Retail distribution. In 2004, Eric became President of Now Creative, and while leading a company through the 2008 economic downturn brought challenges, Eric found continued success through offering powerful custom concepts in advertising and marketing. In 2010, Eric was awarded COO of Zweig Group, where he first met fellow visionary, entrepreneur, and now co-host, Mark Zweig.
Eric is an Arkansas native, earning a Bachelor of Science from Arkansas State University, after graduating from Jonesboro High School in 1995. His passion for nature and the outdoors makes sense having grown up in the Natural State. After a long week of podcasts and omni-channel visioning, you can find Howerton smallmouth bass fishing in Arkansas rivers, and finding his peace listening to the crickets sing that Natural State hymn.
Mark Zweig & Eric Howerton
June 17, 2026