WHO IS MARTHA >>

Waiting On Martha’s founder and curator, 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, her 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.

A bracelet actually started it all. Well a bracelet, an obsession with food, an incessant need to throw a party whenever an opportunity presented itself, and an adoration for all things DIY. But back to the bracelet. One fateful day Mandy ventured into a Chicago bead store while a class was in session. Thinking that jewelry making would be a fun hobby, she began taking classes. To be clear, Mandy had no plans of it becoming anything more than a hobby. You know what they say about best laid plans…in 2011 Mandy opened an Etsy shop and officially launched her Waiting On Martha bracelet collection in April. The response was, and still is, quite overwhelming. Individuals not only loved the bracelets, but they wanted to know more about Mandy and her life. Enter Waiting On Martha The Blog.

As the ultimate creative and personal outlet for Mandy, Waiting On Martha The Blog focused simply on creating a beautiful everyday through fashion, food, décor, and DIY. As the reader’s grew so did the oh-so common question “where do I get that?” And thus, as Mandy puts it, “It only took one reader’s question to push me to indulge my dream of opening up a boutique.” Waiting On Martha The Shop opened as an e-commerce boutique in July of 2012 with future plans to open brick & mortar location in Atlanta in 2013 (where Mandy now resides with her husband and Cavalier King Charles Addison).

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.

So now that you know who she is, I hope you enjoy discovering what she loves.