Perhaps best-known for her skills in the kitchen, home and garden, Martha Stewart is a homemaking and entertaining expert, who is also a sharp and experienced businesswoman. She has grown her tips, tricks and advice about all aspects of homemaking into a multimillion dollar empire, touting her image and brand on everything from books, media, products, entertainment and more.

Stewart has a magazine with her likeness on it each month; a TV show, Martha; and she recently hosted her own version of the popular Apprentice series with The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Stewart has been a force in the home entertaining and decorative scene for many years and shows no signs of slowing down. She has a devoted fan base that hangs on her every word of home-inspired advice.

Born Martha Helen Kostyra in 1941, Stewart learned how to do cook, sew, can, preserve and garden at a young age. These skills would eventually become the hallmark of her success. She tried for a career in modeling, appearing in several commercials and magazine ads. While attending Barnard College in New York, she met Andy Stewart. The two married and had a daughter, as Stewart pursued a career as a stockbroker for six years.

However, after moving to Connecticut, where she and her husband restored an old farmhouse, Stewart began a catering business. Andy introduced Stewart to several of his publishing friends at a book release party, including Alan Mirken at Crown Publishing, who would eventually offer Stewart the opportunity to write her first book on entertaining. Her book was wildly popular among homemakers and young professionals alike, jump starting her career and branding her as an expert on all things to do with home entertainment and homemaking in general.

Stewart went on to author several more books on the topic of homemaking, cooking and entertaining before release a line of houseware items branded Martha Stewart Everyday. She launched the Martha Stewart Living magazine in 1990, detailing advice and tidbits on her expertise and inviting celebrity guests to participate through photo shoots and editorials. Stewart was divorced in the same year, allowing her to put all of her energy into her various business ventures. Her multimedia company Omnimedia was launched in 1997, going public on the New York Stock Exchange just two years later. At this point, Stewart had become a common household name.

However, even as she continued to rise to meteoric levels of fame, Stewart found herself embroiled in a stock scandal in early 2000, eventually being convicted of lying to federal investigators, obstruction of justice and fraud. In a shocking turn of events, the homemaking expert was sentenced to a short stint in prison that ended in March 2005.

Martha has since kept a somewhat lower profile, concentrating on getting her business back on track and regaining any fans lost as a result of the scandal. She has continued to release new products through her Martha Stewart Everyday line and has seen continued success through the ventures of the Omnimedia Corporation.

A. B. Barden