Chris Gardner
Aside from a movie based on his life starring Will Smith, Gardner also has two New York Times bestselling books under his belt - The Pursuit of Happyness and Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
Before his story was shared with the world, Gardner was living on the streets with his young son. At the time, he was trying to pursue a career in finance despite not having any experience in it, or even a college degree. He received a spot on the Dean Witter Reynolds training program, but couldn't afford to live off of the small salary and his wife eventually left. Gardner struggled for a long time as a single father; he had to live in homeless shelters and do odd jobs to be able to eat.
Now Gardner is a motivational speaker and CEO of Gardner Rich LLC with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. According to his website, Gardner's childhood was "marked by poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism, sexual abuse and family illiteracy." Gardner beat the odds and continued to stick work hard to make his dreams come true.
