TOP MEDIA EXEC LAUNCHES ‘WAYMAKER’
DRIVE TO HELP OTHERS SUCCEED
One-time national high school relay record holder Louis Carr passes
on baton through ‘Grow Your Life and Change the World’ initiative
Chicago: As a high school former All-American athlete and now businessman, Louis Carr knows that discipline, drive and good coaching are a winning formula.
It’s a principle that continues to motivate him decades after breaking the track relay record at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. Transferring athletic values to the corporate world, Carr is recognized as one of the country’s most successful media executives.
For years, the influential President of Media Sales at BET Networks has helped people and communities rise to their full potential through behind-the-scenes mentorship, consulting and philanthropy.
Now Carr is broadening and expanding those efforts through the launch of WayMaker (www.waymakerjournal.com), a multi-pronged drive to inspire and equip others to pursue their dreams under the banner, “Grow Your Life and Change the World.”
From live and online events to podcasts and resources including WayMaker Journal, the new initiative aims to educate, inspire and motivate people by sharing journeys and insights from subject-matter experts across a range of topics
“No one makes it on their own. I know I owe much of what I have been able to achieve to people who invested in me, and I have always tried to do the same for others,” Carr said. “Now, maybe more than ever, we must strive to be our best by helping others be their best.”
Announcing the WayMaker launch this week as the nation marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day was significant, Carr said. “No one epitomizes what it means to be a waymaker for others more than Dr. King,” he said. “He was a visionary who pointed the way for others to have opportunities and to live their best life. That’s our hope for WayMaker.”
The first quarterly issue of WayMaker Journal gives an idea of the rich breadth of experience Carr is drawing from. Among those featured are actor and activist Hill Harper, best-selling author Don Yaeger, multicultural marketing expert Danielle Austen, senior banking executive Eric Smith and NBA referee James Capers.
“We are talking to people who have not just been through something but who have come through something. We want people who really understand that life is a roller coaster, but the goal is not to end on the bottom but to end on top.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Carr was part of the four-person student mile team at Lane Tech that set a 1974 national record for the mile relay of 3:19:5. From there, he went to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on a track scholarship, graduating with a degree in journalism.
Carr worked at Ebony and Black Enterprise magazines before joining BET in 1986. As President of Media Sales, he has since generated billions of dollars from businesses seeking to reach African American consumers. He has been honored as one of the most influential African Americans in the cable television industry for the last eight years.
