SOUTH SUBURBAN COLLEGE STUDENTS ATTEND ANNUAL DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS CONFERENCE

South Suburban College Business Major, Jaleel Harris (left), attended the second Annual Dirty Little Secrets Conference in Chicago where he met Louis Carr (right), president of media sales for BET Network, author, mentor, and philanthropist. Photo Credit: Provided by South Suburban College
South Suburban College Business Major, Jaleel Harris (left), attended the second Annual Dirty Little Secrets Conference in Chicago where he met Louis Carr (right), president of media sales for BET Network, author, mentor, and philanthropist. Photo Credit: Provided by South Suburban College

South Suburban College Students Attend Annual Dirty Little Secrets Conference

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Ten South Suburban College students were recently invited to attend the Second Annual Dirty Little Secrets Conference at the Swissotel in Downtown Chicago. The event was created by Louis Carr, president of media sales for BET Network, as a way to provide men with the tools and strategies they may need to succeed in work and life.

Over the span of his 32-year career at BET Networks, Carr has generated $7 billion in revenue and is the only African American to head up national sales for a major cable company, according to a press release providing information on the Conference.

The Dirty Little Secrets Conference claims not to be a traditional Conference, but a movement. The Conference challenges the men of color who attend to become leaders in their communities and in the workplace. The goal of the Conference is to provide men with the resources they need to be successful.

Topics of discussion at the event included money, entrepreneurship, relationships, and health and attendees were encouraged to ask questions and trust that they would be provided with an honest and transparent answer.

“They basically talked to us about being a real man. We spoke with a lot of different prominent artists and individuals that have partnerships with BET Network. We got to

talk with Mr. Louis Carr who is a president with BET Network and absolutely an amazing man. He didn’t act like he was the president of anything. He was right there with us, right next to us and giving us information and the secrets of how he came up and he gave us his book for free,” said Jaleel Harris, a business major at South Suburban College.

Prior to the Conference, Carr invited South Suburban College to select a handful of students to attend the event at no charge. He wanted them to have the opportunity to be exposed to the notable panel of successful leaders and entrepreneurs who were presenting at this year’s two-day event.

“The overall experience was amazing. They were giving free hairs cuts, we received advice on how to look clean cut as a man, and they were giving us tips on how to be successful,” said Harris. “We spoke with Mr. Scott Mills who is the president of BET Network and he gave us his story and basically just tried to relate to us and let us know that anything is possible and that he was just like us at one point and that proved to us that anything is possible.”

Harris said that from the conference he learned the importance of setting goals, staying focused, and finding inner peace. “From the Conference, I took away that you need to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anyone else,” said Harris. “The major thing [Mr. Carr] spoke about was to know what you’re going for, to have a set goal, and to know what steps you need to take to make it there.”

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