Russ: We're in our Featured Guest segment, where, this morning, our featured guest is Chris Gardner, whose life was depicted in the movie and the book, "The Pursuit of Happyness." There are so many cool chapters in the book, specifically, Chris, when you talk about really knowing that you'd found your venue when you walked into a brokerage office. I know you still had a pretty significant rough start. I think, you brought in Murphy's Law to describe it. Share with our listeners that story.

Christopher: Well, it was interesting, it goes right into how my son and I became homeless. After interviewing for a year, I finally wore one branch manager down who says to me, "Based on persistence alone, we're going to give you a shot." I quit my job as a sales rep for a scientific company. I will admit I was a little cavalier about it. I went in to my branch manager's office, if he were here, he would tell you I had this big box of samples I had to carry every where I went - Petri dishes, tissue slides, rubber gloves, things with our logo on them. He would tell you I'd threw the box at him. That is not true. Russ, I will compromise and say, "It fell abruptly." (laughter)

Russ: It got to be.

Christopher: OK, and I say, "I quit. I'm out here. I'm going to Wall Street." I went home, I let my ex know, who had not been supportive. The words of encouragement from her were delusional and unrealistic.

Russ: Partly because you didn't have an MBA.

Christopher: Absolutely. Well, major Wall Street firms have begun to require an MBA just to get into their training program. She had friends who had their MBA's and they were struggling to get in. "What makes you think you can do it? You never even went to college." You know what? I'm glad you raised that point. I interviewed Russ, for a year, and I've been asked many, many times, "Why do you think it took so long? Do you think it was racism?" No, absolutely not. There's another "ism," it's called "placism." I never gone to college, did not come from a politically connected family. I had no money of my own to invest in the stock market. Who's going to do business with you? That's placism. That could affect any of your listeners. Somebody out there know what we're talking about. I quit my job, I let my ex know, "I'm going to Wall Street. I quit my job." I was pretty pumped up about it all the way.

Russ: Yet, sort of a commitment, didn't you, from...?

Christopher: Well, the guy says, "Be here on this day and this time." All right, that's a commitment. Show up on the appointed day and time only to find out the guy who had made me the commitment had been fired. You're laughing now, Russ. That was not funny at that time.

Russ: Well, I know it now, and I laugh because I've read it in the book. In the movie, they had to kind of play around this issue.

Christopher: Well, I mean, you only got two hours in the movie, and you got to do it different. I think that the truth of the matter is in the film, there's the essence of the struggle, the commitment, the fear, and the passion were all captured. That's why I'm comfortable.

Russ: OK. So, you quit your job, you told your lady, and suddenly, the job that you were talking about thought you're going to show up didn't exist. So, what happened next?

Christopher: Well, things got tensed at home. I got to tell you, some of your listeners might know what I'm talking about. Unemployment will not help your relationship. Somebody out there knows what we're talking about.

Russ: Yes. I am sure there is quite a few out there that know that.

Christopher: Yea...that it ain't going to help your relationship. A tense situation is not going to help your relationship Russ. Everything possible that could go wrong went wrong at the worst possible time. I had an argument one day - I'd never forget it – with my ex, that only ended because we both fell asleep. We woke up in the morning, everybody's feet hit the floor, and guess what? We went at it again.

Russ: Took off right where you left off.

Christopher: The neighbors called the police. They don't know what's happening, what's going to happen? I was taken to jail for parking tickets. I had $1,200.

Russ: And this is right at this time that you'd quit your job.

Christopher: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Well, in the interim, I mean, in the interim, I still got to take care of my family. I got to put food on the table. I did everything legal that I could. I began to cut grass, hauled rubbish, cleaned the basements, I learned roofing, I learned painting. I did everything that I could to keep food on the table and still pursued one last shot at Wall Street.

Russ: Right. One last shot.

Christopher: One last shot, bro. I was taken to jail for parking tickets, put in a jail cell with a murderer, a rapist, and an arsonist.

Russ: And a parking ticket violator.

Christopher: I mean, Russ. You haven't seen that movie "Stir Crazy," with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder?

Russ: Oh, yes.

Christopher: Man, remember that scene when he went to jail?

Russ: Oh, yes.

Christopher: First that you learn in jail, first thing I learned in jail is everybody's got to tell their little jailhouse story, "Why are you in here?" Everybody tells his story, the first thing I learned is nobody in jail did it. (laughter) No, no, no. According to the inmates, it's all a set up, the circumstantiol evidence. They asked, "Well, why are you in here?" I told them, "I'm in here for attempted murder and I will try it again." (laughter)

Russ: You didn't want anybody that you're in there cus of parking tickets.

Christopher: It was like a chain of command, I had to get it established, right? I don't want to go and say, "I'm in here for a parking ticket."

Russ: So, there you were, and I think, if I have the story right, you had this thing sort of lined up with a Mr. Dean Whitter.

Christopher: My last shot.

Russ: It's your last shot. But, if I read it right, you were going to be in jail the day that he was expecting you to show up.

Christopher: I had to reschedule that one last appointment. To show you how the hand of God has worked in my life, there was a phone and there was a guard. I say to this guard, "Will you please let me make this one phone call? I've got to reschedule this one appointment. Will you please dial this number?" Nothing can ever convinced me that it was anything other than the hand of God that made that prison guard go over, dial the number, and hand me the handset and the cord behind the bars.

Russ: Because he didn't have to.

