Martha Stewart walked so a generation of lifestyle influencers could run

In the spring of 2015, homemaking expert Martha Stewart was giving Justin Bieber some dating advice.

In the spring of 2015, homemaking expert Martha Stewart was giving Justin Bieber some dating advice. While participating in a “roast” of the millennial popstar for a Comedy Central special, Stewart recommended that he find a partner who is “a player in the boardroom and a freak in the bedroom.” She continued: “So, Justin, my final piece of advice is — call me!” The moment was another turning point in Stewart’s decades-long career as she reintroduced herself to a new audience, a generation who may not remember her daytime TV show or her brief stint as West Virginia prison inmate. Long before Kylie Jenner may or may not have become a self-made billionaire, Stewart became the first woman to actually achieve that status when the company she founded, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, went public in 1999. MSLO has since been sold, twice, and Stewart has lost her billionaire status. But the “Martha Stewart” brand lives on across thousands of products that reach approximately 100 million consumers each month, according to a tally from the current owner, Marquee Brands. There is almost no facet of consumer culture that Stewart, 82, has not infiltrated over the years. Her name can currently be seen plastered beside everything from cat litter to CBD-infused gummies.