This Mid-Life Entrepreneur Was Stuck . . . Until She Learned This Secret

Such a surprising story - today’s entrepreneur found great success, but only later in life, and only after finding a missing ingredient.

After she graduated from college, Martha Kostyra got a job at a brokerage house in Manhattan trading stocks. She quickly showed a knack for the business, standing out in the male-dominated office that was still the norm at the time.

Unfortunately, not long after she began, the market took a big hit and Kostyra had to rethink things. She decided to leave Wall Street, move back home to New England, and start her own small business – a catering company.

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It turned out that she was gifted at this as well.

Her business grew steadily as she seemed to really have a knack for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Known locally for her stylish parties and perfectly crafted tablescapes, she was talented but still largely unknown.

As her business grew, Kostyra’s life evolved as well, including a child and a divorce.

She wanted more.

As luck would have it, one evening while catering a dinner party in New York, she met a publisher who was intrigued by the idea of having Martha write a book. Being 41 at the time, she was both surprised and thrilled with the idea and a year later, in midlife, she had a nice little small business and a book to her name.

The book, “Entertaining,” was filled with ideas on how to make events beautiful and memorable. It brought her some local recognition . . . but that’s about all.

The Secret Ingredient

Then Martha Kostyra met Sharon Patrick and everything changed.

Sharon’s strategic mind, honed by her Harvard MBA, saw the untapped potential in Martha’s eye for beauty, obvious talent, and budding brand. Sharon knew how to grow companies and had the financial know-how to structure a business from the ground up.

In Martha, she saw great potential for the two of them.

So Martha and Sharon teamed up and built a business and brand that soon ventured into the big time - magazines, retail, even television; the whole being greater than the sum of the parts and all. Martha was the creative visionary and Sharon ran the nuts-and-bolts.

Martha found her secret ingredient: The right partner.

And the name of that lifestyle empire that two middle-aged entrepreneurs bet on? You probably guessed it by now,

Martha Stewart Omnimedia.

The Takeaway:

In the great movie Rocky, Rocky Balboa explains his relationship with girlfriend Adrienne this way: “We fill gaps. She’s got gaps, I got gaps, we fill gaps.”

We all have gaps. The great entrepreneurs know what theirs are and look to surround themselves with people who fills their gaps. That’s exactly what Martha did.

Steal This Strategy!

Nonprofit: SCORE: I am proud to say that I was recently appointed to the SCORE Board of Directors. It is an incredible resource. SCORE offers free, confidential mentoring and resources for small business owners across the U.S.

Book: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber - Learn why too many small businesses struggle, and discover the power of systems and partnerships in building a more fun, easier, more profitable business.

Website: CoFoundersLab - Here’s where you can find a partner. CoFoundersLab is a networking platform that connects entrepreneurs with the right co-founders and business partners. Sweet!

Podcast: How I Built This by Guy Raz - In this great podcast, Raz interviews entrepreneurs about the breakthrough partnerships and strategies that helped build iconic brands. 

Bonus! Entertaining, by Martha Stewart.