For those who think it’s difficult to turn your life around after an addiction, we give to you the story of MyPillow. This unique startup, which sells sleep items via TV commercials, is now worth $300 million thanks to founder (and recovery advocate) Mike Lindell.
Lindell recently spoke to TheFix.com, offering insights into his inspiring recovery story and the business that transformed his life. As of 2018, MyPillow has sold over 30 million units and is regularly rotated into the Home Shopping Network and several cable shows. Lindell, himself, appears in the ads, sharing the benefits of his signature sleep products.
But before his success, Lindell battled a severe crack cocaine addiction which nearly cost him his life. As he explained to TheFix, throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s he found himself awake at all hours; high off a variety of stimulants. He wound up losing his home, his marriage and nearly all of his savings.
“I was buying regularly from three of the biggest dealers in [Minneapolis],” Lindell told the site. “Then I had one prayer one night: ‘God, I want to wake up in the morning and never have the desire again.’ I woke up the next day—and you’ve got to realize this is years of crack addiction—I go, ‘Wow, something’s different.’”
Ironically, it was his all night benders that partially inspired his multi-million dollar business. After getting completely sober, Lindell had the idea of creating products that would help people sleep better. Starting from scratch, he created the MyPillow business model and ultimately went from employing five people to 500.
Part of MyPillow’s success comes from Lindell’s personality. Early on, he chose to be the brand’s official spokesman and starred in a series of infomercials, which he said helped him “comes across as an average guy, talking to his neighbor.”
Lindell has actually made a few different headlines lately, particularly for his support of President Trump and sponsorships of Fox News programs. But that is something he firmly stands behind, claiming, “advertising decisions are based on what’s best for MyPillow, my employees and my customers.”
As we’ve said on this blog many times, addiction and treatment are universal issues which go way beyond people’s political leanings. They impact everyone and we are happy to applaud recovery advocates from all sides of the aisle. We can also certainly appreciate anyone who’s overcome a dependency and continued to pursue their dreams.
