'Pursuit of Happyness' Author Gives Advice

Margarita Bauza - Detroit Free Press

Christopher Gardner, the subject of the popular Will Smith movie about a homeless single father who became a San Francisco stockbroker, has become a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

So perhaps the author of "The Pursuit of Happyness," the book that chronicled his journey, has something to say about how people can better themselves.

"I always tell people that wherever you are is not where you have to be," said Gardner, 54.

Gardner's motivation for getting ahead was to become the farthest thing possible from his abusive, alcoholic stepfather, he said during an interview with the Free Press on Thursday.

It didn't just inspire him when he was homeless in San Francisco, now famously documented in the movie. It inspired him throughout his life.

"I could have become my stepfather," Gardner said. "I chose to become everything he was not. I wasn't going to be illiterate or powerless."

He also was inspired by his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner. She believed he could not only attain his dreams but had a responsibility to achieve them, he said.

She convinced him that no matter where he came from, he could do whatever he wanted, even make a million bucks.

Because of her faith in him, Gardner decided to become world class at something.

The idea of becoming a stockbroker came to him as he struggled as a medical supplies salesman. One day he saw a man parking a red Ferrari. Intrigued, he asked the man what he did for a living. He said he was a stockbroker.

Gardner, who had no connections or college degree, knew that's what he had to do. He managed to get accepted at a training program at Dean Witter Reynolds, which was an American stock brokerage.

He enrolled in the program, which paid a tiny stipend. He trained while living in shelters and sometimes subway bathrooms with his son.

He learned the tricks of the trade.

Gardner beat on doors, worked late and became world class at what he did.

In 1983, Gardner joined Bear, Stearns & Co. and was a top performer, first in San Francisco, then in New York.

Gardner left in 1987 to establish Gardner Rich & Co. Inc., an institutional brokerage firm specializing in the execution of debt, equity and derivative product transactions. The company has expanded into Christopher Gardner International Holdings.

"People have to find the one thing they absolutely love, the one thing they would do for free," he said. "When I did find it, I knew. I knew it the moment I got to Wall Street."

Gardner doesn't find his story remarkably different from that of many others.

In fact, he believes that as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, the number of working homeless people in the United States will only grow.

"I'm not talking the guys out there with cups," he said. "These men, they're working. These are folks who did everything right, who played by the rules."

And what advice does he have?

People need to accept that reality has changed.

"All those jobs that you could raise families on, those jobs are gone," he said. "They ain't coming back. You better acknowledge it and prepare now."

And that means going back to school, getting extra training, learning a new trade, finding something you love and becoming the best at it.

Gardner, whose fame has propelled him to rub shoulders with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Nelson Mandela, finds things like fatherhood are his truest joys.

His daughter, Jacintha, is graduating from college in 82 days, he said proudly.

"She's the first person in the history of my family to graduate from college," he said.

His son, Chris, who was depicted in the movie, is now in business with him. He works on new media projects.

Gardner's biggest inspiration is still his mother.

"I talk to her every day even though she moved to heaven 13 years ago," he said.

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