Martha Stewart's Life in Photos

Martha Stewart's Childhood

Martha Stewart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1941, to Edward and Martha Kostyra and grew up in Nutley in a family of six children. She was very close to her mother, (pictured), who was called "Big Martha" by the family.

"My mom taught me everything — cooking and sewing. She sewed my clothes. She edged napkins and tablecloths. I did her pierogi recipe on TV. Excellent in penmanship, my mother wrote letters longhand. She swam at the YMCA pool," Stewart wrote in remembrance of her mom, who died in 2007. "She taught me about living well. I miss her."

Martha Stewart Grows Up in New Jersey

From a young age, Stewart was drawn to the creativity of homemaking.

"As a small girl, I often cut flowers from our garden to make arrangements for my mother," Stewart said in a profile for her website.

"When I was growing up, my family celebrated every holiday with great enthusiasm," she added – and it would prove to stick with her.

Martha Stewart Starts Modeling

Ever entrepreneurial (and 5-ft., 9-in.), she started modeling in high school. In the years that followed, she walked in fashion shows and appeared in ads for brands from Clairol to Chanel.

Martha Stewart Attends Barnard

Star student! Martha enrolled at Barnard College in New York City to study history and architectural history. Sparks flew when she met Yale law student Andy Stewart, and the two married in 1961.

Four years later, their daughter Alexis was born. Soon after, Stewart went to work on Wall Street, and spent seven years as an institutional stockbroker.

On life lessons learned, she wrote on her website, "The job taught me so much about what it takes to build a real business, a real company – a meaningful and useful enterprise."

Martha Stewart Flips a Farmhouse

In 1971, the Stewarts moved to charming Westport, Connecticut, and began restoring an 1805 farmhouse that would affectionately come to be known as Turkey Hill.

Martha fell in love with the restoration process, and embraced home repair, design and gardening along the way.

Martha Stewart Does It Herself

Andy and Martha laughed with one of their hens in the backyard barn of their home in this throwback photo.

Martha Stewart Whips Up a Catering Company

After leaving Wall Street, Stewart chased another dream – opening a catering company called Uncatered Affair, which she initially ran with friend Norma Collier before they had a falling out. Opening up shop in her kitchen in 1973, she made everything from scratch, and would go on to draw corporate and celebrity clients, catering parties for up to as many as 1,200 people.

Through the next decade, Stewart's company grew into a $1 million business, Entrepreneur reported, and she began to contribute to the New York Times' food and lifestyle section.

Martha Stewart Publishes Her First Cookbook

While catering an event in New York, she was approached by the president of Crown Publishers to write a cookbook for them; in 1982, Entertaining became a bestseller.

"It was an important step in my life," she said on her site. "I had found my niche."

The book, which featured glossy color photos and personal stories along with each recipe, has since inspired "every single [other] cookbook," she told Harper's Bazaar in February 2021.

'Martha Stewart Living' Launches

Stewart's professional career took off, and she quickly published a number of self-titled texts on cooking, entertaining and wedding planning through the 1980s (she'd go on to write 97 in total). Stewart hit another media milestone when she launched Martha Stewart Living in 1990, serving as editor-in-chief.

Personally, however, Stewart was going through a difficult time; the same year that the lifestyle magazine debuted, Stewart's divorce from her husband was finalized, following a three-year separation. Their split was acrimonious, but Stewart told PEOPLE she was only looking forward: "The life that I had is over, and what has taken its place is better."

Martha Stewart Covers PEOPLE

In 1995, PEOPLE magazine sat down with the entrepreneur and lifestyle expert to get a glimpse into her private life in the wake of her massive media success and difficult divorce.

Then, as now, it was clear that Stewart didn't indulge in a lot of down time. Her chief frustration, the reporter wrote, is that "there's not enough time in the day."

Martha Stewart Becomes a Household Name

Martha Stewart Living inspired a TV show of the same name, which began airing in 1996. While walking viewers through tutorials on cooking, crafting, decorating and more, her star continued rising, and she appeared as a homemaking expert on morning and late-night shows alike.

Here, she schooled Jay Leno on how to properly make a bed on The Tonight Show in 1997.

Martha Stewart Hits Hollywood

Her celebrity status was on the rise through the 1990s — she was photographed grinning with Rosie O'Donnell and Bette Midler at an A-list Halloween bash in New York City in 1998.

Martha Stewart Becomes a Billionaire

In October 1999, Stewart's media and merchandising company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) launched its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock tripled in value before the day's end, Insider reported, making Stewart America's first self-made female billionaire.

