Page 7 - Cornerstone Connection Magazine - Volume 22 - Issue 6

Mike Lindell is as unique as his MyPillow® design, but suc- I was timid and felt I didn’t fit in. I realize now, those feelings
cess did not come easy. He spent years as an alcoholic and of being ‘different’ manifested my entire life. I determined if I
former crack addict, not to mention being a hapless gambler, didn’t talk to people, I couldn’t get rejected.”
which led to bankruptcy. Not surprising, these behaviors led Lindell grew up going to church, where he was taught, he
to a life of crime; so, his no-nonsense demeanor could come was going to live for eternity. “In Sunday School, the teacher
from the numerous betrayals and failed relationships he’s would tell us we needed to ‘accept Jesus into our hearts’ so
struggled with throughout his life. But, if ever there were a when we died, we would go to heaven and not that other
modern-day prodigal son story, this is it. place,” he said. “I did believe in God, but at age nine, I ratio-
“My parents divorced when I was seven, and we went from nalized I didn’t have to worry about that for another 70 years.”
living in a nice neighborhood to a trailer park,” Lindell said. Lindell always had an entrepreneurial spirit and was very
“Divorces were not common in the 60s, and in a new school, good at math. “No one in the 1970s was talking about ADHD
or kinetic learning. I just knew I always needed to be doing
something,” Lindell said. “When I got into high school, I found
a way to overcome my shyness—through alcohol. At about
that same time, I began gambling. Whenever I won a bet, I felt
smart and used my knowledge and skill to turn chance in my
favor. This addiction lasted for 34 years.”
With only a high-school education, Lindell began with
many small jobs at a drive-in movie theatre, a grocery store,
and on his uncle’s farm, where he decided to raise his own
pigs. When his sister’s waterbed flooded her apartment, he
went into the carpet-cleaning business. However, as a result of
a DWI, Lindell met a future business partner, who introduced
him to the lunch-wagon business. At only 20 years old, this
“chance encounter” led Lindell to own a fleet of wagons. Then,
he bought his first bar.
“I ran bars like no other,” Lindell said. “They provided pa-
trons with a daily escape from reality. I was selling alcohol,
The Lindell family (L to R): Jim (father), Cindy (sister), Mike, but also, I was selling fun. Family. Belonging—maybe because I
Robin (sister) and Barb (mother) in Fairmont, Minnesota in 1966 LIndELL • continued on PAGE 8
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