My name is Blair Stamper, and I am one of the newest contributors at Detroit Mom. In the past five years, I’ve realized the importance of community and am so excited to meet, uplift, and connect with moms all around Metro Detroit.
My Work + Hobbies
Since getting my Doctorate of Education in 2022, I’ve struggled to describe myself to others in just a few short sentences. There are so many facets, passions, and attributes to me that I want to share with the world. I also consider myself a lifelong learner and am constantly reading (both non-fiction and smut), which creates very quick life transitions in how I view and define myself.
I’ll start with this: I’ve been in the education field since 2012, first as a middle school math and science teacher for three years and now as an award-winning higher education instructional designer for the past ten. I love what I do and the impact I have in the field. I have a popular Podcast called Be an Instructional Design Rockstar that people consistently connect with me after listening to. These connections remind me of how important community is, regardless of the field or topic.
I’m also passionate about empowering others and creating alignment everywhere in life. This has led me to create my own business where I am in my empowerment speaker and author era (more to come on that, I’m sure).
So, to sum up: I am a multi-passionate leader who empowers and creates communities for women to see potential in themselves they never thought possible.
The 5:00 a.m. Club
Yup, I’m that annoying friend posting on Instagram at 5:00 a.m., showcasing the time I put aside for myself. This routine has not been easy to rebuild. Before I began my doctoral program in 2019, I was consistent with waking up at 4:30 a.m., eating healthy, working out, and getting in 10,000 steps a day.
Fast-forward three-and-a-half grueling years of studying on top of working full-time, being a mom and a wife, and I gained 20 pounds, lost all my consistent habits, and ate out way too often. It took me another two years to figure out how to build a consistent routine again.
Finally, in 2024, I started taking an hour and a half to myself every morning. As a mom, I LIVE for this alone time. It is when I fill my own cup up so I can pour into others all day. I am a completely different person on the days I skip this time or accidentally sleep in. Feel free to steal my routine:
- 4:30-5:00 a.m.: Wake up
- 5:00-5:45 a.m.: Work out
- 5:45-6:00 a.m.: Stretch
- 6:00-6:30 a.m.: Meditate and journal
- 6:30-7:00 a.m.: Coffee and morning snugs with my daughter
- 7:00-7:30 a.m.: Get ready for the day with my daughter
My Family
When I was just 23 years old, I was blessed to meet my husband at a party. I had just graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and was traveling Downriver to hang out with friends. I was standing in a kitchen when he came over to get a cup and accidentally hit me in the head with a cupboard. It was a chance meeting, but because of our overlapping friend groups, we saw each other more and more over the next few months.
By November of that year I was his girlfriend. When he first kissed me, I literally felt it everywhere. Within four months we were living together in Canton. I love and hate that story because it sounds like such a fairy tale. But, I guess when you know, you know.
We have now been together for almost 13 years and married for 10. We have an amazing seven-year-old daughter who is so kind, wise, intelligent, and caring. I consider myself a scrunchy mom, meaning I rely heavily on science, but also recognize the power of holistic medicine. I try to balance my own hopes and dreams with my daughter’s and encourage her to try new things. She’s been in dance, gymnastics, soccer, cross country, and is now a swimmer. She is also a Girl Scout of three years, where I am also a co-leader.
We love animals and have three dogs: a lab/pit mix, a mastiff/pit mix, and a mutt who is our foster fail.
Where I Live
I grew up in Rochester and lived there until I was 23 years old. While I loved the restaurants (shout out to Sir Pizza, Lipuma’s, and Golden Eagle), I wasn’t meant to live there. I never felt like I fit in. Leaving seemed like the best option after I met my husband, who was from the Monroe area.
At the time, I was teaching in Belleville, and being a city girl, we moved to an apartment in Canton. My husband was miserable in the city, especially trying to navigate Ford Road. So, when it was time to buy a house, we decided to leave the city and go somewhere a bit more in the country.
Visiting Downriver during college, I had always loved the Flat Rock/Huron Township area (plus they have amazing schools). We bought a little starter home in 2015, six months before we were married. After bringing home our daughter, we realized we needed more space. We built our dream house in Huron Township and moved in two weeks before the world shut down in 2020.
I absolutely LOVE living Downriver. The people are so friendly and I’ve found a community where I truly feel like I fit in.
My Defining Moment as a Mom
Within a week of being a new mom, I had one of my biggest life lessons. My birth plan did not go as planned. Due to high blood pressure and symptoms of pre-eclampsia, I was induced with my daughter. After 36 hours of being in labor, she was finally born. I literally remember that day like it was yesterday.
Before going into labor, I insisted that I was going to breastfeed. I read the books, I bought all the supplies, I did everything I was “supposed to do.” But, my milk never came in.
After being in the hospital for nearly a week after having my daughter, we finally went home. That night was torture. Our daughter was starving and being new parents, we had no clue. We only knew that she wouldn’t stop crying all night. The next day, we had our first appointment and found out she had jaundice. We had to go back to the hospital so she could be put under the lights.
After seeing my daughter literally starve, I made the devastating decision to switch to formula. I couldn’t see her scream like that again. I felt like such a failure, but I knew it was the best decision for her in that moment.
My lesson in that first week of being a mom? No matter how much I thought something was going to work or how much I prepared, life would go the direction it was meant to go. I learned to let go of control and go with the flow. I learned life wasn’t going to be perfect and it is OKAY.
The Importance of Community
If you had asked me before the Pandemic, I truly believed I didn’t need community. I had a core group of friends and thought that was enough. During COVID, I was so relieved to not have the pressures to show up when I didn’t want to. I was working remotely and loving it. And then I got really lonely.
There were days I never spoke to anyone outside of my family. I kept busy with working on my doctorate and working long hours. After becoming so burnt out, I realized how important having a community surrounding me was.
2024 was my year of healing and relationships. I cultivated some amazing friendships with moms of my daughter’s friends. We are the type who with one call will be there for each other. Who watch each other’s kids at the drop of a hat. Who support one another and our new endeavors.
This is what community means to me. It is why I have started to call myself a community leader and have begun cultivating multiple ways to support other women and show them they are not alone.
My Why
In this role, I hope to empower and inspire women to recognize that they are not alone. That they have women and moms behind them and they can do anything they set their minds to.
