1972 Martha Stewart
The Final Word on Fine Living
She's been named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women" twice by Fortune magazine
and has made Forbes magazine's "Forbes 400" list. Born in 1941 in Jersey City,
New Jersey, Martha Stewart channeled her passion for cooking and stylish living
into a multimedia empire. Through her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, her
books, television show, website, newspaper column, radio show and product lines,
Stewart has become a force to be reckoned with in every form of media she has
entered into. Despite Stewart's five-year legal battle after being convicted of
insider trading, she has proved to be the ultimate comeback success story.
Recent initiatives include the Martha Stewart Crafts line and the Martha Stewart
Collection of home merchandise at Macy's department stores. This year she
introduced a co-branded food line at Costco and a co-branded floral, plant and
gift basket program, Martha Stewart for 1-800-Flowers.com.
1976 Dame Anita Roddick
A Business With a Conscience
Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, became interested in environmental
activism at an early age through her world travels. What began as a way of
living has emerged into a business with more than 2,100 stores and more than 77
million customers. In 1976, Roddick opened the doors to her first shop in
Brighton, England. What sets The Body Shop apart from other stores offering
similar bath and hygiene products has been Roddick's commitment to running a
company dedicated to the pursuit of social and environmental change. The Body
Shop has established community trade relationships in more than 20 countries.
Last month, it announced a campaign with MTV to raise HIV and AIDS awareness
among those under age 25. The Body Shop was purchased by the L'Oreal Group in
2006, but remains independently run. Roddick and her husband stepped down as
co-chairmen of the company in 2002, but she continued to consult until her death
last year from a brain hemorrhage at age 64.
1977 Mrs. (Debbi) Fields
The Smell of Sweet Success
She's proof that absolutely anyone can make her dream business a reality. Debbi
Fields, a young mother with no business experience whatsoever, opened her first
cookie store in Palo Alto, California, in 1977. At the age of 20, Fields was
able to persuade a bank to finance Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery. Despite
critics, she garnered worldwide acceptance as the premier chain of cookies and
baked goods. The company was acquired in 1996 by a Greenwich, Connecticut-based
investment firm, Capricorn Holdings. Fields went on to author several cookbooks,
host a weekly program called "Great American Desserts" on PBS and sit on various
boards, including the board of Outback Steakhouse Inc. in Tampa, Florida. Now
known as Debbie Fields Rose, she lives in Memphis with her second husband,
Michael Rose.
1984 Oprah Winfrey
The Multimedia Maven
She's a media queen, and she reaches an estimated 49 million viewers a week
through TV alone. Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954 and
lived in poverty while growing up. Despite a dysfunctional upbringing, Winfrey
eventually received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she
studied communications and worked at a local radio station on the side. Winfrey
got her big break in Chicago in 1983 when she began hosting a morning talk show.
Within months, The Oprah Winfrey Show replaced Donahue as the highest-rated talk
show in Chicago, and from there, her career skyrocketed. Today she not only
serves as supervising producer and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, taped in
Chicago, but Winfrey is also the founder of her own magazine, O, The Oprah
Magazine and women's lifestyle website, Oprah.com. Oprah's Angel Network has
raised more than $70 million and given 100 percent of donations to nonprofit
organizations worldwide. Her production company, Harpo Productions Inc., created
another daytime hit, Dr. Phil, in 2002. There's more--Oprah is the co-founder of
Oxygen Media, which operates a 24-hour cable television network for women. She
also produces Oprah & Friends on XM Satellite Radio. In January, Oprah announced
plans to launch the Oprah Winfrey Network--OWN--in the second half of 2009 on
the Discovery Health Channel. From Broadway producer to actress to
philanthropist, there seems no limit to what Oprah can do.