Curiosity Expert: Martha Stewart

Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

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From the award-winning magazine, Martha Stewart Living, to the bestselling product lines that bear her name, Martha Stewart shares the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America's most trusted guide to stylish living. Millions of consumers rely on Martha Stewart as their arbiter of style and taste and their guide to all aspects of everyday living - from cooking and entertaining to decorating and home renovating, and much more.

Martha has always drawn inspiration from her surroundings. Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a family with six children, Martha developed her passion for cooking, gardening and homekeeping in her childhood home on Elm Place. Her mother, a schoolteacher and homemaker, taught her the basics of cooking, baking, canning, and sewing; her father, a pharmaceutical salesman and avid gardener, introduced her to gardening at the age of three in the family's small but orderly backyard plot.

While earning a bachelor's degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College, Martha worked as a model to pay her tuition. She was married in her sophomore year, and, upon graduating, became a stockbroker on Wall Street, where she gained her early business training. After moving to Westport, Connecticut, in 1972 with her husband and daughter, Alexis, she developed a catering business that showcased her remarkable talent and originality. Her unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes she created for her catered events were the basis for her first book, Entertaining, published in 1982.

Martha's business sense and creative vision provided the framework for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and the expansive multimedia portfolio that includes award-winning properties such as the magazines Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings, the award-winning marthastewart.com website, and Martha Stewart Living Radio on SIRIUS XM, which delivers "how-to" guidance and advice 24 hours a day, seven days week. The seventh season of the Emmy Award-winning daily, "how-to" series, The Martha Stewart Show, premieres in Fall 2011; the show anchors a slate of programming from MSLO on Hallmark Channel.

MSLO also publishes Everyday Food and Whole Living magazines. Everyday Food has two bestselling books to its credit, Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, which was published by Clarkson Potter in March 2007, and Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast, which was released in February 2010. Whole Living also has a bestselling book, Power Foods, which was published in December 2010.

Martha is the author of dozens of bestselling books on cooking, decorating, gardening and other domestic arts, including Martha Stewart's Cooking School, as well as Martha Stewart's Cookies, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, and Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home.

Martha recognized early the power of the Internet and incorporated it into MSLO's Omnimedia business model from the beginning. The company's websites offer instant access to the inspiring and trusted world of Martha Stewart. From entertaining and decorating to gardening, crafts, holidays and weddings, the marthastewart.com website is the definitive source for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's unique, creative content and expert resources. Visitors can access more than 14,000 of the finest recipes, as well as video clips, articles, ideas and projects from the vast MSLO multimedia library. And, with the company's investments in WeddingWire and in pingg, users can plan and manage a wedding with an expanding array of digital wedding-planning tools and send stylish online invitations. The MarthaStewart.com website also features numerous blogs, including Martha's popular blog and "The Daily Wag," which is written from the perspective of Martha's French Bulldogs, Francesca and Sharkey, and her Chow Chow, Genghis Khan.

In addition, MSLO offers a growing number of innovative digital apps, including Martha's Everyday Food, Whole Living Smoothies, and Martha Stewart Makes Cookies. The company launched a special digital issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine in November 2010; Time magazine recognized the special issue as one of the top 10 magazine covers of the year and the Society of Publication Designers named it the "Best App of the Year." Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food magazines are now available in a digitized format each month.

In addition to its media properties, the company offers a broad range of branded merchandise. Martha was a pioneer in bringing high-quality products to mass market with Martha Stewart Everyday products at Kmart. Today, MSLO's product offerings include an exclusive Martha Stewart Living brand of home improvement products with The Home Depot; the Martha Stewart Collection of home products available exclusively at Macy's and on macys.com; Martha Stewart Crafts with EK Success; Martha Stewart Pets at PetSmart Stores; Martha Stewart Clean natural home cleaning solutions; destination weddings with Sandals Resorts; and more. The company recently announced a partnership with Avery Dennison to offer a line of home office products exclusively at Staples.

