The matriarch of success

NEWPORT-MESA — When she was a young girl, Martha Askew’s mother and father instilled in her an unyielding work ethic while picking orchard fruit in the small town of Zacatecas in central Mexico.

She remembers walking down the rows of plum trees in an area without electricity or running water. And when she, her mother and her siblings were getting ready to finish for the day, her mother would suggest they at least complete the row they were on before they went home.

And then, when they finished that row, her mother would suggest they get a head start on the next day and do the next row so they could “beat everybody,” she recalls with a laugh. An hour and a half later, her mother would have them competing to see how many plums they could gather.

The Askew family moved to the United States when Martha was about 15. Her father was a U.S. citizen and traded in his home in Mexico for a red Chevy truck so that he could bring his large family across the border. “He was so excited to share hamburgers and hot dogs and A&W; root beer [restaurants] with us,” she says.

Today, Martha Askew surrounds herself with some of the finest linens in the world at the store she owns and operates, the Bedroom, on 17th Street in Costa Mesa. She continues telling her story about the A&W; at her elegantly decorated shop: “But when we got the food, none of us kids liked it…. We were not used to eating a lot, and we didn’t like the taste, but now you can’t get me out of In-N-Out.”

When her own daughters were young, Martha’s husband died and she was forced into his business as a wholesale car dealer. She went to busy car auctions with her youngest daughter in tow, Debbie, who was a baby at the time.

Her house payment at the time was $3,500 a month. “I thought, ‘I need a miracle here,’ ” she recalls.

Determined to keep herself out of debt, and plenty of food on the table, Martha became an expert in a place where men dominate the scene and was able to put her three daughters through college without any outside help.

“I was forced to survive and try to think of new ways to feed the kids,” she said.

It seems the work ethic she inherited has passed to her three daughters, who all own their own boutiques. As soon as the girls could each get a work permit through school, they worked. They held down jobs as waitresses at local restaurants, sales associates at local shops, and when she was 16 years old, Debbie helped her mom drive cars from the auction.

Martha looks back at the hard times with a smile and often laughs when telling the stories.

“Sometimes I wonder, How did I survive?” she says. “It’s been funny, but at the time it didn’t seem as funny.”

Martha’s oldest daughter, Sandy Johnson, opened up the very successful Lola Rouge boutiques with Debbie’s help. The two now run three shops, one in Costa Mesa, next door to their mom’s shop, and two in Fashion Island. One is a Lola Rouge Kids. Martha’s other daughter, Denise Carolyn, owns two boutiques in Los Angeles.

Their collective penchant for fashion seemed to present itself while the girls were in high school. Martha would take them shopping in Los Angeles, where they were all able to put together amazing outfits even without a lot of money to spend.

Sandy says she and her sisters strayed from the preppy look they saw while attending Corona del Mar High School and opted for a funky look that they’ve held on to.

“We owe a lot to our mom. It wouldn’t have been possible to do this without her,” she says.

“I see them now with their children — my daughters are perfect moms; they’re great to their employees; they go to church,” says Martha. “I’m so proud.”