Mike’s new book What Are the odds? From Crack Addict to CEO
Tom Barnard starts this interview on KQRS by announcing that “Mike Lindell, Inventor and CEO of MyPillow, is celebrating 11 years of sobriety today with the release of his new memoir, What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO.
Mike’s new book brings to full circle the promise that Mike “had been making for years to friends and fellow addicts,” that one day he “would help them and others struggling with addiction.”
Mike has been working on his book for eight years. As Mike relates, “It was hell. I delayed it and delayed it because I wanted to micromanage every word and wanted everything to be exactly how it happened.”
But Mike is “very, very happy with the book” because “it’s going to help so many people.” For, as Mike states, “Everybody is affected by addiction, no matter how many forks people eat with.”
“We are not going to let you die on us, you are our hope
Tom quips that you “have to buy the book just to see the picture of Mike Lindell high on crack, which is one hell of a picture.” There is a good reason the picture looks bad, it was taken when Mike’s drug dealers in Minneapolis did an intervention one night after Mike had been up for 14 days. When they handed the picture to Mike, they looked at Mike and said, “You’ve been telling us for years that your pillow is just a platform for God and you’re going to come back and help us someday.” They went on to say that “We are not going to let you die on us, you are our hope.”
And now, these men work for Mike. So, as Mike says, “it’s come full circle and it’s so rewarding for me to be able to help and give people hope.” With the Lindell Recovery Network™ that Mike is working on, it will be a circle of hope, a completed promise Mike “made to those guys back then.”
A raw, authentic account of Mike Lindell’s entrepreneurial journey
This book is “A raw, authentic account of Mike Lindell’s entrepreneurial journey and his battles with crack cocaine, gambling, hardships, and failures that he struggled with for decades.”
In the book’s prologue, “readers are transported to Mexico as Lindell recounts getting caught up in a late-night cocaine sale gone awry during a vacation. He also shares how a $5 bet made in Las Vegas led to a gambling addiction that lasted for years. Woven throughout the book are themes of a ‘what are the odds’ outlook, as well as hope, and an unwavering spirit to never give up.”
This is why Tom Barnard wants people to read the book. For, he has talked with Mike for 8 years and during those talks, has never seen Mike give up on himself.
When you read this book, it’ll be like you are “reading the greatest fiction novel, and all of a sudden you go, what? Wait a minute. This is true. This is real.”
And it’s not just a story of a crack addict. Mike didn’t do crack until the 2000’s. Before he did crack, he was a very “functional addict for years.” So, Mike was an entrepreneur and, like any other entrepreneur out there that start businesses, he went through “trials, tribulations, and keeping face.” So, reading about what Mike went through on his way to success will “give people hope.”
Mike describes how “we have our traumas and tribulations through issues like fatherlessness.” Mike knows, because of issues that happened in his own childhood that manifested into feeling like he had an “unworthy spirit.” As Mike says, he was “put into a new school at a young age. I would either show off or not, or not talk to people. And it’s very easy to not to get rejected if you don’t talk to people.”
Many will be able to relate to Mike’s story, as it is not just a story about a crack addict in the street. It is a story of going through trials and becoming extremely successful.
Mike launches his book in a prison
Mike launched his book in an Oklahoma prison. He went there with former NFL player Jack Brewer. They spoke to 2000+ inmates and gave each of them Mike’s book. Mike “just loved getting up there, because he could relate with them.”
For, Mike’s actually “spent 21 days in solitary over in Plymouth, Minnesota.” Plus, many of the inmates are in prison because they are addicts due to the “laws of the 90s where they were dealing drugs and they never got out of that cycle.” Mike did see a “lot of hope” in the prison he visited “because now they’re doing stuff with the prisons to give the inmates things to do and to be able to learn new careers.”
Proceeds go to the Lindell Recovery Network™
Mike was a very functioning addict, so he knows that “addicts aren’t just somebody in the street.” Addiction “affects all of us right now.” And Mike feels that addiction is an opportunity in our country for “the biggest revival in history” to bring a “foundation of family and God back into our lives” because ‘people need hope.”
Towards this, Mike is using “all the proceeds from his book to launch his Lindell Recovery Network™.” He even “bought his own paper, self-published his book, and is not going to sell the book in traditional box stores, so he doesn’t have to give the middleman anything.” Therefore, Mike can take all the money the book makes and put it towards helping addicts across the country.
It’s always been about helping people
This interview shows how Mike’s life of giving others hope goes on. For, as Mike says “that’s where my passion is. It’s always been about helping people, it has never been about the money.”
As Tom summarizes, “He actually is very giving. I’ve witnessed him over the last eight years, and he helps a ton of people, which is how it should be. He has that kind of success. That’s terrific.”
Order your copy of What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO now.