Christopher: That's called the hand of God, baby.

Russ: Yes, yes.

Christopher: We're going to have church over here right now. That's called the hand of God.

Russ: Amen. But then you had to be successful in the call, too.

Christopher: Well, the call was brief and to the point. "Mr. Costelo, something has come up." I won't go say, "I'm in jail." (laughter) We rescheduled the appointment, set it up 6:30 in the morning, show up wearing clothes I wore in jail for 10 days.

Russ: Nice. Was he expecting you to be dress that way?

Christopher: No, and I couldn't think of a lie bizarre enough, I told the truth. It was the best thing I could have done. It turns out this gentleman have been married and divorced three times. He started telling me stories about his ex-wives.

Russ: So, you related very well.

Christopher: Man, that second, I don't know why he ever got married, yet he told me some stories. Then, just as suddenly, he stops and says, "Be here tomorrow. He personally walked me into the trading room." Just like that, just like that.

Russ: Did you even think you were making progress on getting the job?

Christopher: Well, you know what? When we sat down and we looked each other in the eye and I told the truth, and he could relate. I didn't have to be wearing no suit. That was it, bro. I started first day on Wall Street, I had to borrow a suit, showed up in a suit two sizes too big, shoes a size too small. Let's call it a long day, Russ.

Russ: It is.

Christopher: All right?

Russ: It didn't matter. It was a hard to get in to just get in to training. Then, training was extensive and you're always supporting the senior guys during training. Then....

Christopher: Well, then you'll be abused in a (laughter)

Russ: Not supportive...

Christopher: You do the one thing, Russ, that the brokers do not want to do they feel its beneath them, call call 200 times a day. Do you see this one finger is cock-eyed. Can you see this? It's my calling finger.

Russ: It's because you made that many calls.

Christopher: 200 phone calls a day, baby, let it up. At night, study, study, study. My ex had taken my little boy. We had ended that ugly space where one parent feels like, "If the only way I could hurt you is to hit you over the head with the baby, I'm going to do it." Actually, I moved in to a boarding house, all I could afford – three meals a day and a room. She would, actually, call me on the phone and let me hear my little boy screaming and crying and hang up the phone.

Russ: (sighing) How long did that go on?

Christopher: Months, but I put it out on my mind. I had to pass that exam. I knew I was only going to get one shot. Nobody had to tell me, "This is it. You'll get one shot to pass the Series 7." The Series 7, at that point in time, had a 60% failure rate. I was always pretty good in the library. I could run and jump and catch balls, I was never athletic, I was pretty good in the library.

Russ: But why, Chris, did you think you only had one shot. I've heard of guys had several shots.

Christopher: I knew. No, Russ, you have and you knew something in your gut and you're right? Do you know, honestly, why I knew? They had just hired their first African-American that ever been in this training program a year before I got there, guess who was still trying to pass the test when I got my shot.

Russ: So, he didn't make it the first time?

Christopher: Oh, and you're talking about placism? This cat, Bob, Bow tie Bob, he wore bow ties everyday.

Russ: I read about him in the book.

Christopher: He went to Stanford, majored in Economics, played on the golf team. Once he found out that I had never gone to college and didn't play golf, he figured he would never be seeing me again.

Russ: (laughs) Maybe he didn't because you passed and he didn't.

Christopher: But a year later, he's still trying to pass the test. Now, nobody had to tell me, "Bro, you got one shot." That's all I ever wanted, Russ. Remember the scene in the "Deer Hunter?" One shot, one clean shot, that's it.

Russ: So much of what you talked about was in the movie, but obviously, but once you got in, you became successful. I've not heard or seen a lot of detail about that, but I guess that you used the same focus, the same persistence and determination that you used to get in and passed the test to be successful once you got there.

Christopher: It becomes part of who you are. You got to be passionate about it. You got to be passionate about it and people pick up on that. It's the passion, baby, and it's like the color of your eyes, people can see it.

Russ: Sure. Sure. Well, tell me this. What's in the future for you these days? Tell me, I mean, you already mentioned another book, and what else, Chris?

Christopher: I'm working on the second book, Having some very high level of discussions with some folks about doing something on television. One guy I'm especially excited about and we'll see. Will Smith and I are developing a television show based on the "Pursuit of Happyness."

Russ: Cool.

Christopher: And, I'm in the process now of having a first close on our private equity fund is going to invest solely in South Africa. I'm doing a number of speaking engagements around the country. Other than that, I've got nothing happening. (laughter)

Russ: Well, the last thing. I do understand, though, that you are passionate about several charitable causes. Share with me just a couple of those.

Christopher: Well, the one thing in the world, honestly, I can never do enough for Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, who used to tell me everyday, "Baby steps count, too."

Russ: Baby steps count, too.

Christopher: As long as you're going forward. Think about it, you're going to take those baby steps when you're not so certain, you're not clear, you're not sure, you don't know. You take in strides when you're certain you're clear and everything is known. But them baby steps, you've got to take them when you don't know. Dr. King put it best when he said, "You might not be able to see the whole staircase, but you've got to take the first step."

Russ: Cool. I really sincerely appreciate you giving me some of your valuable time.

Christopher: You know, I'm honored that you came all the way up here.

Russ: You bet. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.

Christopher: Thank you, Russ.

Russ: This wraps up The BusinessMakers WebXtra with Chris Gardner, the Founder and CEO of Gardner, Rich, and Company.