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Martha Stewart is a world-renowned figure as a direct result of her entrepreneurial empire and advocacy of homemaking and the domestic arts. Her career has spanned several decades and several career paths, all of which have honed her ability in business. However, it is her trip to prison that has made her more famous in recent years. However, none of that should detract from her entrepreneurial skills and how much of an icon she is in the modern world.

Martha Stewart, The Early Years

Martha Helen Kostyra was born in New Jersey on August 3, 1941. Her parents were middle class and Stewart enjoyed a happy upbringing as a result. She was extremely close to her mother, who taught her to cook and sew at a young age. As Stewart developed an interest in all matters to do with the home, she also learned how to preserve food and tend the garden. All in all, by the time she left school, Stewart was well on the way to finding her entrepreneurial niche.

Before she left school though, the future entrepreneur was spotted by a modelling agency and began to get work in commercials and magazines. She soon became a familiar face amongst the American public as Martha Stewart after her marriage in 1961. At the time she was attending Barnard College to study art and European history. Upon graduation, the entrepreneur launched herself into the world of business.

Business Interests

Martha Stewart began her journey in the world of business as a stockbroker and forged a successful career until 1973. After leaving her job behind, Stewart began to take on the persona that the public is extremely familiar with today. The Stewarts bought an old house in Westport, Connecticut and lovingly restored it. This was all of the inspiration the entrepreneur needed to decide that her role lay in the home. As such, she created her own catering firm and was soon noticed by book publisher friends of her husband that offered her the chance to have her name in print.

Martha Stewart published her first book in 1983, but the entrepreneur has since had numerous other cookbooks published as well as spots on national TV shows to showcase her ability. From there her popularity began to grow and the entrepreneur in her began to notice any number of opportunities to capitalize on her talent and her relative fame. In 1990, her own magazine was published – Martha Stewart Living. This was extremely popular in terms of circulation and earned the entrepreneur her own TV show as a result.

As she had become a star in her own right, Martha Stewart acquired the rights to her name so that it could be used as a brand for marketing purposes. The new company was known as the Martha Stewart Living Omnipedia. Her ultimate aim was to gain a greater control over the brand and image for a time as her mail order business, price comparison site and floral business all went live soon after the company was created.

Scandal And Jail

Martha Stewart was famously sent to jail in 2004 following her involvement in a stock trading scandal. The entrepreneur sold all of her shares in ImClone in 2001 and effectively sent the stock plummeting the following day. She sold them because of an FDA ruling that was to break the company’s stock price. During the investigation into her stock sale, Stewart lied to investigators and this formed the basis of the ruling against her. She was charged with making false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of an agency’s proceedings and was sentenced to five months in jail.

Her stretch in jail did little to ruin her image overall though. The entrepreneur has a high public profile and happily capitalized on that. She launched a new furnishings range entitled Martha Stewart Everyday that proved to be immensely popular at Kmart. There were also various TV shows, including The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. This was a spin off of the original that featured Donald Trump. It was filmed in 2005 and was based around Stewart’s own interests, including the media, design, style and merchandising. This show played a major part in getting her image back on track after her stint in jail and marked her return to the public eye well. As such, her entrepreneurial ventures continue to enjoy an amazing level of success. In fact, Martha Stewart is living proof that every cloud has a silver lining.