Martha Helen Kostyra Stewart

Born: August 3, 1941
Place of Birth: Jersey City, New Jersey

• Martha Stewart and her business projects have influenced the very environment of thousands in today's society.

• She was born in a Polish family having an older brother and three younger sisters.

• When Stewart was three years old, the family moved to Nutley, New Jersey, where she received all her pre-college education.

• Stewart learned her initial kitchen skills from her mother and grandmother including cooking, canning, and preserving.

• From her father, who was a gardener, Martha Stewart learned how to plant and care for flowers, vegetables, and trees.

• Stewart was a keen student and while in high school started a modeling career in New York.

• After high school, she continued to model to offset expenses while attending Barnard College in New York.

• In 1961, she married Andy Stewart, and with his help the two decorated their first apartment which was the start of her decorating career.

• They had a child in 1965 and moved into a one room school house, completely renovating and decorating it.

• At this point, Stewart left modeling and worked as a stockbroker where she apprenticed in the business world.

• Her husband founded a publishing house and helped in running several others.

• In 1973, they bought a 1805 farmhouse in Westport, Connecticut, that they again restored and decorated.

• This farm house would be known as in their future commercials as the Turkey Hill Road home.

• During this renovation, Martha Stewart started a very successful catering business which impressed the local community and the business world.

• In 1982, she wrote and published books on entertaining and cooking and became known as a lifestyle consultant.

• Soon she was appearing on television and offering a new magazine which progressed on the ideas presented in her books.

• Stewart accepted the role of being a spokesperson for the K-Mart retail chain which gave a distribution channel for her products.

• She founded a successful company called Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia which was placed on the stock market.

• In 2003 Stewart was charged with inside trading on the stock market along with some related charges.

• The inside trading charge was dropped but Stewart was found guilty on the other charges.

• She served five months in prison and has all along claimed her innocence while her business interests continued.

• Martha Stewart is still a role model both in the business world and for the thousands of homemakers who still support her.

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