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SPEAKING FEE RANGE ** Please note that while this speaker’s specific speaking fee falls within the range posted above (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change. For current fee information or international event fees (which are generally 50-75% more than U.S based event fees), please contact us. $30,000 to $50,000 |
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BOOK CHRIS GARDNER speakers@coreagency.com |
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SPEAKING FEE RANGE* $30,000 to $50,000 |
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Book Chris Gardner speakers@coreagency.com |
- Author of #1 New York Times and Washington Postbestseller The Pursuit of Happyness, now a major motion picture.
- A devoted father who overcame poverty, violence, and homelessness to become a successful institutional securities broker.
- Committed philanthropist working to end violence against women, homelessness, and illiteracy.
- A witty and compelling speaker, Gardner is an Ambassador of Pursuit and Happyness for the AARP.
Christopher Gardner drew upon strong “spiritual genetics” to overcome poverty, violence, and the lack of a college degree en route to success as a financier, father, and philanthropist. His 2006 autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, was a #1 New York Times and Washington Post bestseller and formed the basis for the highly successful film of the same name later that year. Gardner’s second bestselling book, Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (2009), shares his advice on living the type of fulfilling, successful life his own journey has modeled so well.
Gardner never knew his father. Raised by his mother and in foster homes, Gardner joined the Navy after high school and eventually wound up in San Francisco, where he worked as a medical research associate and in a scientific supply company. Gardner was fascinated by the world of finance, but lacked the formal educational credentials most firms required. His tenacity in applying to training programs, however, eventually landed him a minimally-paid position in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program. Gardner’s wife had left him; he and his young son had to live for a time in Gardner’s car, but Gardner had vowed that his child would always have a father.
Once he’d completed his training, Gardner joined Bear Stearns, where he quickly became a top earner. Gardner opened his own brokerage firm, Gardner Rich, in 1987 with capital of just $10,000. Gardner Rich grew into a highly successful institutional securities brokerage.
While Gardner has enjoyed a sparkling career in finance, he believes his life’s purpose is to share his hard-won wisdom about overcoming obstacles with others. Struggles like those he faced in childhood needn’t define us. Gardner works with a host of organizations committed to supporting fathers and children, including the National Fatherhood Initiative, the National Education Association Foundation, and the International Rescue Committee.
Gardner’s book and subsequent film have been honored with NAACP Image Awards – one among a host of awards for his work on humanitarian causes, and especially those relating to violence against women, homelessness, and illiteracy. In fall 2010, the AARP appointed Gardner as its Ambassador of Pursuit and Happyness, encouraging older Americans to pursue new challenges and search for fulfillment.
Chris Gardner has an inspiring story to tell. With gentle wit and abundant humor, he shares his experiences in service of a larger goal: empowering others to take control of their lives, just as he did, and make the important decisions necessary to achieve success.
Gardner’s relaxed manner and articulate delivery put audiences at ease. Any speaker can proclaim a gospel of success, but only someone who’s been through difficult times has the necessary credentials to truly explain how we can overcome serious obstacles. Gardner’s been there, down in the trenches, working hard to surmount challenges; the words he shares are steeped in the integrity borne of a life well lived.
Specific, practical advice is a key to self-empowerment, and Gardner offers his audiences this type of advice in abundance. Organizations and individuals will benefit from his readily applicable insights into beating the odds, breaking cycles, and achieving goals.
In addition to his work as entrepreneur and author, Chris Gardner has become one of the most dynamic and inspirational professional speakers active today.
Few stories are as inspiring and moving as Chris Gardner’s rise from homelessness to become the owner and CEO of Gardner Rich LLC, the bestselling author of the autobiography The Pursuit of Happyness, and inspiration for the movie of the same name starring Will Smith in the role of Chris Gardner.
Surmounting acute obstacles throughout his life, Gardner shares with his audiences the keys to self-empowerment, and the message of beating the odds and breaking cycles. His presentation has been enhanced to include much of the pragmatic wisdom featured in his second book Start Where You Are.
The Pursuit of Happyness
The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street. More than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.
Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Chris Gardner’s astonishing memoir—the phenomenal New York Times bestseller, The Pursuit of Happyness, which inspired the film of the same name starring Will Smith—served as a shining beacon of hope for countless people. In Start Where You Are, "a book that teaches you how to transform the impossible into the possible" (Sidney Poitier), Gardner offers indispensible life lessons in getting from where you are to where you want to be.
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