Martha Stewart is My Role Model: Here's Why She Should Be Yours Too

I mean, this picture circa 1970 proves my point. Need I say more? marthastewart/Instagram

What do Snoop Dogg, Eddie Bauer and fabulous table arrangements have in common? Years ago, this riddle would've stumped even the greatest minds — soliciting questionable answers ranging from a horrendous dinner party to a bad priest, rabbi and a minister joke. Yet in 2025, ahead of her eighty-fourth birthday, nearly everyone knows the answer is the beloved Martha Stewart. 

As a member of Gen Z, I first knew Martha from daytime television and her lighter campaign with Snoop Dogg. But, these eras were only two of many throughout a career spanning decades. From a model to a stockbroker, caterer to author, Stewart redefined who she was and perfected the role while she was at it. Although public opinion on Martha has fluctuated during her monumental career, she continues to become a better version of herself with each year. 

The eponymous autobiographical documentary, ‘Martha,’ debuted on Netflix in late 2024 and since then, I must confess I have been hooked. I became enthralled with everything about her and everything she does. She transformed the most traditional roles of women into a lucrative, money making machine that will outlive all of us.

Aside from her cooking, gardening and entertaining skills, Stewart is the corporate woman. She was the first self-made female billionaire in the United States. She went from brokering stocks to having her own ticker symbol at the New York Stock Exchange. From housewife to hustler, Martha has done it all. 

Now, yes, she is a convicted felon. But so is the current president of the United States and nearly all of our favorite rappers. If we could get over it for them, we can get over it for Martha. And that is part of the reason she is so inspiring. Despite the double standards, the media scrutiny, even the arrest, Stewart rose from the ashes and continued to succeed. 

I am proud to say I am now a subscriber to Martha Stewart Television, an owner of numerous Martha books and one of the 77k followers of her Instagram blog. I tell everyone of her “good things,” and am always amazed by the ease in which she does the most perplexing tasks. I, barely twenty-something, now feel completely equipped to poach multiple large salmon and host a party of my closest hundred friends — all from the comfort of my college dorm. If Martha can teach it, I can do it. 

I didn’t imagine my twenties would begin with wreath making and the introduction of the word ‘swag’ (in the context of said wreaths) to my vocabulary, but I thank God it did. Stewart is a blessing to this generation which is so neurotically pessimistic by resurrecting a much lost joie de vivre. We liked her because she was perfect, unlike any of us. We love her because she is imperfect, just like one of us — someone who faces triumphs and successes, but also mistakes and failures. 

2025 is the year of Martha. A year of romanticism, obsession with the little things and finally giving women the flowers they deserve.