Chris Gardner Perseverance

Perseverance can get you through anything. If you just give it the effort that is needed, and it will show results. But a man with a very unique rag-to-riches story, proves that perseverance can get you through anything. A man who has seen alcoholism, domestic abuse, child abuse, illiteracy, fear, and powerlessness at it worst. The man name is Chris Gardner.

Chris Paul Gardner was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 9th, 1954. His biological father had abandoned him at a young age, and his stepfather was no better. Freddie Turner was a violent man who separated Gardner from his mother often. This led to many foster homes. Some that he had like were his uncles. Of the three, with the most influence on Gardner was his Uncle Henry. During

About four years after this event, he quit his job as a clinic medical researcher as it was a bad time to be one; he became a medical salesman. On one of his runs to the San Francisco General Hospital, he met a man in a red ferrari. Little did Gardner knew that this would be a life changing moment. The man he meet is named Bob Bridges, who offered him many training programs for business like E.F. Hutton and Dean Witter Reynolds. For a period of two months, Gardner’s car had a stockpile of parking tickets when he cancelled his sales appointments to meet with the managers of the firms. Gardner “got his break” when a manager from E.F. Hutton told him to come to the office next week. When he heard that, he immediately quit his job for this position. Gardner arrived the day he was told to arrive, only to find out the person had been fired earlier in the week. Gardner and Chris Jr. mother, Jackie, relationship had detached. According to the book, The Pursuit of Happyness, Jackie had started to run away with Chris Jr. This lead to Gardner to grab Chris Jr. away, at the same time, accidentally swinging Jackie into a rose bush. He was initially imprisoned for the incident, and was to be released; until another problem came up, he could not pay $1,200 in parking tickets at the time. So he went to prison for ten days, only to find his car gone, his home emptied and locked. He soon realized

to Gardner. At this point Gardner had a small apartment that did not support children, which Chris Jr. and. So for a year, Gardner and his son were on the street for a year without his employer and fellow employees knowing it. When he became concerned for Chris Jr. well-being, Gardner asked for help from a man named Cecil Williams. Cecil Williams agreed ,without hesitation, for Chris Jr. and Gardner to stay at the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church's shelter until he can get a home. Once he does, Jackie and Gardner began contact once more, as Jackie has a daughter Gardner in 1985; her name was Jacintha. Gardner turned down the opportunity to get back with Jackie, but had made friends with her instead, as she watches their kids while he is at work. One day, a big business called Bear Starnes & Company came calling to recruit Gardner. That is when everything took a turn for the better. He began a company in Chicago around 1987. He later sold it in a multi-million dollar that led to him becoming the CEO of Christopher Gardner International Holdings, with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Gardner still lives to this