Martha Stewart has always drawn inspiration from her surroundings. Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a family with six children, she developed a passion for cooking, gardening, and homekeeping in her childhood home on Elm Place. Her mother, a schoolteacher and homemaker, taught her the basics of cooking, baking, canning, and sewing; her father, a pharmaceutical salesman and avid gardener, introduced her to gardening in the family's small but orderly backyard garden when she was 3.

While earning a bachelor's degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College, Martha worked as a model to pay tuition. She married in her sophomore year, and upon graduating, she became a stockbroker on Wall Street, where she gained business training. After moving to Westport, Connecticut, in 1972 with her husband and daughter, Alexis, she developed a catering business that was unlike any other. The business's unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes created for various catered events were the basis for her first book, "Entertaining," published in 1982.

Martha's creative vision is the blueprint for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and the expansive multimedia and merchandising portfolio that includes award-winning magazines such as Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings; the nationally syndicated, Emmy Award-winning television series "The Martha Stewart Show"; Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius XM; the marthastewart.com website; best-selling books like "Martha Stewart's Cooking School" and "Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook"; the Martha Stewart Collection of products for the home at Macy's; Martha Stewart Everyday mass-market merchandise at Kmart; Martha Stewart Crafts with EK Success; Martha Stewart Furniture with Bernhardt; Martha Stewart-designed homes and communities with KB Home; Martha Stewart Rugs with Safavieh; and more.