EnTrends

Born in 1936, Wally Amos says that he did
not come from an entrepreneurial family
background. He says that he was simply in
the right place at the right time when his
business took off. Amos shined shoes,
delivered ice and newspapers, and worked
in a supermarket as a child. He was not
afraid of hard work. If he couldn't do
something, he knew he would get it
eventually.

Amos earned his GED in the Air Force and
then attended a secretarial school where
he received training in business. He took a
job at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, but
decided to look for a new career a few
years later. Amos returned to the
secretarial school in search of a new
assignment. Civil rights organizations were
putting pressure on theatrical agencies to
hire more African Americans, and Amos
was placed with the William Morris
Agency. Amos says, "I showed up, I was
at the right place, it was the right time, and
I was the right color."

At the William Morris Agency, Amos took
a job as a mail clerk. He worked his way up
through the ranks and eventually became
an agent. He went on to represent such
great musical artists as The Supremes,
Marvin Gaye, and Simon & Garfunkel.

Amos eventually left New York and moved
to California to start his own agency. For
five years, Amos gave away cookies as his
calling card. He used them as icebreakers.
"You talk to a casting director, or a
producer, and they see hundreds of
people each day. Something has to
differentiate you from everyone else they
see."

Amos developed a reputation for his great
tasting cookies. "People would have
meetings and before they did anything
else they would ask, 'Where are the
cookies?'" Amos says that his cookies got
him through a lot of professional doors.

At the urging of friends, Amos decided to
start selling his cookies. He raised about
$25,000 from friends to start, and Marvin
Gaye was one of his investors. It only
took five months from the time Wally
decided to sell his cookies until he opened
his Sunset Boulevard storefront in
Hollywood.

Amos says that his first year in business
was chaotic, fun, and completely dictated
by trial and error. He had no experience
with a retail store. However, Amos says
the idea of not being able to do it never
crossed his mind. "I was so totally into the
business and having so much fun, that I
was selling cookies like crazy."

Word spread about Amos's cookies and
soon he was on the cover of Time
Magazine. Just about every other media
publication was knocking at his door. Amos
says the experience was disorienting. "You
kind of lose your perspective at some
point."

The Keebler Company now owns the
Famous Amos brand, but Amos started
Long Island-based Uncle Wally's Cookies
in 1996. The company produces fat free and
sugar-free muffins. Amos is currently
constructing a new 43,000 square foot
building for his operations.

Amos says that he loves the promotion of
his companies the best. "I do not like the
day-to-day tasks of business. That is not
my forte. I like starting stuff and promoting
it."

Wally Amos is also an author and has
written five books so far. The first book was
The Famous Amos Story: The Face That
Launched A Thousand Chips. Then came
The Power In You: 10 Secret Ingredients
For Inner Strength, followed by The Man
With No Name, and fourth was Turning
Lemons Into Lemonade. Amos's most
current book is Watermelon Magic: Seeds
of Wisdom, Slices of Life.

In October of this year, Amos is coming out
with a brand new book entitled The Cookie
Never Crumbles, and will be published by
St. Martin's Press. The book is a collection
of anecdotes that will highlight the rougher
times in Amos's life that eventually turned
out positive. Amos will spend much of this
fall promoting his new book.

Amos's wife, an artist, recently created two
dolls called Chip and Cookie. Amos will
market the dolls under the heading "Wally
Amos Presents Chip & Cookie." The Gund
Corporation will be producing the dolls for
Amos in March of 2002.

Bush to promote literacy. Amos said that
he would like to work with the current
First Lady and is sure he probably will at
some point.

When asked where he gets the ambition
for his endeavors, Amos responded, "I
think we are supposed to do things. We
are created to produce, perform, and
create. I like being creative and it's
stimulating."

Amos says that there are no typical
workdays for him. He is always traveling
and in different cities. He travels 70-80%
of the year, so free time is something that
is not allocated formally. When he does
get to travel for leisure, he and his family
enjoy visiting Bali. He has also enjoys
Bora Bora.

Amos says that, to his daughter, he is
"Papa," and to his wife, he is Wally.
"Being famous is no big deal. I have three
sons and they don't care that I am
famous. I am just their father. Being
famous is not what's important. It's the
fact that I am involved with my family and
my community."

Amos has been living in Hawaii for
twenty-four years now. He serves on the
board of the YMCA, United Way, and
several other organizations in his
community. He was stationed in Hawaii
from 1954 to1957 and moved back in 1977.
"Hawaii was always a part of my life and
it never left me. It has been a wonderful
experience. It is my most favorite place,
no question."

When asked who has been instrumental
to his success, Amos says, "I am inspired
by so many people. From children I've
met, to fictional characters in books. We
all inspire each other. There are people
who are achieving and make me think that
I can too."

Amos says that he would like to be
remembered for serving people and
helping others feel good about
themselves. Most recently, he has been
communicating with a woman who is
battling cancer via e-mail. He decided to
visit her and the two made cookies. "I
love bringing joy to people's lives. My
life is rich because I do so many things. It
is not just selling products. I have had
too many failures to be egotistical at this
point. It's not about "I"; it's about "us."

Amos is also working on two pilots with
KCPT, a PBS station in Kansas City, for a
show called "Read Aloud With Wally
Amos. It will be an interactive television
program that supports and encourages
children to read. It will also give families
the tools and skills that they need to work
with their children and help them learn to
read.

Amos has been promoting literacy for
twenty-two years now. He is the national
spokesperson for the Literacy Volunteers
of America. He is also on the Board of
Advisors of the National Center For Family
Literacy and the Board of Directors for
Communities In Schools, a group that
works to keep children in school. He even
worked with Barbara