Saturday, May 16, 2009

Advice on career transitions

Martha Stewart tells Detroit businesswomen to use ingenuity, technology

Jaclyn Trop / The Detroit News

Detroit

After seven years of oh-so-respectfully rebuffing requests, Martha Stewart came to Detroit -- and gave Michigan businesswomen advice about the power of technology, using passion as a guide, and expecting the unexpected.

The New Jersey-bred domestic doyenne and formerly incarcerated icon spoke Friday at the Renaissance Center before more than 800 members of Inforum, Michigan's largest women's business network, about how she transformed herself from hobbyist to household name,

"I honed my skills. I cooked like crazy. I entertained all the time," said Stewart, 67, about the years after she quit her job as a stockbroker to take care of her newborn daughter.

The "billionaire lifestyle expert," whose multimedia empire, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, includes books, magazines, a radio show and an Emmy Award-winning television series, "The Martha Stewart Show," described her journey with self-deprecation and surprising candor, using the No. 2 debut of "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts" on the New York Times bestseller list to show that success often comes after bucking conventional wisdom.

"When was the last time you saw an encyclopedia on the bestseller list?" she asked.

When asked in whom she confides, Stewart replied tongue in cheek, "I had a best friend, and she testified against me at my trial."

Stewart served five months in prison four years ago on charges of obstructing justice and lying to the government in connection with the 2001 sale of almost 4,000 shares of the biotech company ImClone Systems Inc.

Stewart had solid advice for aspiring moguls. Persevere, only sell products you truly believe in and you'll be poised to benefit when "those green shoots of economic recovery blossom."

The media queen also discussed the importance of understanding and mastering technology.

Ten weeks after joining the micro-blogging service Twitter, Stewart amassed a following of more than 615,000 people, a base that she said would have taken at least 10 years for a traditional magazine to attract. Stewart cautioned successful businesspeople must remember to look up from their BlackBerries every now and then and use their time on the Web constructively.

"It's really important to stay off Facebook," Stewart said. "You can use it, but it isn't the end-all."

Inforum CEO Terry Barclay called Stewart the "penultimate entrepreneur" and said that her experience starting her company in the midst of the 1981 recession would resonate with the audience.

"The 'You're crazy, don't do it' reaction she got has strong parallels to today," Barclay said. "She is a case study of how you take an idea and get a business plan together and striking out and making it happen."

Stewart, who spoke at the group's 47th annual convention, drew a crowd on par with other high-profile speakers, including journalist George Stephanopoulos; Cheri Blair, wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair; and Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins, whose speech marked her first public appearance after testifying against the disgraced accounting giant in 2001. Inforum, which has more than 1,800 members with affiliates in Grand Rapids and Lansing, focused its programming this year on women making career transitions during tough economic times.

YuSun Morren, a manager for a food manufacturer in Allendale, said she was inspired by Stewart's emphasis on mastering cutting-edge technology and making the most of the opportunities available in any economy.

"When she talks about breaking the glass ceiling and making a name for herself," Morren said, "those are still the same struggles I deal with."

jtrop@detnews.com (313) 222-2300

Find this article at: http://www.detnews.com/article/20090516/BIZ/905160348/Martha-Stewart-tells-Detroit-businesswomen-to-use-ingenuity--technology

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