Real-life resilience - Martha Stewart

It’s another weekend edition of The Resilience Brief and, as we get closer to Spring here in Canada, I’m sharing a story of the rebirth of an American icon. This is a tale filled with ambition, loss, scandal, reinvention, and grit. The story of a woman who built an empire, watched it fall apart, and then planted something new in its place.

Martha Stewart became the first self-made female billionaire in the US in 1999, after her media company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. She was the original influencer, building a billion-dollar personal brand from scratch.

However, long before that, she discovered what it means to truly grow something from nothing. She grew up as one of 6 children who were taught early in life how to cultivate food from a garden. They didn’t garden for fun, it was survival. The family needed the fruit and vegetables to literally put food on the table.

As soon as an opportunity arrived, she began modelling for $15 an hour, most of which she gave to her mother, who would stretch the money to feed the entire family. Martha then spent all of her spare time in the kitchen with her mother, learning how to cook.

Later, she worked on Wall Street as a young mother, experiencing burnout before deciding to leave that world behind. She and her husband moved to Connecticut, bought a fixer-upper, and she started a catering company from scratch. It was homemade everything with impeccable presentation, delicious items, even ice-sculpted vodka bottles.

It was “perfect” (her signature phrase!) and word quickly spread.

A book deal followed. Then magazines. Then a whole brand. Martha Stewart became a household name. Yes she was talented, but she had so much more than just the skills - she had the vision. She had a huge deal with Kmart because she believed that, just because you might not have a lot of money, that didn’t mean you didn’t have taste.

She filled a void. Where domesticity was seen as simple or soft, she rebranded it as something powerful, creative, and elegant.

She was on top of the world!

And then it all came crashing down.

In 2001, Martha sold a small amount of stock ($45,000 worth) of a friend’s company after a phone call with her broker. That decision triggered an insider trading investigation and the FBI was determined to make an example out of her. Her brand suffered. She became a target for every tabloid. Her TV shows were pulled, her board seats vanished, and her stock plummeted by over 80%.

Finally, after a 3-year public trial, she was sentenced to five months in prison.

It’s true that Martha didn’t have a flawless reputation even before this. She was regarded as controlling, a perfectionist, difficult. But this time, the public backlash was brutal. She became a punchline. “Miss Perfect” had finally been taken down.

But she didn’t vanish and she certainly didn’t crumble.

Instead, she served her time. And while in prison, she found a way to use the difficulty. She reflected, made friends, and even mentored some other inmates. Even in prison she was planting new seeds.

And, after her 150 days had been served, what did she do?

She started again.

“No matter how cold the winter, there is a springtime ahead.” - Pearl Jam (“Thumbing My Way”)

When Martha left prison, it was Spring - a symbolic moment that represented the perfect opportunity to start over. To plant her new garden.

She returned to the public eye with new energy, choosing to use her past as ammunition for a new future. A turning point came when she stole the show at the Justin Bieber Roast, impressing the audience so much that even Snoop Dogg was in stitches. Just like that, she was back! From there, new opportunities came flooding in to host TV shows, build a strong social media presence, endorse new products, and even grace the cover of Sports Illustrated (at 81 years old!), shattering expectations and reminding us all that reinvention can happen any time.

Spring never asks for permission… it just shows up and life starts again. We can do the same.

Martha’s ingredients to rejuvenation

There are many examples of resilience in Martha’s story, but three ideas stand out for me the most.

1. Martha built her success by never looking away from a problem. She wanted to see it and understand it in detail. Seeing the problem was her way of finding the opportunity. It was from curiosity and interest in others that she was able to see the need for simple, elegant living. But how often do we avoid life’s problems? Even just knowing Martha’s story can be inspirational and energizing, but the real lesson is in always looking for the chance to find a solution. In any challenging moment, we can simply ask ourselves: “what can I do right now to address this?”

2. A growth mindset. It’s no coincidence that she understands the power of growth through a career of gardening and cooking. She believes that we all need to be learning something new everyday, and that when we wither when we give up changing. A lot of this can be driven through the gardening metaphor…we can do some self-reflection to see what is working for us to help us thrive, we can remove the weeds around us (negativity, outdated goals, or simply by letting go of that which is not in our control), and we can always plant new seeds in a new skill or venture at any time.

3. We don’t have to be perfect, we just need to be brave enough to try (and sometimes start) again. Any incident that sets us off onto a new path can be scary, but if we see it as a chance to try something new, it can actually be exciting. Hell, we might even create something spectacular. It’s all in our perspective. Martha’s story is a reminder that failure isn’t the opposite of success…it’s often the path to it.

This Spring, I’m pulling things up by the roots, making space, and getting curious about what’s ahead, all while reminding myself that growth takes time.

What seeds will you be planting?

Until next time friends, stay resilient.

Carre @ Resilient Minds

PS - these stories are just the start. Workshops and keynote presentations are the real opportunity to dive in and work through some of these preventative tools. If you’d like to know more, simply reply to this email.