You're Not Thinking Big Enough with Congressman Steve Womack

He slept on the floor of a radio station he couldn't afford to staff, got told by the local coffee shop crowd he'd be out of business in six months, and ran that station for 45 years.Before he was a U.S. Congressman, Steve Womack was a Startup Junkie: a broadcaster's son who talked his way into a shoestring AM station in Rogers, Arkansas, and built it into an institution. In this episode, he sits down with Daniel Koontz, Jeff Amerine, and Caleb Talley to trace the throughline from that station to the Rogers mayor's office to Congress, and the entrepreneurial instincts that never really left him along the way.⏱️CHAPTERS0:27 – Welcome, Congressman Steve Womack1:06 – His "Marvel Origin Story"4:13 – Building a Radio Station From Scratch8:37 – Proving the Skeptics Wrong11:07 – Lessons From Football, the Army & "Make Your Bed"17:18 – Underwriting "Errors of Enthusiasm" as a Leader23:09 – The Vision Behind Rogers' West Side25:04 – "You're Not Thinking Big Enough": The Pinnacle Promenade Story27:16 – Northwest Arkansas' Growth Challenges32:06 – The Walmart Origin Story (and What Comes After It)38:21 – The Case for a Skilled Trades Campus41:27 – Government, Debt & a Coming Social Security Reckoning47:40 – Advice for Entrepreneurs and His Younger Self54:17 – A Tribute to Lt. Jason Hunt---🎧 Follow the Startup Junkies Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. 👍 If you enjoyed this episode, like, subscribe, and share it with a friend.Learn more about Congressman Womack: womack.house.govThe Startup Junkies Podcast is brought to you in part by ARISE, helping Arkansas tech and tech-enabled startups grow with no-cost coaching, capital navigation, and expert connections. Learn more at ARiseArkansas.org