Wally Amos
Motivational Speaker - Author

"One person can truly make a difference. If one person has a commitment and belief in their idea, they can succeed. They can overcome anything."

Today, he is an icon and his name is a household word. As founder of Famous Amos Cookies in 1975 and father of the gourmet chocolate chip cookie industry, he has used his fame to support educational causes.

Since 1979 Wally has been National Spokesman for Literacy Volunteers of America. He is also a Board Member of the National Center for Family Literacy and Communities in Schools. His latest enterprise, The Uncle Noname Company, has been critically acclaimed by the media and consumers alike as a high quality product.

On the lecture circuit, he addresses audiences at corporations, industry associations and universities with his inspiring "do it" positive attitude.

Wally Amos has been the recipient of many honors and awards. He gave the shirt off his back and his battered Panama hat to the Smithsonian Institution’s Business Americana Collection. Dr. Amos received an Honorary Doctorate in Education from Johnson & Wales University. He has been inducted into the Babson College Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, and he received the Horatio Alger Award, The President’s Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, and The National Literacy Honors Award.

Wally is also an author. He wrote his autobiography, The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched A Thousand Chips, published by Doubleday in 1983. He collaborated with his son, Gregory, on The Power In You: Ten Secret Ingredients To Inner Strength, a hopeful, inspirational book sharing Wally’s philosophy and life experiences, published by Donald I. Fine, in 1988. His book, Man With No Name: Turn Lemons Into Lemonade, published by Aslan press in 1994, tells how Wally lost everything, including his name, and turned adversity into opportunity. Wally’s most recent book is, Watermelon Magic: Seeds of Wisdom, Slices of Life, published in 1996 by Beyond Publishing. In it he uses watermelon as a metaphor for life, sharing his personal path to wisdom, humor, joy and a positive outlook on life.