NEW YORK — Before taking the stage Wednesday night at FN’s Women Who Rock event, in partnership with Two Ten, Martha Stewart sat down with WWD to debate what’s on her bucket list, her highly successful Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, her favorite exercise and her upcoming documentary, all in a rapid-fire 12-minute interview.

The 81-year-old Stewart got her message across loud and clear: She’s not done yet, and other people at any age can still accomplish whatever they set their mind to. “There’s no early retirement,” said Stewart, who was also Footwear News’ cover story this week.

Her appearance on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover generated 100 billion impressions, and Stewart hopes that each one the hoopla and a spotlight will rub off on her many businesses. After becoming the oldest woman to ever appear on a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, Stewart was asked what else is on her bucket list.

For starters, Stewart said she has a Netflix documentary coming about her life, which is directed and produced by R.J. Cutler, the director behind “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” “Belushi,” and the film “The September Issue.” While there isn’t a release date yet, Stewart said they’ve been filming for the past two years.

She said she’s working on all her products and line extensions and is enthusiastic about her Roku TV show, which is all about gardening, cooking and entertaining and “is doing extremely well,” and her weekly podcast on iHeartMedia. “It’s very, very interesting. I’m having fun with it rather a lot. I interview people I’ve met and I love and who’re friends and have interesting stories,” said Stewart.

Amongst her most interesting guests was Nathan Myhrvold, former chief of technology at Microsoft. “He’s an excellent, sensible scientist and a tremendous cook, and has been writing these amazing cookbooks. He’s won numerous awards,” she said. She’s also interviewed Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist, and Stephen Sills, the inside designer.

On the subject of giving back, Stewart is equally passionate. She cited the Martha Stewart Centers for Living at Mount Sinai, two locations where they provide older adults and their caregivers in Latest York City access to high-quality health care. She founded it 15 years ago. “It’s for over 65, you’ll be able to go to my hospital and have all of your questions answered and it’s extremely great geriatric care. It’s so essential since the population in America is aging. By 2030, the population over 65 shall be larger than under 65. Where will they be taken care of? The Martha Stewart Centers for Living. They handle every part — medical, food regimen, exercise.”

As for her own exercise plan and the way she got in shape for the SI cover, she said, “Right now I’ve been doing a whole lot of Pilates. I do it 3 times per week,” said Stewart, who had clear intentions on why she desired to pose for the magazine.

“It’s actually had a unprecedented response from women all over the place on the planet because they feel there are latest possibilities for them. That was my objective. Apart from being very glamorous and beautiful in those pictures, it really served a superb purpose and it attracted an amazing amount of attention for my brand. It got 100 billion impressions. You possibly can test it out. It’s true,” said Stewart.

Whether she aspires to do some other modeling, akin to runway shows during Latest York Fashion Week, Stewart — a former model in her youth — said, “No, we’ll see what happens.” She said the shoot within the Dominican Republic wasn’t stressful in any respect, and the images were taken by Ruven Afanador, whom she worked with in 1993 when she had her own magazine.

One area of business she’d prefer to expand is hospitality. Last yr she opened a restaurant, The Bedford by Martha Stewart, in partnership with Caesars Entertainment, in Las Vegas. It’s a reproduction of Stewart’s 1925 farmhouse in Bedford, Latest York, with culinary inspiration drawn from her garden and love of French cooking. It seats 200 people and is “effective dining, with all my favorite recipes,” said Stewart.

Marquee Brands, which acquired Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2019 (which spans publishing, web, broadcasting, and merchandising) has expansion plans within the works. Stewart’s home products are going into JCPenney within the third quarter. “JCPenney is coming back and hopefully we’ll give you the chance to assist them in a pleasant way,” said Stewart.

Stewart’s business with Amazon, which began in February, “is growing,” and offers all her products starting from kitchen and dining to bedding, furniture and fashion. She said the long-time exclusive contract with Macy’s has ended, and while they are going to still have product at Macy’s, Marquee is capable of sell to other retailers.

While she likes luxurious things, her fashion aesthetic leans toward the casual. “I like classic styles. I really like my puffer vests in every variety of fabric. I really like my athleisure clothes that appeal to me and all my friends on the weekends,” she said.

She believes she offers the most effective quality at the most effective price. “That’s why I’m doing Skechers. Skechers are totally reasonably priced, totally comfortable and modern.” When asked what brought her to Skechers, she replied, “An excellent contract.

“We’re growing. They’re growing. They’re number two in America now in sports footwear after Nike. And on the planet, number three after Nike and Adidas. Their stock is doing extremely well, and so they’re a sensible bunch of individuals,” she said.

She still would like to have her own freestanding Martha Stewart store featuring all her products someday. “That’s been my dream. But I don’t know if that’s going to occur,” she said.

As for something that folks don’t learn about her, she said, “I don’t know in the event that they know that I’m as avid a gardener as I’m, and I’m constructing a maze that’s going to amaze in Bedford.”

Stewart recently hosted a fundraising party at her Bedford home for the Bedford Riding Lanes Association, which maintains and develops the historic system of trails and dirt roads within the Bedford and Pound Ridge areas. In reality, Stewart said considered one of her favorite things to do is ride horses in Bedford.

“I actually have five beautiful frieze horses and I ride every week on the paths in Bedford, and it’s a gorgeous attraction for anybody fascinated with the equestrian sport,” said Stewart. An enormous interest of hers actually is conservation. “I’m an enormous supporter of Arcadia National Park [in Maine] and am a conservationist. All those things matter rather a lot to me,” added Stewart.

With a lot conversation about how she’s not letting her age dictate her pursuits, Stewart was asked if she may very well be any age, what age would that be and why? “Perhaps one. I could do all of it another time.”

Her advice for older women who don’t feel that they’re being seen? “Go for it.” She said she was raised thoroughly and her parents gave their children the arrogance that they could do anything in the event that they worked hard and paid attention to detail, “which is what I’ve done my whole life.”

When time was almost up and the formal presentation was about to start out, Stewart was asked how she feels about AI and whether she’d prefer to apply it to her own business. “I actually have an unlimited amount of content that I’ve created over the past 40 years. All that content could easily be put into an AI program for the homemaker – ‘Martha, how do you clean a stove?’ – I actually have that content, and it may easily be done. I’m working on that too.”