Long before Martha Stewart was a multimedia lifestyle guru/mogul, she was a model. Beginning her career at age fifteen, and continuing to model as a student at Barnard College - as a way to supplement her scholarship. Her clients included everyone from Unilever to Chanel. She also appeared in TV commercials for companies like Tareyton Cigarettes, Breck, Lifebuoy Soap and Clairol, just to name a few.

In a PBS documentary Makers: Women Who Make America, Martha discusses her modeling career, which included some gigs with Chanel. “I got enough modeling jobs at $50/hour — which was a lot of money at that time.”