Press

Who is Martha?

So who is Martha? Martha is whoever you want her (or him) to be. Yes, Mandy’s “Martha” happens to be the great Martha Stewart herself, but in terms of Waiting On Martha- she’s not a person. she’s an idea. An aspiration. A representation of what one’s inspired life could, and should be. Martha is the dream.

Waiting On Martha’s Founder and Creative Director, Mandy Kellogg Rye, lives by one mantra, “Life should be lived beautifully every single day.” Drawn to the “finer things” at an early age, her mother taught her how to appreciate beauty while her father how to create beauty.

A Michigan native, Mandy left the mitten behind and headed to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois where she graduated with dreams of becoming a high-powered attorney. However, the dream quickly fell short when she realized law school wasn’t all about wearing a designer suit and winning arguments with loads of whit and banter. Law school wasn’t a complete bust though; it introduced her to Chicago, her first big city and one she still holds dear to her heart. A city that unknowingly became the backdrop, and beginning of Waiting On Martha.

Designing a bracelet actually started it all. Well an obsession with food and wine, an incessant need to throw a party whenever an opportunity presented itself, an adoration for all things home, and a bracelet actually started it all. It sparked a need to have a creative outlet to share all that she loved. So with that bracelet on her wrist and a dream beginning to take shape Mandy launched the blog you’re reading now in late 2012. And a few months down the roa waitingonmarth the Shop was born.

Along with the Blog and the Shop Mandy is an editorial & interior stylist working with brands such as kate spade new york, BHLDN, the Gap, Old Navy, Calypso St. Barth, Smirnoff, and General Mills . Her work has been feature by Lonny Magazine, Domaine Home, Harpar’s Bazar, Luxe Magazine, House Beautiful, Jezebel, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle, and The Atlantan. Currently she’s the Editor at Large for Occasions Magazine and a regular contributing Editor for Style Me Pretty Living and Euro Style Lighting. And most recently Better Homes and Gardens has named Waiting On Martha one of the top ten entertaining blogs. When Mandy isn’t Martha she can be found with her husband Anthony and Cavalier King Charles Addison enjoy a little Southern Hospitality in her city of Atlanta and re-decorating her home for the tenth time. In Mandy’s own words, “I wear black, decorate in color, and try to create a beautiful day every day.”