5 Reasons Why Martha Stewart is an Upkeep Icon

Martha Stewart made history last month when she became the oldest model to grace the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover, at 81 years old! But there’s more to Martha than her glam swimsuit pics, her Instagram thirst traps or her famous friendship with Snoop Dogg. A media mogul and OG influencer, Martha is one of our Upkeep Icons. Here are five reasons why. 

She’s serious about self care. 

"It's important to stand up to challenges, whether they're beauty challenges or intellectual challenges, even philanthropic challenges," she told People magazine about her Sports Illustrated cover shoot. "To be able to stand up and do it — to me — is so fun! And this is accomplishing something that not everybody would accomplish."

How did she prepare for her cover shoot? She told People magazine, "I did Pilates three, maybe four times a week and did not have a drink — no alcohol whatsoever for two months," and she also kept up with regular facials–we love to see it. 

She also has an incredible skincare routine, according to her own website. She begins every day (!!) with a face mask. After cleansing, she uses several serums and creams, and always ends with sunscreen. That dedication to taking care of her skin is why she’s slaying the ‘gram at 81 years old. 

She doesn’t believe that getting older means you have to “cover up” or stop caring about looking good. 

Martha knew she didn’t want to wear caftans or beach cover ups for the Sports Illustrated photos. She said that she wanted to show off her “good decollete”. We love a lady who’s confident in her own skin and doesn’t feel like she has to conform to what society says is appropriate for an older woman.

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Martha left a thriving career to follow her true passion. 

Before she was a media mogul and Snoop Dogg’s BFF, Martha did some modeling in her youth to pay for college. She even modeled for Chanel! After college (she double majored, natch) she became a stockbroker. But she left that career to start a catering business in 1976. When she catered a party for a publishing house, it eventually led to a book deal, and her first book, Entertaining, came out in 1982. She went on to publish many more cookbooks, start a magazine, and host two TV shows about homemaking. Martha was probably a good stockbroker, but she had a natural talent for decorating, cooking, gardening, entertaining, and restoring homes. When she followed her true, authentic passion, the opportunities came to her.

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She broke into the magazine industry by being persistent. 

When Martha got the idea to start a magazine about homemaking and entertaining, she faced several obstacles–even though she was pretty established in her career by that point. First she went to Conde Nast. But they didn’t want her to use her name in the magazine title at Conde Nast. “We can’t have a magazine with an editor’s name on it,” a creative director told her. Martha knew she wanted to call the magazine Martha Stewart Living. So then she went to Rupert Murdoch. His team was interested, but Rupert said he didn’t believe in the future of magazines in 1989. He was selling off his magazines. So Martha took it to Time Inc instead. They looked at her prototype and said, “This is fantastic, but this is the July issue…what would you do next July?” They weren’t sure it would be successful. She said, “gentlemen, you just don’t understand what creativity is. We have the best team, and the best ideas. I could write about the fourth of July for thirty years–and we never repeated a recipe!” Needless to say, they signed on to publish her magazine. It was in circulation until spring last year, for over thirty years. Just like Martha said.

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Martha Stewart is the OG influencer. 

Martha reaches 100 million people each month through her magazines, television shows, books and even a podcast. She’s built a brand that people trust and rely on. That’s how she became America’s first self-made female billionaire. She helps people create homes that are more comfortable and beautiful, and her expertise runs deep. Her housekeeping handbook is like 900 pages! Martha takes homemaking seriously, and that’s meaningful for people who want to develop their homemaking, cooking, and decorating skills. If you want to know the correct way to de-bone a chicken, how to clean a porcelain sink without scratching it, or how to stop your snake plant from getting fungus gnats, Martha can help you. She has practical tips and advice that are useful for almost anyone. Martha was an influencer before we had a name for it. 

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Martha shows us that if you’re true to your authentic self and work hard, you can do anything. That’s why she’s an Upkeep icon. 

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