Erin McLevey • Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. • New York, NY • Week 4

WEEK'S SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES:

This past week at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. was a very interesting week because the news came out that Martha Stewart is selling her company. Everyone was very curious what this would mean for the future of the company, so right now is an interesting time to be an intern here.

My tasks consisted of a continuation of American Made nominations, archiving, as well as other tasks. I continued to create presentation boards for American Made. I was sorting through nominations that Kevin had received from friends and various other people. In addition to this I continued to update and archive the magazine and book collection as they came in from different departments. I also coordinated with the SVP of Finance for the merchandising side about having certain contracts signed for the September magazine Partners Pick photo shoot.

I had a nice break in the middle of the week because Kevin asked me to pick up some flowers from a shop across town, as well as get the Post, Journal and Times. For the remainder of the week I continued to sort through companies for American Made, and finalize presentation boards. Each company had its own board, listing founders, date created and location, number of employees, product lines/number of products, as well as assortment of pictures that showcased the company’s products. In addition to the board, I created a “cheat sheet” so that during the presentation, Kevin could elaborate and explain more deeply why the company has been nominated.

A fun thing that happened this week was that on Thursday, HR held a ‘Rooftop Social’ for all the employees, we got ice tea and cookies. This was a nice break in the day, and a good chance to get outside for a bit. Also, Friday was bring your dog to work day!

WEEK'S FOCUS:

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is a multi-faceted market. They have a huge following and many different ways that they market themselves. They have TV, Radio, Print, and many other kinds of outlets that allows them to market their company. Everything is handled in house. Accountants are in the same building with everyone and budgeting is relatively strict but can be lenient depending on the project/person in charge. However, this is all subject to change in the next few months based on the fact that the company is being acquired.

MEETING SOMEONE NEW:

This week I will be talking about Kim Miller, SVP, Video Development and programming. She went to Montclair State University in New Jersey and paid her way through all four years herself. She had an internship in college for Regis and Kelly before they became a big hit show. After graduating college she became a TV producer for NBC news. On her fourth day of work, she had her first piece on the news. From here she worked for Rosie O’Donnell as a human interest coordinator, where her job was to interview people and hear their stories and get their stories out the world. After this she was doing post production at CNBC News, when she got a call from someone at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. about starting a new Martha Stewart show. Right after starting this new job, she moved up very quickly into her current position. After a few years, she went to another job, but Martha personally called her and asked her to come back and do Digital Video.

In her job over the last few years there have been a lot of growth opportunities as video capabilities have been changing. They decided it would be fun to do a mini reality series at the company. They did this for Halloween (Martha’s favorite holiday) where they held a costume making contest called Chic or Shriek. (http://www.marthastewart.com/1081456/halloween-martha-stewart-shriek-or-chic)

Her most valuable advice was to always network and to keep up with people you’ve worked with. Also she said remember it’s okay to ask questions, everyone is always learning.