Martha Stewart
Entrepreneur, Creative Excellence
Martha Stewart discusses where she finds inspiration for new ideas, how she pays close attention to everyday life to identify opportunities, and how she combines these ideas with her insights to grow and manage a media empire.
I am a teacher. I think that my real value in this world is to be a really good teacher on a vast subject matter of living.Martha Stewart
About the Innovator
Martha Stewart has helped millions of individuals to see how they can infuse their lives with style and grace. The rise of Martha Stewart Omnimedia, a highly personal vision, brings together a wide range of disparate interests into a unified whole. Stewart's creative excellence and acute awareness of emerging social trends has helped keep her fresh and relevant for more than a quarter century.
Raised in a middle class family in suburban New Jersey, Martha Stewart is the first person to say that she "wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth." She did, however, acquire a knowledge of gardening from her father and a knowledge of sewing and other domestic arts from her mother, individuals whom she frequently credits in her media productions. Stewart's sense of purpose, drive and insistence on high standards have been hallmarks of her career from the very beginning.
Why She Innovates
Martha Stewart enjoyed early success as a model, a stockbroker, and then as the owner of a successful catering business. Stewart personifies the kind of creative energy that can drive a successful entrepreneur. Synthesizing a wide range of interests, Stewart has discovered a seemingly limitless source of inspiration in her own passion for living. In doing so, she has democratized gracious living. Guided by her vision as well as her business savvy, Stewart continually pushes into new areas by identifying “voids” in the areas of personal and social expression.