Christopher Gardner

(http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/)

What is a hero to me? Well to me, a hero is a strong, hard-working person that inspires me. My hero is a man named Christopher Gardner. This man inspires me for so many reasons. His story is a true story of hard-work and sacrifice.

Chris Gardner was born on February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He never knew his father and he always made sure that when he has kids, his kids will know who their father is. Gardner never had a great childhood. His mother was remarried and had other kids from her second husband. Gardner had so many bad experiences including alcoholism, child abuse from his step father, literacy, fear, and powerlessness. He later went into foster care. The movie and book "The Pursuit of Happyness" is an autobiography based on Gardner's life. The book was a New York Times and Washington Post #1 best-seller, and the movie won an academy award and #2 in all time domestic grossing drama. After high school, Gardner went to the navy and after moved to San Francisco where he worked as a medical research associate for a scientific medical supply distributor. Gardner was in really bad shape and needed money for his son and wife, but he didn't even have a college degree or MBA, he went to a training program at brokerages, willing to learn. Gardner's wife left both him and her son, Chris Jr., and the two later on became homeless. Gardner later earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds program and Bear Sterns & Co before founding the brokerage firm Gardner Rich in Chicago in 1987. Today Gardner is involved in many charities and projects to help others reach their full potential. Gardner is a philanthropist and has many organizations including ones against women violence, homelessness, and financial literacy. Today Gardner lives in Chicago and New York.

To me, Chris Gardner is an incredible hard-working man with extreme hope and faith. I connect to him in a way that i to have to put hope and faith into something and if i start something i have to finish it. Chris Gardner has really inspired me in so many ways and he has really helped me see the real person inside me and that i can do something if i put my mind into it. He has also made me understand that you can get to the top, even when nobody else can and also if you just have faith in yourself.

In conclusion, Chris Gardner has really changed the way i look at myself and achieving a goal. I really hope to go to one of his speakings and maybe even meet him face to face! As Chris Gardner said "money is the least significant aspect of wealth". The important thing in life is who you are inside.