Good morning, friends!

“Perfectly perfect.”

This was Martha Stewart’s motto for her skyrocketing career. However, her home life painted a different picture. With a marriage plagued by infidelity, her personal life was far from “perfectly perfect.”

Stewart marketed herself to the American public as “the Queen of Perfection,” and they embraced it wholeheartedly. Even as her marriage crumbled while she toured for her ‘Weddings’ book, she was able to hide her feelings pretty well.

And she hid them because Stewart had built a billion-dollar enterprise whose only real product was Martha Stewart herself. The entire operation hung on Stewart’s public image and reputation.

And for a long time, it worked. Stewart was the goddess of domestic bliss … the ultimate homemaker … the perfect hostess. And then she became something she never thought she’d be — a convicted felon.

After reportedly lying to government investigators about a suspicious stock trade, Stewart was charged with insider trading. She was incarcerated at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia for five months.

Things weren’t “perfect” in any sense of the word anymore, and there was no hiding it.

In the documentary, former Martha Stewart Living editor Isolde Motley said, “She had lived before [prison] worried about what people thought of her. And then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. And she survived it. She had been set free by going to prison.”

Today, Stewart is still a perfectionist but she’s also free from the shackles of public opinion. I’ve written before about how idolizing forces you into blindly worshipping perfect versions of imperfect people.

That was precisely my takeaway from watching the Martha documentary. People desperately wanted to believe Stewart was a flawless human who could do no wrong. But when she inevitably fell short of this impossible standard, they were just as quick to tear her down.

Perfection is a tricky thing. While it can inspire us to strive for excellence, it can also very much destroy us.

As she says at the end of the documentary. “I don’t want to put up with imperfection. Although I’ve learned, as one gets older, imperfections are a little bit more OK than they were when I was a little younger. I think imperfection is something you can deal with.”

For more on Martha Stewart, check out her Profile Dossier below.

The Profile Dossier: Martha Stewart, America’s First Self-Made Female Billionaire Polina Pompliano · December 30, 2020 Read full story

—

CHILDREN’S BOOK ✨: A fellow author published a children’s book called, It’s Not Pilates. She sent me a copy, and my 3-year-old daughter loves it. It’s about a little girl organizing a Pilates class for the forest animals. It’s beautifully written and illustrated and a really fun way to introduce your kids to pilates and yoga. (This is not an ad. I just really enjoyed the book!) You can check it out here.

PROFILES.

— The most powerful person in AI [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The FedEx CEO in the shadow of his predecessor
— The Gen Z influencer making Wall Street more accessible
— America’s most famous homemaker
— The actress taking control of her destiny

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The most powerful person in AI: In a Silicon Valley culture known for “grindset” founders, Jensen Huang still manages to stand out. The Nvidia chief executive says he is either working, or thinking about work, every waking moment—and that he works seven days a week. Under his leadership, Nvidia has positioned itself at the heart of the artificial intelligence boom. Nvidia’s share price has increased more than sevenfold since OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, and the company is now among the most highly valued in the world, with a market capitalization of $3.4 trillion. Will Nvidia be able to hold on its market position in the face of new threats? (FORTUNE)

“If you want to build something great, it’s not easy. You have to suffer, you have to struggle, you have to endeavor. And there are no such things that are great, that are easy to do.”

The FedEx CEO in the shadow of his predecessor: Since taking over as chief executive officer of FedEx in 2022, Raj Subramaniam has had the job of restoring Wall Street’s confidence in the company—confidence that had largely dissipated during founder Fred Smith’s final years in the job. Investors had become jaded with his relentless quest for growth, dizzyingly successful though it had been, with revenue soaring from $1 billion in 1983 to $93 billion in 2022. What they demanded now was better shareholder returns. But even as Subramaniam asserts his independence, his storied predecessor is still very much a force at FedEx. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“Although he remains loyal to Smith, Subramaniam has essentially positioned himself as the anti-Fred.”

The Gen Z influencer making Wall Street more accessible: Vivian Tu bills herself on social media as “Your Rich BFF” and makes short explainers of big finance topics for her 2.6 million followers. Tu, 30, is creating what is often serious finance and economic content — it just doesn’t always look like it. She has mastered a candy-coated version of financial advice, with videos that embrace familiar TikTok formats like sassy clap-backs and makeup demonstrations. Between her platforms and book deals, she said she is booked to make $7 million this year. (Wall Street Journal; alternate link)

“They want to hear from a peer; they want to hear from someone who looks like they could be anybody’s college best friend.”

America’s most famous homemaker: Martha Stewart didn’t want to talk about “Martha,” the new documentary about her life that was supposed to be the focus of this interview. “We’re having a controversy,” she said about the Netflix film. “Way, way too much did not make it in.” Here’s why she still feels misunderstood. (WSJ; alternate link)

“I haven’t forgotten one thing.”

The actress taking control of her destiny: Sydney Sweeney became a household name thanks to two HBO prestige dramas, Euphoria and The White Lotus. She earned Emmy nominations for both those performances in 2022, then launched her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films. Although it may seem like she’s taking control of her destiny, she’s also hyper-aware that she doesn’t control her image — clickbait-hungry reporters do. She says, “Hopefully people realize how silly all the headlines are because, I mean, you know how this works,” she says. ”We’re going to have a conversation, we’ll talk for 30 minutes, it’s condensed, then people don’t understand the context behind the conversation, and it’s all clickbait. Unfortunately I don’t get to control my image—my image is in your guys’ hands.” (Vanity Fair; alternate link)

“I felt like I was taking the power back.”

✨ The rest of this newsletter is only available for premium members of The Profile, whose support makes this work possible. If you’re not already a premium member, consider upgrading your subscription below for access to an additional section of weekly audio + video recommendations. ✨…