But as the lifestyle mogul reveals in this insightful interview for AOL’s MAKERS series, she more than qualifies to be dishing out the tough-love advice.
She worked her way up from nothing, with little more than her wits, drive and a golden nugget of motivation from her father: “You can do anything you set your sights on – just aim high and go for it!”
Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women “Evening With…” dinner in New York City recently, Martha again shared a favourite piece of wisdom from her father, who gave advice “freely and on a daily basis.”
She could do anything she wants with her life, he said, but there were conditions: “You had to work hard, be proud, get a good education, work for it—and that’s what we did, all of us.”
“We’ve all been successful and we’ve all been hap—pretty happy,” said Martha, 74, a model-turned-stockbroker and went on to found a lifestyle empire.
“But we constantly remember his good words.”
When it comes to instilling confidence and drive, reinforcement is key, she said, noting that she recently became a grandmother.
“Even if your daughter or your granddaughter maybe isn’t so pretty, or isn’t so smart, tell her she is,” she said.
“You keep reinforcing that and you know what? She’ll grow up to beautiful and brilliant and do just what she wants to do.”
