Martha Stewart Dishes Business Tips to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

A perfectly primped Martha Stewart revealed her secrets for building a business empire before a crowd of several hundred in Sanders Theater yesterday, offering her tips to aspiring creative entrepreneurs.

Stewart, who gained prominence in 1982 with her first book, Entertaining, described her life as a multimedia mogul, presenting the model for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia with color-coordinated pastel slides, familiar icons from her business and pictures of delectable food items.

Since Entertaining, Stewart has branched out into magazines, television, radio, merchandising and e-commerce, earning her the #9 spot in Fortune Magazine's Top 50 "Women in Business" for 2000.

It's a model, she said, which is now being emulated in Japan, Brazil and Canada, and which theoretically gives 90 million consumers access to her myriad selection of content and products each day.

Stewart's speech, sponsored by the Ann Radcliffe Trust, also featured occasional bits of humor.

When speaking about how people "need to decorate their houses," she caught herself and added, "And when I say have to, I mean want to!"

Stewart then launched into a discussion of symbols and icons commonly associated with her company. She said that she did not coin the well-known catchphrase "It's a good thing!," but merely "used the phrase to its best advantage."

Her lecture also spun off into some offbeat topics.

Emphasizing "the power of a single idea," Stewart explained how one idea she had about chickens spawned a whole line of new merchandise.

Stewart got a few chickens, which were promptly photographed and had their images sold in an art show. Then she decided to make the most of their colorful eggs.

"One bowl of eggs inspired a huge line of paint" of 256 colors, Stewart said. These colors, mostly pastels, are an icon commonly associated with the brand name Martha Stewart. (And 400 more colors in the series are in the works.)

The chicken idea was then turned into glass bathroom accessories and egg-shaped soaps, illustrating, she said, the art of "taking one thing, no matter how silly, and making is a small part of a business."

Stewart's business ventures have proved eminently successful, but she contended that she still keeps her priorities.

"We don't take ourselves too seriously," she said. "An important part of business is to make fun of yourself because if you don't, someone else will."

After the floor was opened up to questions, one person asked Stewart for her opinion about comedy spoofs poking fun at her image. Of particular interest to the audience was the topic of a recent "Saturday Night Live" skit in which a Martha Stewart character appeared topless.

"This lady who looks nothing like me has taken me on as the thing to parody in her life!" Stewart responded jovially.

After the lecture, Stewart held a press interview in the Green Room of Memorial Hall.

Stewart, 59, who graduated from Barnard College in New York before embarking on her first career as a Wall Street stockbroker, said that if she had to do it again she would study in Cambridge, but not at Harvard.

"If I could go back to school--forgive me--but I would be at MIT!" Stewart said, adding that she enjoys astronomy and math.

Later in the evening, a post-lecture reception and dinner was held in the Charles Hotel. Stewart schmoozed with students and faculty about topics such as the martinis she used to have at lunch and the proverbial "glass ceiling."

"To hear her say that 'the glass ceiling' was never even a term she had heard of or had come up against was impressive," said Alexandra B. Beale '01. "She is clearly a dynamic woman who has never let anything stand in her way."