At 82, Martha Stewart Shares Her Secret To Not Becoming An ‘Old-Fashioned Old Lady’

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• Martha Stewart, 82, shares how she avoids becoming “an old-fashioned old lady.”

• The key is to embrace change—always.

• “I want to know what my limits are but I also want to extend those limits in every way possible,” she said.

Martha Stewart isn’t your typical 82-year-old. And in the true spirit of the service woman she’s always been, she’s not gatekeeping her secrets to vibrancy—the lifestyle mogul shared how she resists becoming an “old-fashioned old lady” in a new interview with People.

As someone who has gone through many personal phases in the public eye, Martha said she often gets the comment: “Oh, you’re reinventing yourself.” But she doesn’t necessarily see it that way. “I don’t call it reinvention,” she explained. “I really like to evolve and not be an old-fashioned old lady. I want to know what my limits are, but I also want to extend those limits in every way possible.”

That energy is perfectly packaged in her latest venture, her very own MasterClass called “Think Like a Boss, Live Like a Legend,” which debuted December 8. According to People, the program lets students in on her strategy for staying active, which is keeping a packed schedule. “Watching this MasterClass, I think you’ll be amazed at how much can be done in a day. How much good work and enjoyable work can be accomplished in one 24-hour period,” she said.

In the class trailer, you get a snippet of Stewart’s daily grind—of her in the hair and makeup chair, brainstorming in the office with colleagues, and even her suited-up to run power tools for a woodworking project. “It’s kind of fun to see how much one can do in a day,” she says in the clip. It all encapsulates her key to staying current, which is to embrace—rather than fear—change.

As America’s first self-made billionaire, Martha is proof that pivoting is a good thing. She’s been a stockbroker, a fashion model, a TV host, a caterer... she clearly likes to keep people on their toes. And each transition has given her a set of new skills she’s put to good use. Might she remind you that she started her company, Martha Stewart Living, at age 50?

“Be fearless, change is good,” she says in the MasterClass trailer. “I try to look forward. When you’re through changing, you’re through.”

At 82, you’d think that would be easier said than done, which is where another phrase of hers to live by comes in handy. “I don’t think about age,” she recently told Page Six. “I think people are more and more and more [fabulous] than they’ve ever been in their senior years, and I applaud every one of them.” That mentality has allowed her to accomplish all she has—including posing for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit at 81.

“Age is not the determining factor in terms of friendship or in terms of success,” she told Sports Illustrated at the time. “But what people do, how people think, how people act, that’s what’s important and not your age.”

If you’re in need of a last-minute Christmas gift, for an ambitious friend or yourself, Martha’s MasterClass is undoubtedly a good investment.

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