In 2008, MSLO acquired Chef Emeril Lagasse's media and merchandising business. The transaction pairs one of the biggest brands in food-related content with the established leader in "how to" lifestyle information and content.

In 2007, Martha unveiled the new Martha Stewart Center for Living at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The center is an outpatient facility for geriatric medicine, providing clinical care and education for patients, offering training for physicians and coordinating healthy-aging research and practices. Martha was inspired to create the center by her mother, Martha Kostyra, who remained active and engaged in life to the age of 93.

Awards and Honors:

Martha Stewart has been awarded numerous honors and distinctions from the worlds of business, education, television, media, culinary arts, animal welfare and retail. In March 2011, she was honored with the American Humane Association's National Humanitarian Medal. In November 2010, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Advertising Age magazine's first-ever Media Vanguard Awards. Earlier that year, she was honored at Chefs & Champagne, the James Beard Foundation's annual summer gala in July. In January 2009, she was inducted into the ASME Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame and in April she received the ASPCA Presidential Service Award. In January 2008, she received the "Aenna Burda Award for Creative Leadership" at the DLD Conference in Munich. In September 2007, she received the Franklin Award from the Printing Industries Alliance. In February 2007, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. The following month, Martha Stewart Living was included on AdWeek's annual "Hot List" and in October 2006, topped MediaWeek's first-ever "Brand Blazers List," featuring the top 10 magazines to cultivate new revenue streams by extending the core brand. In March 2006, Martha Stewart Living magazine's executive team, including Martha, was named "Executive Team of the Year" in Adweek's "Hot List" issue. In April 2005, she was included among the 100 most influential men and women of the year in TIME magazine's annual "TIME 100" list. She was inducted into the Nutley, New Jersey Hall of Fame in September 2003, in recognition of her achievements. The American Institute of Floral Designers gave her the 2002 Award of Merit. In October 2005, 2001 and 2000, Martha was included on Forbes magazine's annual "Forbes 400" list. Barnard College honored her in March 2001 with the Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger Award. In October 2000 and October 2005, Vanity Fair magazine selected Martha Stewart as #42 and #50, respectively, in its annual New Establishment list of the top 50 leaders of the Information Age. Five times, she has been named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women" by Fortune magazine (October 2005, October 2001, October 2000, October 1999, and October 1998), as well as "New York's 100 Most Influential Women in Business" by Crain's New York Business in September 1999, and one of "America's 25 Most Influential People" by TIME magazine in June 1996.

Martha and the Martha Stewart television production team have earned 18 Daytime Emmy Awards for the Martha Stewart Living television show and The Martha Stewart Show: "Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host" in the 2010-2011 season; "Outstanding Lifestyle Program" in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons; "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design" in the 2008-2009 and 2005-2006 season; "Outstanding Service Show" in the 2004-2005, 2003-2004, 2002-03, 2000-01, 1999-00, 1998-99, and 1994-95 broadcast seasons, "Outstanding Directing in a Service Show" for the 1997-98 broadcast season, "Outstanding Service Show Host" in the 2002-03, 2001-02, 1996-97 and 1994-95 broadcast seasons, and "Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Photography" for the 2003-2004 broadcast season. The Martha Stewart Living television show received a total of 60 Emmy nominations in ten seasons. Martha Stewart Living Television received the James Beard Foundation Award for the Best National Cooking Segment in 1998, 2003, and 2005. In 2010 and 2011, the American Women in Radio and Television honored Martha with a Gracie Award for Individual Achievement, Host in the Entertainment/Information category.

In 2002, Martha accepted the Art Director's Club's Vision Award presented to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. In March 1998, she earned an Edison Achievement Award from the American Marketing Association. In fall 1998, Martha Stewart was presented the HFN 1998 CEO Summit Award, and was inducted into the National Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame. HFN also named Martha Stewart the top Lifestyle/Designer for Martha Stewart Everyday products in September 1999. Martha was named "Publishing Executive of the Year" by Adweek in March 1996, and was a recipient of a 1996 Matrix Award in the magazine category, honoring her as an outstanding woman in the communications industry.