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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.”
Who is Martha Stewart?
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey to middle-class Polish American parents in 1941, Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, media personality, author, and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising. Her company posted net profits of 240 billion won ($230 million) last year.
She began working as a photographic model when she was a teenager. Later, she became a stockbroker, then got her real estate license and only after finding those careers unfulfilling did she start a catering business in 1977 that led to her phenomenal success.
In 2004, however, she was thrown in prison for five months for lying to investigators about a stock sale. At the time, market participants speculated that the situation would kill her media empire, Stewart managed to make a surprise comeback in 2005, with her company returning to profitability the following year.
She has been awarded numerous honors and distinctions from the world’s business, education, television, media, culinary arts, and retail sectors. In April 2005, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 most influential men and women of the year in the "Builders and Titans" category. Five times, she has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women” by Fortune magazine. She is also a best-selling author. She lives in Bedford, New York.
 Starting a new career
(새로운 시작을 원하는 당신을 위한 조언)
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늦었다고? 당신도 여전히 성공할 수 있다 (살림의 여왕 '마사스튜어트' 인터뷰)
마사 스튜어트의 성공 방정식: “꿈을 설계하라”
1. 열정을 찾아라.
2. 일상에서 아이디어를 발견하라.
3. 호기심을 갖고 혁신하라.
"늦게 피는 꽃이 꽃을 못 피우는 것보다 훌륭: 40, 50대는 새로운 일을 시작할 좋은 시기”
“하고 싶은 일을 하는 것이 행복한 삶: 삶이 곧 일이고 일이 곧 삶이다”
급변하는 비즈니스 환경 속에서, 직장인은 물론이고 일부 전업주부들은 자신만의 사업을 하거나 새로운 것을 시작 하는 꿈을 마음속에 품고 살고 있다. 종종 전재산을 투자하는 모험을 하는 사람들도 있지만 성공을 쟁취해서 마지막에 승리의 미소를 짖는 경우는 흔치 않다.
마사 스튜어트 리빙 옴니미디어 (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) 창립자인 마사씨는 성공을 보장해주는 비법은 없지만 성공으로 가기 위한 필수요소들이 있다고 강조한다.
“살림의 여왕”으로 더 잘 알려진 스튜어트는 주부의 가치, 살림의 가치를 상업적으로 승화시킨 세계에서 가장 성공적이고 존경받는 여성으로 평가 받고 있다.
현대카드 주최 세미나 “슈퍼토크” 참석을 위해 방한한 스튜어트씨는 Korea Times 주간 경제섹션 Business Focus에게 성공의 의미와 철학에 대해서 설명했다. 그녀는 자신의 꿈을 설계하고 이루기 위해서는 3가지가 필요하다고 역설한다.
열정을 찾아라
스튜어트는 열정이야 말로 인생과 마사스튜어트 브랜드의 원동력이라고 말한다.
“멋진 직업, 보람있는 직업을 찾으려면 열정이 필요하다. 일을 사랑하고 관심 있는 것을 찾아야 한다. 다른 사람에게 새 요리법을 가르쳐 주려던 열정이 케이터링 비즈니스를 시작하게 만들었고 결국 마사 스튜어트라는 글로벌 브랜드로 키웠다”
그녀는 본인의 열정은 어릴 때 부모님의 가르침에 의해서 시작되었다고 얘기한다. 그녀는 1941년 미국 뉴저지 너틀리에서 폴란드계 이민자의 여섯 자년 가운데 둘째로 태어났다. 교사이자 주부였던 어머니에게서 요리, 제빵, 바느질 등 집안 일에 대한 열정을 배웠고, 제약회사 영업사원이었던 아버지는 그녀가 세 살 때 정원일에 대한 열정을 가르쳤다고 그녀는 회상한다.
스튜어트는, “나에게 있어서 성공이란 열정을 가지고 살면서 그 열정을 가르침을 통해 다른 사람과 나누는 것을 의미한다,”고 말했다.
일상에서 아이디어를 발견하라
하지만 스튜어트는 성공을 위해서는 열정만으로는 충분치 않다고 강조한다. 그녀는 그녀의 열정을 성공적인 사업으로 가능하게 만든 것은 항상 일상에서 새로운 것을 찾으려고 했던 노력이라고 설명한다.
“열정만으로는 충분치 않다. 당신이 세상의 열정을 다 가졌다 해도 게으르다면 아무 소용없다. 열심히 일할 의사가 있어야 한다. 하지만 여기서 열심히 일한다는 것은 프로젝트 완수를 위해 많은 시간을 쏟아 붓는 것을 의미하지 않는다. 그것은 좋은 아이디어를 찾기 위한 노력을 의미한다.”
“나는 아직도 매일 정원일을 하고, 부엌싱크를 치우고, 디자인을 하고, 다양한 제품을 만들기 위해 끊임없이 생각한다. 이것이 마사 스튜어트 브랜딩을 만들어 냈다. 일상에서 얻어진 아이디어 들은 새 브랜드 제품으로 만들어 진다.”
아이러니 하게도, 딸을 잘 돌보기 위해 주부가 되기로 한 결정이 마사 스튜어트 성공의 시작이었다. 스튜어트는 1960년대 중반 대학을 졸업하고 월스트리트 브로커로 일했다. 하지만 딸과 함께 보낼 시간이 충분치 않아 뉴욕을 떠나 코네티컷주로 이사해 시골 생활을 시작했고 전업 주부를 하면서 시작한 케이터링 (주문음식) 비즈니스가 대박을 치면서 지금 성공의 시발점이 되었다.
호기심을 갖고 혁신하라
스튜어트의 올해 나이는 70세이다. 고령의 나이에도 불구하고 젊은 사람들의 전유물로 여겨지는 트위터나 페이스북 등 소셜네트워크 서비스를 활용해 네트워킹을 하고 비즈니스 아이디어를 얻기도 한다. 시대에 뒤쳐지는 않는 그녀의 활동 뒤에는 끊임없는 호기심이 존재한다.
“호기심이 기업 경영이나 삶에서 가장 중요하다. 호기심은 발명이나 혁신의 근원이고 이것은 점점 글로벌화 되고 있는 시장에서 더욱 중요해 지고 있다. 디지털 기술의 발전으로 미디어 환경을 변화시키고 잇다. 나는 기술개발의 위해 끊임없이 연구하고 투자해야 한다고 믿는다. 내가 매일 블로깅을 하는 이유도 거기에 있다.”
“나의 트위터 팔로워는 250만명이다. 그들은 나의 생활을 보여주면 좋아한다. 하루 5번 정도 트윗을 하는데 유용한 정보를 포함해 많은 것을 얻는다.
늦게 피는 꽃은 아름답다
스튜어트는 40대, 50대가 새로운 것을 시작할 좋은 시기라고 강조한다.
“나이 40에 첫 책 “엔터테이닝”을 내고, 50에 “마사 스튜어트 리빙”을 시작했다.나에게는 재정적인 성공이기도 했지만, 무엇보다도 특별한 경험이었다.”
“40, 50대는 새로운 일을 시작하기 좋은 시기이다. 내가 누구인지, 내가 무엇을 원하는지, 내가 어디에 열정이 있는지 알고 있다는 것이 중요하다. 나는 늦은 나이에 성공한 내가 자랑스럽다. ‘늦게 꽃을 피우는 것이 전혀 꽃을 피우지 못하는 것보다 낫다’는 것을 명심해야 한다.”
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