By: Dara Grocer, Account Executive
Martha Stewart is an iconic household name. People of all ages are aware of Martha
Stewart and her passion for cooking and gardening. She built her brand into a multimillion-dollar business with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
At the peak of her career, she owned three magazines, a cable television show, 34 books, a newspaper column, a radio show, a website, a line of merchandise and a catalogue line called “Martha by Mail.” However, Stewart’s career took a turn for the worse at the end of 2001 when she was caught in an insider trading scandal.
Suspicions arose when Stewart sold 4,000 shares of ImClone stock the day before the stock plummeted. The jury found her guilty on four counts of obstructing justice and lying to investigators. In July 2004, the judge sentenced Stewart to five months in prison. Once she was released, Stewart had to wear an ankle monitor for many months and spent two years on supervised release (Raphael). However, Martha Stewart has made an impressive and admirable comeback that very few celebrities have achieved post-scandal. So, how did she do it?
As of 2020, Martha Stewart was worth $400 million. The re-invention of her image had to consist of a complex communications plan involving image building, branding, media positioning and public relations. She positioned herself into being someone that the public could relate to rather than maintaining her “homemaking idol” image. She incorporated her prison experience into making it a learning lesson for others to avoid. She took responsibility for her actions and didn't look at it as a setback, but another stepping stone to success.
Her redemption also depended on regaining credibility and trust from the public. Stewart used her time in prison to help other inmates by teaching yoga and gardening on the prison grounds, all while keeping in touch with her fans via letters and pushing her supporters to advocate for prison reforms. Stewart stayed pretty quiet during her conviction, trying to maintain whatever she had left of her reputation. However, after her time in prison, she began hosting television shows again and wrote two new books.
Today, Martha Stewart has partnerships with major corporations like Wal-Mart and Macy’s, a new television show called “Martha Gets Down and Dirty” on Discovery+ and even made new and unlikely friendships with celebrities like Snoop Dogg! She could’ve sat back and watched her career crumble from the sidelines, but she chose to get her hands dirty, accept she had done something wrong, and then demonstrated how she could become stronger from it.