From ordinary to extraordinary
Martha Stewart’s success formula 1. Discover your passion 2. Get a big idea 3. Be curious & innovate
By Kim Jae-kyoung
In the rapidly-changing business world, some housewives, as well as many salaried workers, dream of owning their own business or starting something new. Sometimes they invest all of their wealth but only a few can claim success and smile in the end.
There is no magical way to ensure a path to business success but there are three basic but key elements that can help usher in success — passion, big ideas and curiosity, according to Martha Stewart, creator and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Stewart, better known as the queen of domesticity, is considered one of the most successful and respected businesswomen in the world because of her unique passion and creativity that have turned homemaking into a business.
From the award-winning magazine, “Martha Stewart Living,” to the bestselling product lines that bear her name, she shares the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America’s most trusted guide to stylish living. Millions of consumers rely on her 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.
Turning homemaking into business
How her success story sets her apart from other business leaders’ is the fact that she has always drawn inspiration from her surroundings, meaning that anyone can become another Martha Stewart depending on how well they find inspiration from their own daily lives.
In other words, you can see yourself in her experience, and you could picture yourself with the success she has achieved. Her experience and insight is applicable to anyone who is about to start a business and to individuals who want to apply the entrepreneurial spirit to a job.
According to Stewart, there is no single definition of success but there are some common rules that can lead you to success. Success in her words is all about passion and sharing things with others around you.
“Success means something different for each and every one of us. For me, it is to live with passion and to be able to share that passion with others by teaching them how to realize their goals and how to prepare a delicious meal, plant a beautiful garden, or build a thriving business,” Stewart told Business Focus last Wednesday.
She visited Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday to share her insights and experience with a Korean audience at a seminar, “Super Talk,” hosted by Hyundai Card.
“As an entrepreneur and businesswoman, I had an opportunity to learn from some very successful people. Over the years, I have come to realize that there are certain qualities and rules that they can make big difference as you start, build and manage a business,” she said.
Success principles
The 70-year-old CEO stressed that people have to find something that they can be truly passionate about. Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a family with six children, Stewart developed her passion for cooking, gardening and homemaking in her childhood home. Her mother, a schoolteacher and a 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.
“One of the keys to having a rewarding career and creating a successful business is passion. You have to build your business and professional life around something that you love, something inherently and endlessly interesting to you,” she said.
“I could never do all the things that I do if I was not absolutely passionate about them. It’s very essential. In my case, it is a passion to help people by sharing with them the experience and skills. Passion is the driving force in my life and the evolution of Martha Stewart brands.”
One of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, Stewart points out that what made it possible to turn her passion into a thriving business was her determination to look for a big idea in her daily life, noting that many of her mega-hit products were inspired by her home or a simple thing around her.
“Passion itself is not enough. You can have all kind of passion in the world, but if you are lazy forget it. You must be willing to work very hard. That means more than just putting more hours in perfecting your project. It means coming up with good ideas,” she said.
“Start thinking about basic things that people need and want, then look for ways to enlarge, improve and enhance that big idea,” she added. “I still do daily chores, still clean up the kitchen sink, still do a lot of gardening, still do a lot of reading and designing, and thinking about all the various products that make up the Martha Stewart brands but it’s still fun and it’s still a vibrant business.”
Ironically, her decision to become a housewife was the beginning of hatching her big ideas. While earning a bachelor’s degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College (Columbia University), Martha worked as a model to pay her tuition. She married in her sophomore year, and, upon graduating, became a stockbroker on Wall Street.
She left Wall Street in 1972 to become a mother and really pay attention to her daughter, and moved to Westport, Conn., focusing on homemaking for five years. While engaging in various home activities, she found various ideas and developed a catering business.
The catering business showcased her remarkable talent and originality. Her unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes she created for her catering events were the basis for her first book, “Entertaining,” published in 1982.
“It’s impossible to predict when and where inspirations come from. We often find it in the most common and most unexpected things, objects and places. I find a lot of inspirations in the natural world,” she said. “Learning to be a successful entrepreneur means believing in your idea and fighting for it even when others can’t see it.”
Be curious and innovate
Stewart is 70 years old. In Korea, not many people of that age blog or tweet to either connect with others or promote business. The fact that she is still very active in the use of modern technology explains why her business has been thriving for so long.
What’s behind her endless interest in technology is her sense of curiosity. She believes that curiosity is one of the most important qualities in a business and that good ideas or products come from curious minds.
“Curiosity is the very foundation of invention and innovation, both of which are essential in the increasingly global marketplace. With the advent of technology the world is changing at an unprecedented rate. I love technology and I am a firm believer in the importance of exploring and investing in it. That’s why I blog everyday as do many of my employees,” she said.
“I have a live Facebook page and I’m a very active in tweeter, which is a valuable research tool for me and a wonderful way to share information and connect with others. My tweet followers number more than 2.5 million. They are very interested in where I am, what I’m doing, what I’m seeing. I spend only about five minutes a day tweeting. But I get a lot out of it, a lot of goodwill and a lot of information shared.”
However, she warned that there should be a rule when using new technology in order to avoid side effects. “Technology is reshaping the media landscape. We have to make sure that we take part in this revolution but this revolution is also taking up a lot of precious time. We have to make sure that we don’t waste time. Technology for me is meant to save time, not spend time.”
Exploring sustainability
The self-made media mogul also said that it is time to pay more attention to business sustainability.
“Recently, I have been more interested in sustainability. It’s a terribly important issue. We must in cooperate into our lifestyle as best we can for all the future generation. That is one of the reasons why I’m interested in a sustainable community, like Korea’s planned Songdo Eco City,” she said.
“I’ve always embraced environmental practices in my own home. I live on a farm in Bedford, New York. Sustainability as a philosophy permeates all aspects of my life. I see pressing needs for well-designed, useful products that support sustainability,” she added. “On a farm, I don’t spray any toxic chemicals, I don’t use any fertilizers, I make compost and revitalize soils with minerals. As a result, I have a beautiful garden. My animals are all thriving and vegetables we grow are delicious and healthy.”