Opening up to PEOPLE in 2020, the maven said many detractors never believed she could do it.

"I had opposition, and that kind of opposition to a woman-built business was really outrageous. Even my own lawyers were negative about the possibility of success," Stewart said. "I think I helped so many other women believe in their own ideas and their own business plans and their own paths to glory."

Martha Stewart at Her Initial Public Offering

Naturally, the lifestyle mogul brought a tray of hors d'oeuvres to the NYSE to celebrate her success. Hungry, anyone?

Martha Stewart's Legal Woes

Stewart found herself in the center of a firestorm in 2002, when the Department of Justice began investigating her sudden sale of 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems stock the year prior. The domestic diva denied having any insider knowledge that the company's cancer drug Erbitux would get rejected by the FDA, one day after she dumped the shares in December 2001.

Her trial began in 2003, and she spoke about her anxieties in a wide-ranging 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters.

"Who wouldn't be scared? Of course I'm scared. The last place I would ever want to go is to prison ... I don't think I will be going to prison, though," she said, according to EW.

Martha Stewart Found Guilty

Her high-profile trial began in federal court in January 2004. That March, Stewart was convicted of conspiring with her Merrill Lynch stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, to deceive authorities probing her December 2001 sale of the ImClone stock. Jurors said she lied during two interviews with investigators, and she was found guilty on charges including conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

In July 2004, she was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised probation; she was also fined $30,000.

"Today is a shameful day," Stewart said in a statement following the sentencing. "It's shameful for me and my family, and my company. More than 200 people have lost their jobs, and I want them to know I am very, very sorry."

Martha Stewart Begins Again

The lifestyle guru began her sentence in October 2004 at a minimum-security women's prison in West Virginia. Released in March 2005, Stewart immediately went back to work.

In this photo taken on her first day back at the Martha Stewart Living Offices, she posed with an oversized Christmas card that her staff sent while she was behind bars.

Martha Stewart Steps Back into the Spotlight

Throwing herself into a career comeback, she returned to TV with a self-titled spinoff of The Apprentice and started hosting a new daytime program called The Martha Stewart Show.

Leaning on loved ones as she stepped back into the limelight, Stewart smiled with her daughter Alexis (who is also the mother of Martha's two grandchildren, Jude and Truman) at the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Martha was nominated for awards in multiple categories at the 2006 ceremony.

Martha Stewart, TV Queen

Continuing to contribute her wealth of knowledge to other hit television shows, Stewart gave Matt Lauer pointers on how to ice a wedding cake while promoting her latest book, Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes, on Today in 2008.

Martha Stewart's Star Continues to Rise

Model moment! Stewart struck a pose on the pink carpet at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2008.

Chatting with PEOPLE in 2020, Stewart spoke about how wellness plays an important role in her daily routine.

"I really care about maintaining an aura of good health, which is basically the food I eat. And genetics has a lot to do with it. My dad was a gorgeous man with very good skin. So was Mom. She was fantastic until she was 93 years old," she said in a 2020 interview. "My hope is that unless I kill myself with too much hard work, I will probably survive very nicely for a long time."

Martha Stewart Teams Up with Snoop Dogg

The next (and perhaps most surprising) phase of her career began when she teamed up with Snoop Dogg for a variety show called Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, which aired for three seasons on VH1 starting in 2016.

The famous friends have since brought their chemistry to hosting a slew of specials, from Halloween cooking competitions to the Puppy Bowl.

Martha Stewart, Instagram Star

Never content to rest on her laurels, Stewart has developed one of the most distinctive celebrity presences on social media, including this sultry poolside shot that went viral and got her "so many propositions," she told Ellen DeGeneres. In addition to her influencer status, she boasts a massive list of celebrity fans, including Blake Lively, Drake and Drew Barrymore

Martha Stewart Turns 80

In August 2021, the domestic diva celebrated the milestone birthday of turning 80 years old, telling fans she was celebrating with champagne, cake and paella.

Looking back on her life a year prior, she told PEOPLE, "I have survived the rigors of time, of marriage, of childbearing, of building a business from scratch. I have survived very nicely, and I think I make the most of it."

Martha Stewart in the 'Sports Illustrated' Swimsuit Issue

Stewart broke the Internet in 2023 as one of four cover models for the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

"It should have been 30 years ago," Stewart told PEOPLE at the time. "That would have been great. It was not a goal I set for myself, but once asked, I thought to myself, let's do it!"