CHRIS GARDNER

RHS : Dr. ROBERT HAROLD SCHULLER
CG : CHRIS GARDNER

RAS: Well, it’s my pleasure and my privilege this morning to introduce one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in the world, Chris Gardner. Chris was a child prodigy with tremendous potential, but a challenging set of circumstances left him a homeless man with his toddler son. His true-life story was told in the blockbuster film, “The Pursuit of Happiness” starring Will Smith. Today, Chris is the CEO of the Gardner and Rich Company, a multi million-dollar brokerage in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Chris attributes the trials he has overcome and his successes to his deep faith in Jesus Christ. He is here today to share his faith, please welcome with me Chris Gardner.

CG: Thank you, sir.

RAS: Chris, God loves you and so do I.

CG: Thank you, sir.

RAS: You know I have read that you were raised in foster care without a father. What was that like?

CG: We don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough time. Suffice it to say, that what was where I made the decision that my children would never be in foster care. Yes sir. So that experience helped me to make a decision that when I did have children they would always know who their father is. And that I would break the cycle of men who were not there for their children. So, if my having that experience made me provide a better life for my children, it’s a blessing.

RAS:Do you have any idea how many children there are in the United States being raised without fathers today?

CG: Too many.

RAS:Too many, I agree.

CG:Too many. We could talk about it awhile, but I would be wiling to say that a lot of the problems that we are facing in our country today could be traced back to men not being there for their children. And if we could find a way to address that we probably could address a lot of other issues at the same time.

RAS: Absolutely. Well we really need to seriously look at that. You found yourself in a rather tough situation with your son and according to the movie, you tell me how accurate this is, a bunch of bone scanners that didn’t sell very well.

CG:That was where I was. I was in a business that was a major challenge, but the important thing was I found a business I absolutely loved. I found something that the sun couldn’t come up soon enough because I wanted to go do it, and that was Wall Street. And that’s one of the things I share with people every opportunity I get. Forget about money. Find that one thing that just gets you so excited you can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and be bold enough to go do it. But forget about money.

RAS:Before you got on Wall Street, you were homeless.

CG:Yes sir.

RAS: Now how do you get from homelessness to Wall Street?

CG: I found that one thing that I felt as passionate about as anything in the world. And again another decision I made as a young guy, I wanted to become world class at something. I didn’t know what it was going to be. But the first time I walked in to a Wall Street trading room, I knew this was the place. My mother told me, one day I would find a place and that was it. So the second I found it I knew this is where I’m supposed to be.

RAS: So you found it?

CG: Yes sir, it’s a blessing.

RAS: But it was a long haul getting there?

CG:Oh yeah, but that’s okay.

RAS: Tell me what it was like being homeless..

CG: You know what..

RAS: with a son.

CG: ..there are too many people in our world today that could also stand here and tell you what that’s like. It is estimated that 12 percent of all the homeless people in our country have jobs and go to work everyday.

RAS: Twelve percent?

CG: In some communities that number is as high as 30 percent. I mean think about that. Working families homeless. I’m not talking about the guys outside with the cups and this experience of making the movie; One day we hired two hundred and fifty homeless people to be extras in the film?

RAS: Yes.

CG: A couple walks up to me on the street and says, ‘we want to thank you, we’re both working, we’ve been living on the streets for six months, all we needed was another five hundred dollars to get a house. And we made that money working on this movie.’

RAS: Oh, that’s fabulous.

CG: If you think about that doctor, I mean sixty million dollars gets spent to make a movie, five hundred dollars got a family off the streets. That says something about how we value people today, unfortunately.

RAS: Tell us about your faith. You have a faith in Jesus Christ?

CG: Oh absolutely, absolutely.

RAS: Where did you discover that faith?

CG: My mom. I chose to embrace the lightness that I saw in my mother as a young guy. Like a lot of other young guys I could have embraced the darkness that I saw all around me. But I made a conscious choice. I made a decision to embrace the light.

RAS: And you were surrounded by darkness, too.

CG: Oh absolutely, every issue possible. I could have become my stepfather. I could have become another alcoholic, wife beating, child abusing, illiterate loser. But I made the choice to embrace the light that I saw in my mom. And as I mentioned to you earlier this new book I’m working on we’re really looking at this concept that we’re calling spiritual genetics and how we choose to become who we can and do become.

RAS: Yeah, part of your spiritual genetics, did your mother read the Bible to you as a child?

CG: Oh man, everyday. Everyday, it was the Bible and the Reader’s Digest.

RAS: That’s a good combination.

CG: Well, hey, we mixed it up, yeah we did.

RAS: And did you feel Jesus Christ with you when you were on the streets?

CG: I still do. Most importantly I still do. And people will say..

RAS: : It’s probably harder to find Him on Wall Street than it is on the streets isn’t it?

CG: Oh it is, it is! Oh my God, yeah, but you know if it’s in you and it’s who you are, you take it with you when you walk in the room.

RAS: Yes.

CG: Yeah, and it has been a mighty weapon at times, for positive things. Not negative.

RAS: And you brought them here today.

CG: I take Him everywhere I go or rather He takes me everywhere I go.

RAS: Well today you’re a philanthropist among other things. And where are you focusing your philanthropy?

CG: I’m really, those people who talked about earlier, the 12-30 percent of the homeless population that works and has families and jobs. I’m really involved in looking at how can we help those people. I’m looking at how can I help the veterans. Tonight in our country over a hundred thousand veterans of this country’s wars are going to sleep on the streets or in somebody’s shelter. I’m looking at that and you know, children, tonight, unfortunately in our country, close to half a million children under the age of five are going to sleep on the streets or in somebody’s shelter. And you can look at homeless people and say get a job and you can say well, it’s your fault. But what do you say to those five hundred thousand children? What did they do? So I’m being very focused with this work, I’m being very focused with this fifteen minutes and if I can do something that helps others have a better life than that’s a little piece of God’s work.

RAS: Well we want to thank you by giving you a special gift. This is a cross that we’ve had specifically designed for people who are helping us get through our summer months and they’re our Summer Partners and I want to give this to you as a way of saying thank you for all that you’re doing for so many. It says “God loves you and so do I” on the bottom and it’s a crystal cross to remember your visit here in the Crystal Cathedral, and it’s our way of saying thank you. God bless you, Chris.

CG: Thank you.

RAS: And continue to let your light shine for Jesus Christ.

CG: Thank you, sir.

RAS: And we thank you for your faith and dedication.

CG: Thank you.

RAS: God bless you.

CG: Thank you. Thank you.