“I chose to embrace the spirit of my mother, who, though she had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred, and destroyed, she still instilled in me, her child, that I could have dreams and that I did have a responsibility and the power.”

American businessman and motivational speaker

Chris Gardner is an American businessman and motivational speaker. He became a stockbroker in the mid-1970s and later founded Gardner Rich & Co in 1987. In 2006, he sold his minority stake in the firm and published a memoir that was later adapted into the film The Pursuit of Happyness. He is also known for speaking about persistence, hardship, and turning setbacks into progress.