U.S. lifestyle expert and TV personality Martha Stewart says she never thought her 2004 prison sentence would cost her her media empire.

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Stewart served five months for lying to investigators about a profitable stock trade. Asked by ABC's "Nightline" if she ever considered the possibility Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia might fail because of her legal troubles, the author and TV star said, "Not really 'cause I'm an optimist."

"I knew we had a really good thing going. And I really knew that I was not guilty of anything that could possibly harm my company," Stewart said.

"I was pissed. OK," Stewart said when pressed to discuss her feelings about how her incarceration affected her company. "Pissed that something could actually affect that. The company had nothing to do with anything. But yet, because I am the face and the brand, my person -- it certainly had a -- harmful effect. When you are prosecuted in such a way, and a great portion of wealth is dissipated, all I can think, so much, is what I could've done with all of that for the good of mankind. And -- and I hope I can continue."