Martha Stewart Turns 85 After Reinventing Herself Again and Again

When Martha Stewart celebrates her 85th birthday on Monday, Aug. 3, she’ll be marking far more than another milestone. She’ll be celebrating one of the most remarkable careers— and reinventions — in American pop culture.

According to Martha Stewart’s official website, Stewart worked as a model before building a successful career as a Wall Street stockbroker. In 1976, she left finance behind to launch a catering business from her own kitchen, a leap that led to her first bestselling cookbook, Entertaining, and laid the foundation for the lifestyle empire that followed.

Over the decades, Stewart transformed herself into a household name through bestselling books, award-winning television shows, magazines, home collections and countless business ventures. She has authored more than 100 books, inspired generations of home cooks and entertainers, and built a brand recognized around the world.

Yet some of Stewart’s most talked-about moments have come later in life.

In 2023, she made history as the oldest cover model ever featured on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. Since then, she’s continued expanding her empire with new television projects, a podcast and product lines, while remaining one of the most influential voices in food, entertaining and home design.

Earlier this year, Stewart reunited with longtime friend Snoop Doggas a correspondent for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Speaking with People before the Games, she joked that while she wasn’t bringing a date to Italy, she was “waiting to meet my Italian prince.”

Although many people describe her career as one long reinvention, Stewart sees it differently.

“I just call it evolution,” she said during an interview with the Conferences for Women. “I don’t call it reinventing. I just call it an ordinary evolution. You know, mankind has evolved in many, many different ways, as do animals. And evolution is good. I just think that we all have it in ourselves to evolve.”