Matt Roloff
Matt Roloff is best known for starring in the hit TLC reality show ‘Little People, Big World.’ In over 225 episodes, tens of millions of people around the world have followed the lives and challenges of Matt and his family at their home in Oregon, but there is more to Matt Roloff’s story than the TV show and being a devoted husband and father of four children. Matt operates a successful family farm, has authored two books, was a top salesman for Fortune 500 companies, and currently owns a manufacturing company specializing in mobility equipment designed for little people.
Matt has served as national President of Little People of America and has since co-founded a non-profit organization that supports little people across the nation. Matt has also made three humanitarian trips to the Middle East to facilitate life saving medical efforts for little people in Iraq.
Aside from Matt’s entrepreneurial success and celebrity, it’s his personal story that has truly inspired so many. He has viewed the social stigmas and physical limitations of being a dwarf not as obstacles but as opportunities, helping him thrive in a world not always welcoming. He is a big thinker and an even bigger dreamer who has crafted ways to work around those challenges and move forward to achieve his goal of living an extraordinary life. Through his sincere and motivating stories Matt will inspire you to shift your thinking about your own life’s possibilities. He will share the strategies that have led to his success and illuminate ways to dig within and discover the traits for you to leverage so you too can craft your destiny and lead an extraordinary life.
Matt’s humor and inspirational anecdotes from his life experience resonate deeply with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Most importantly, he offers action-oriented advice that individuals can use to make positive changes in their lives at work, at home and in their communities. Matt is ready to inspire and motivate your audience.
Programs
Matt has delighted and inspired audiences across the country with his infectious energy and entertaining personality. His keynotes and general presentations are packed with stories that serve as a call to action for individuals to overcome personal obstacles, achieve business success, embrace inclusion and reach for their dreams. But for Matt, it’s not enough just to motivate audiences. He strives to give people the tools to move them forward and attain positive results in their lives.
Matt welcomes the opportunity to speak at business, school, organization and community events. Keynote addresses range from 30 to 60 minutes. Autograph sessions, question and answer exchanges, book signings and photo opportunities are offered with every booking. Matt is happy to tailor his presentation to match your event theme and the audience for maximum impact.
The following are Matt’s most popular programs for keynotes and general presentations:
How to Live an Extraordinary Life
Matt focuses on living true to yourself and thinking big to achieve your potential despite any physical, emotional or social challenges. He helps individuals look inward to discover and leverage the traits that can spark lasting inspiration. Matt provides practical advice and some secrets he has used over the years to launch your audience on their journey to an extraordinary life.
Go Get the Ball
Sales leadership is all about knowledge, persistence, total commitment to serving the customer and people skills. Those are the hallmarks that made Matt one of the computer industry’s most successful salesman of multi-million dollar systems and the starting point for this program. He shares his techniques for establishing trust and achieving consistent results in sales and service. This primes your audience to lead your organization on a path to unprecedented success.
The Power of Diversity and Inclusion
Based on Matt’s experience as a child and adult with dwarfism, he shares stories about thriving in life and building positive relationships with others along the way. His messages include the importance of self-respect, honest communication and acceptance of others. Youth and adults will be inspired to embrace differences to build a better community… and world.
Thriving Against Tall Odds
Everyone must overcome hurdles to reach their potential. Matt recounts stories about how he has overcome his greatest challenges. He outlines his best strategies for “finding a way forward” which often means taking unconventional paths to reach goals. Matt provides plenty of examples of how to use creative problem solving skills and have the courage to take risks in life. He invites audiences to share their stories and helps them begin to devise plans to break through the barriers they face.
Strength Through Resiliency
In a presentation filled with touching stories and humorous anecdotes, that’s geared especially for youth, Matt talks about his childhood and how he bounced back from health issues, prejudice and failure. It’s a talk that inspires youth to retain their optimism and dreams no matter what life throws their way. He turns the focus on your audience by devoting extra time for questions and answers. This results in a highly productive discussion with audience members about the issues they face every day.
Planting the Seeds of Success
The future of farming has never been more important a topic and many farms have embraced “agritainment” as part of their business models. Matt shares his experience as a successful farmer who uses public outreach and innovative marketing efforts to improve his bottom line. This workshop style presentation sparks your audience to devise new ways to increase revenues, diversify their businesses and build more visible platforms in their communities. Matt facilitates an interactive brainstorming session to address topics posed by your audience so they walk away with ideas to put into practice.
Full Biography
Matt Roloff translated a knack for entrepreneurship at an early age into a successful 25-year career in high tech sales, product development and service. He was a top performer for companies such as National Semiconductor, Altos Computer Systems, Sequent Systems and AMDOCS. With his natural people skills, he also became mentor, trainer and adviser to colleagues in his field. Away from this work, Matt made time to build a profitable farm that is well known in the area for crops of peaches and pumpkins.
Matt’s insatiable drive for achievement is reflected in many other ways. He is the author of two books. His autobiography Against Tall Odds chronicles his business successes and challenges as a little person. Little Family, Big Values is an inspirational look at his life and family. Matt has spoken to hundreds of audiences, motivating individuals to overcome challenges and achieve their dreams. Clients have ranged from Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart to Indiana University and the South Dakota Governor’s Conference.
Matt is the past President of Little People of America, the national advocacy organization for people with dwarfism. He co-founded and serves as the President of the Coalition for Dwarf Advocacy. It’s a non-profit organization that advocates for individuals with short stature in areas such as medicine, vocation, education, adoption and public accommodations. Matt has embarked on several international humanitarian tours and trips to support American troops overseas.
But Matt’s most inspiring success has been to overcome the challenges imposed on him by diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism. Even while undergoing countless surgeries as a child, Matt showed a remarkable level of resiliency and zest for life. It seemed that the more times he was told that he couldn’t do something, the more committed he was to meet that challenge. As a man of merely four feet in height and requiring crutches to get around, the word disability rarely comes up. He ignores limitations and always thinks big. His philosophy has always been: “I may not be able to take the traditional avenues to reach goals, but with persistence and creativity I’ll find a way to succeed.”
His belief about our ability to “find a way” underlies every story and lesson learned that Matt shares with family, friends, youth, business associates and audiences. Now it’s at the heart of his new passion of motivational speaking. Matt is thrilled to have the opportunity to inspire others with a call to action so they start working toward their dreams.
A devoted husband to his wife Amy and father of children Jeremy, Molly, Zachary and Jacob, Matt’s family, faith and sense of purpose are at the center of his life. He and his family may be best known for their hit TV series Little People, Big World, on Discovery/The Learning Channel. The five years and 200+ episodes have revealed his and his family’s extraordinary life in Oregon to tens of millions of viewers worldwide. Matt’s life experiences have led to appearances on Oprah, The View, Good Morning America, The Bonny Hunt Show and the Rachel Ray Show. He has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, People Magazine and countless other media outlets.
