The Story of Chris Gardner

Have you seen the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith? If so, then you know Chris Gardner’s story. It’s not only moving, but also inspirational—and it’s not hard to see why. Here is his story:

After graduating from high school, Chris joined the Navy and served for four years until he was honorably discharged

in 1974. With his knowledge, experience, and contacts in the medical field, his ensuing career path seemed clear: He would become a physician.

However, he knew that this path would require ten years of medical training. What’s worse was his realization that, given the rapid changes in technology, the medical profession would be very different by the time he completed his training. In other words, how prepared—how relevant—would he be? Seeing all this, Chris made the decision to not pursue a career in medicine.

In 1981, Chris met Jackie Medina and they began seeing each other. She soon became pregnant, so Chris moved in with her and prepared to be a father. Their son, Christopher, was born months later. At this time, Chris was working as a lab assistant at both the University of California San Francisco Parnassus Campus and at the Veterans’ Hospital. But his jobs only paid a total of about $8,000 a year—not nearly enough to support his girlfriend and child. So he quit both jobs and took on a new career as a medical equipment salesman; with this move, his earnings doubled. After some difficult times, Jackie disappeared with their son for a few months—only to return later and leave the boy with Chris for him to raise on his own.

Chris’ entire life changed, surprisingly enough, when he saw a man parking his Ferrari. Chris asked the man what he did for a living. It turns out the man was a stockbroker. His name was Bob Bridges.

Bob took the time to meet with Chris and gave him an introduction to the world of finance. Bob helped him land meetings with branch managers at major stock brokerage firms, which led to his eventual acceptance into a training program at Dean Witter Reynolds. However, the low-paying program only provided Chris with enough money to cover the cost of putting his son in daycare while Chris was in training.

During this time, Chris was a homeless, single father struggling to make it through a very low-paying training program.

He and his son ate at soup kitchens. They slept in a different place every night: shelters, churches, even a BART station bathroom.

Yet all the time, Chris managed to keep his poverty and homelessness secret from his co-workers. Indeed, Chris and his son were homeless for an entire year before Chris was finally able to crawl out of his poverty.

Chris was able to work hard and stay positive despite the difficulty that he endured. All of his hard work eventually paid off for him and his son. Chris became a successful stockbroker. He started his own firm. He became a millionaire.

The Pursuit of Happyness is an amazing true story—and a testament to what grit and determination can achieve. And f

or those who are willing to sacrifice and work hard, dreams can become a reality.

Curious about why “Happyness” is spelled that way? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out!

Your financial story probably doesn’t start out like Chris Gardner’s. But you can have big dreams, and make big plans. Let us help you with the planning part; contact us today.