Louis Carr is living his best life as the quintessential embodiment of the American Dream. He lets you know with an unabashed frequency that he has been divinely blessed to be able to make history and change a multitude of lives at a dynamic, internationally influential company such as Black Entertainment Television for more than 32 years. He has also remained happily married for over 30 years while succeeding in the entertainment game, a genre well known for its cornucopia of minefields.
“For me, God’s grace and God’s favor has been way, way over the top for a brother. I can’t say that enough, that God’s favor has shined down on my family in abundance,” says the media mogul, author, inspirational speaker and philanthropist. “Scripture says he’ll open up the window and pour out blessings more than you can hope. He has done that for me.”
For a man who has accomplished these monumental milestones while generating over $7 billion as the president of media sales at BET, Carr indicated he felt compelled to inculcate this knowledge and wisdom to the Black male community at large. Carr is doing that with the second annual “Dirty Little Secrets: Men’s Only Conference” Oct. 19-20, 2018, at the Swissotel in Chicago.
Carr said there are a couple of powerful reasons he created the conference for men — in an era that some would say is flooded with conferences and conventions tailored for and by women.
“One is personal. When I look back on my life, there were so many men that reached out and mentored me and guided me when I didn’t even know that I needed that,” Carr says.
“So I am sort of trying to pay a debt to these men who basically did something for me that I didn’t even know that I needed, whether that was counseling, whether that was financial guidance, whatever the case may be.
“Secondly, when I did my book and did my tour all over the country, men would be gravitating to me after a speaking engagement or after a book signing, saying, ‘I can’t believe you are this old; you don’t look it,’ to ‘I can’t believe you’ve been married for three decades, how did you do that and how being in the entertainment business? Why did that work out for you?’ So I said there is a need, a real need, just like with women, for a safe platform where they can discuss some of their deficiencies and skills sets that they want to get better at.”
Carr will serve as the host of the second edition of the “Dirty Little Secrets: Men’s Only Conference” that will be punctuated by a plethora of powerful speakers, including:
- The Rev. Al Sharpton;
- New Edition’s Michael Bivens;
- Music producing legend Teddy Riley (creator of New Jack Swing and producer of Michael Jackson’s most successful album after Thriller, which was Dangerous).
- Richelieu Dennis, the founder of Sundial Brands: “He recently sold his businesses and then recently bought Essence Communication, which is over the Essence Festival. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about owning a business and managing a business,” Carr said.
- Chinedu Echeruo: Carr excitedly shared about Echeruo, “He sold his transportation app to Apple for $1 billion a couple of years ago. There aren’t many people like us who sold their business for $1 billion. He’s going to add a lot to the conference.”
This kind of edification, enlightenment and leadership is needed in these volatile times, Carr said. This is why he wrote two books prior to envisioning the conference, Dirty Little Secrets and Little Black Book: Daily Motivation for Business & Personal Growth.
Carr said the motivation to write Dirty Little Secrets was to help understand how he arrived at the high plateau in life and share that knowledge with others.
“Someone said ‘you go through life looking forward, and you understand life looking backward,’ ” Carr said. “And as I look backward, I have a clear understanding as to why certain things really worked out for me. And I wanted people to not have to go through the pitfalls and the mistakes that I made.”
Calling The Little Black Book an extension of his first book, Carr said we all are in need of constant motivation and constant inspiration at certain points in our lives.
“I know that words make a difference, and I am a very spiritual person. I wanted to put a book together that motivates people and inspires people and to let them know that things are going to be OK,” he said.
The “Dirty Little Secrets” conference encompasses the words in Carr’s book manifesting for others to be able to receive in real time.
“I had a lot of women work for me who went to women’s conferences all the time, and they’d say, ‘Why aren’t there more men’s conferences out there?’ Because men, especially men of color, we have a lot of issues to deal with.
“I tried to put together panels that I thought would be attractive to most men of color. Everybody wants to know: How do I move up the corporate ladder? How do I stay healthy for long periods of my life? How I have a great relationship over long periods of time? How do I give back to young people? So I tried to bring as many people who I know are extremely successful and have come from something to be successful on the other side and share it with as many men as possible,” Carr relays.
Those are the issues that will be tackled on Friday. On Saturday, Carr said the convention attendees be in the room with these exceptional men who interact with attendees freely. “You have doctors, corporate titans and the attendees [together] and them to participate and be a part of that. And sometimes we feel that if we can’t see it, we can’t achieve it,” he said. “We have to take that excuse from them and let them participate.”
For more information on the Dirty Little Secrets: Men’s Only Conference taking place in Chicago Oct. 19-20, log on to www.dlsmen.com.
