(CNN) — In the spring of 2015, housekeeping expert Martha Stewart was giving dating advice to Justin Bieber.
While participating in a Comedy Central special “roast” of millennial pop stars, Stewart recommended finding a partner who is “a player in the boardroom and a weirdo in the bedroom.”
She continued, “So, Justin, one last piece of advice: give me a call!”
This moment marked another turning point in Stewart's decades-long career. She reintroduced herself to a new audience, a generation that may not remember her daytime TV show or her brief stint as an inmate at a West Virginia prison.
Long before Kylie Jenner knew if she would become a self-made billionaire, Stewart actually achieved that status in 1999 when the company she founded, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, went public. She was the first woman to do so. MSLO has been sold twice since then. And Stewart lost her millionaire status. But the Martha Stewart brand lives on across thousands of products that reach about 100 million consumers each month, according to current owner Marquee Brands' tally.
There are few aspects of consumer culture that Stewart, 82, hasn't penetrated over the years. Her name can now be seen plastered on the side of everything from cat litter to CBD-infused gummies.
But perhaps Stewart's greatest accomplishment in the business world is that she ushered in the era of lifestyle influencers. There would be no Modern Lifestyle brand without Stewart. Stewart taught a generation of women how to brand themselves and grow their businesses.
“When you look at Martha Stewart and her brand, I think she's gone beyond just the craft and culinary realm that she was known for in the past,” said Noble Financial Capital Markets director of research. Michael Kupinski says. Stewart has been in her business for almost 40 years as an analyst.
“She's an icon,” Kupinski said. “She was a first and a pioneer.”
Not only will celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba enter the arena, but hundreds (if not thousands) are following in Stewart's footsteps via Instagram and TikTok, picking up on domestic tips and tricks. ), making this field a crowded field. “She's the whole reason they're able to do what they're doing,” Kupinski said.
And in a 2013 interview with Bloomberg TV, Stewart confidently asserted this herself, welcoming Paltrow's foray into the lifestyle business, but saying, “I don't think she started this whole lifestyle category.” It's me,” he added.
“Original influencer”
Stewart's extensive career and many reinventions are now being chronicled in CNN Studios' documentary series “The Stories of Martha Stewart,” which features exclusive interviews with her former employees, colleagues, fellow prisoners and more. Featured.
“She was like the original influencer, and she did it as a business,” chef and cookbook author Claire Saffitz told CNN in the documentary. She said, “So it just felt like a normal thing for people of my generation and millennials.”
Stewart's longtime colleague Gary Nardilla said, “Once Martha led the way, everyone else pretty much followed her lead.”
Ms. Nardilla also recalled that many thought her career was over when she went to prison in 2004 after being convicted of false statements and obstruction of justice in connection with a 2001 stock sale. But those who knew her also knew her career would bounce back, he said.
Analysts like Kupinksi cite Stewart's embrace of technology as a factor in her continued success over the decades since she worked in the criminal justice system. After Ms. Stewart sold her eponymous brand, she set out to develop new revenue streams for her while building a kind of genuine connection with her millions of followers. Social turned to her media.
On Instagram, Stewart currently runs a more personal so-called “finsta,” or unfiltered account, under the username “marthastewart48,” where she has amassed two million followers. On this account, she posts more intimate glimpses into her own life, including many photos of her “Tang Empress” (her cat) and her occasional “her thirst trap”. I do it frequently. Meanwhile, on TikTok, Stewart has amassed approximately 1.7 million followers and over 10 million likes. Most of her TikTok videos are dedicated to sharing her home cooking tips and recipes, which started her career nearly 40 years ago, to a whole new audience.
But she's not one to shy away from capitalizing on her family life, and can also be seen on Instagram and TikTok hawking Pure Leaf Iced Tea, her Martha's Chard line of white wines, and many other sponsored posts.
Saffitz, a chef and cookbook author who has taken her career to new heights through social media, said she believes generations of women who came before her felt that “being in the kitchen went against their own aspirations.” “I thought it was something,” he said.
But with Stewart, Saffitz added, “There's something very feminist about her turning that empire into this kind of empire.”
CNN Wire
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