When my dad, Wally Amos, decided to open the first Famous Amos store in 1975, he didn’t set out to be famous. That little corner shop he opened on Sunset and Formosa, in the heart of Hollywood, was more desperate pivot than calculated risk. Despite having been the first Black talent agent at William Morris, working with acts like Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel , Marvin Gaye and the Supremes , he was burnt out in the entertainment business and looking to do something that really made him happy.

Chocolate chip cookies made him happy. Giving them to other people made him even happier. Earning a living through cookies? Well, that would be the dream. And for a while it really was. He created a new industry, paving the way for brands like Mrs. Fields and David’s Cookies. It was the de

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