Lee Bird

Lewis L. (Lee) Bird III is the CEO of the décor store At Home. He was named Most Admired CEO by the Dallas Business Journal in 2018. The store operates 225 stores in 40 states. He is a board member of the Larry H. Miller group of companies and on the National Advisory Council of the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business. He holds an MBA degree from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

He and his wife, Linda, are the parents of eight children. Their third child passed away 13 days after she was born due to complications of a heart defect. “Faith is personal to me because I have a daughter who died and went to heaven. Where did she come from? Why was she here, and where is she now? Am I ever going to be with her again? Faith gives me those answers, which gives me hope. It gives me purpose. It gives me perspective, especially when things don’t always work out,” he says. “If I didn’t have those answers, [my life] would be empty. Faith gives [my life] meaning. I lean on my faith to be happy.”[1]

He explained to LDS Living that the death of his daughter isn’t the only time his faith helped him overcome hard times. “These things soften you. They help you understand that everyone is going through something hard,” he says. “I’m a much better friend now [to those who have] a broken heart and have lost a loved one. I understand the pain of going through medical treatments, and . . . know the feeling and risk and worries. . . and losing the chance to be with your family. I’ve been fired from a job before . . . so I get it when people lose their job and how scary it is because you have to provide for your family.  “I’m grateful for my life experiences. All of them. It’s made me a better person. And hopefully, that makes me more helpful to other people.”[2]