Gardner had also racked up $1200 in parking tickets while attending interviews. The thing is, Gardner had all but abandoned his hustle of selling medical equipment while he was shopping around for an internship – a period of 10 months. Eventually, E.F.Hutton took him in, and under normal circumstances, the rest would be history. After striking up a conversation, Bridges took Gardner under his wing, and organized meetings with major brokerage firms on Gardner’s behalf in hopes of landing him a position in a training program. He met Bob Bridges, a man who drove a red Ferrari and made $80,000 a month. ‍Įverything changed for Gardner after one particular visit to the San Francisco General Hospital. He quickly doubled that salary, an early sign that he had a knack for sales. Prior to his career shift, he only made around $8,000 a year as a research assistant – equivalent to about $26,000 by today’s standards. Gardner needed to pay the bills, so instead, he utilized his experience and pivoted to selling medical equipment. Over the next three years, Gardner developed contacts and experience in the medical field, and a career as a physician seemed to be the next logical step. Navy and became a medical specialist, then made a connection with a celebrated surgeon who eventually offered him a position as an assistant at the University of California Medical Center. After enduring a turbulent childhood where he was predominately separated from his parents, Gardner felt a strong need to be self-sufficient in his adult life.

Gardner’s life was rife with turmoil from a young age.

The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the life of Chris Gardner, a self-made salesman-turned-stockbroker-turned-philanthropist who went through untold hard times before finally scraping his way to success. Will Smith’s name has been in the news for other reasons lately, but long before “The Slap,” he took a turn in one of the most popular sales movies of the last 20 years, The Pursuit of Happyness (yes, the misspelling is intentional).

The life of chris gardner