Stephanie Montero was born and raised in Washington Heights, New York, to a Dominican mother and Ecuadorian father.
Montero did her undergraduate program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in English and History.
“I’m currently enrolled at Baruch College pursuing my Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration,” Montero says.
She’s a Student Life Coordinator at the School of General Studies at Columbia University.
“I help support the office of Student Life with Logistic Support,” Montero says. “A well as I am a part of the Special Events team where I support my team planning special events such as New Student Orientation, Graduations, and Academic Affairs events. I have worked at Columbia for four years.“
Stephanie also decided to pursue her new business endeavors as a Mom influencer on social media. She would go on to explain more about her business.
“Last year, I also decided to pursue my new business endeavors as a Mom influencer on social media,” Montero says. “I started my business page with the company LIKEtoKnow.it company.
This page allows me to source the items that I recommend to my family, friends, and followers on social media. I enjoy this business because it allows me to share with other women the items that make my life easier and fashionable. I love sharing tips and tricks that help the momma on the go have a more organized and happy life.”
Stephanie realized that she found what she loved to do when people began asking her where to purchase the items.
“As an influencer, I was constantly asked of where I would purchase a certain item I posted on social media, whether it was kids’ items, home décor, or organization tips,” Montero explained. “I’m a mom on a mission to improving my life while impacting others. I love helping people, whether at my job or personal life, naturally nurturing at heart, and it is what drives me to help people,” she continued. “Helping others brings happiness to my life. I believe that this was something ingrained in me because my family is the same. ”
Stephanie is married to her husband, Namel. They have been together for eight years. Stephanie would go into detail on how they met.
“I met my husband through my college friend, who happened to be his sister,” Montero says. “My friend, Namely, and I became super close in such a short time. She became my sister before I even started dating her brother. I met him at a get-together. Namely, was hosting at her house, and we exchanged social media information,” she continued. “We started talking but never pursued anything more. A couple of months later, we decided to give a try and went on a date. Since that date, we have made a beautiful life together.”
They certainly did create a beautiful life together. Stephanie and Namel have a daughter together. Stephanie said that motherhood didn’t change her, but made her stronger.
“I feel like motherhood didn’t change me but enhanced the attributes I already had. Motherhood made me stronger, more emotional, and happier woman,” Montero stated. “I was blessed to have this opportunity. I’m forever grateful to God for allowing me to carry my child and be her mommy. Motherhood made me think quicker on my feet and multi-task 3 million times at the same time,” she continued.
“I’m very detail-oriented with everything I do in life, but Motherhood made me pay even more attention to the smaller things. I was in a dark place before Emma since I was recently diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease. I didn’t have any motivation and was sad all the time. Emma gave me a life back. Motherhood has motivated, inspired, and pushed me to love life again.“
What were some of the challenges Stephanie faced at the beginning of Motherhood?
One of the biggest challenges at the beginning of Motherhood was me questioning my every move,” Montero said. “I kept second-guessing myself whether I was doing anything right for her. This is where the support of my friends and family helped a lot. As a first time mom, you question your every move because it’s all new to you,” she continued.
“I wanted to be the best mom for my daughter. Another challenge was that my family lived far away. So I didn’t have that in-person support. I wasn’t able to drop off Emma at my family’s house for a quick nap. They would constantly call, which was very helpful, but there were times where I wanted to nap or take a break, but I couldn’t. Every mom experiences this, and I think this was the hardest challenge.“
When Stephanie has some free time on her hands, she enjoys exploring new places with her daughters and other hobbies.
”I like to explore new places with Emma. She’s a little version of me, so we both love exploring new places, whether it is a park, museum, beaches, or amusement parks,” Montero says. “My little firecracker loves roller coasters, so we try to go to amusement parks as much as we can. I also enjoy listening to a podcast,” she continued. “It’s my favorite thing to do in my free time. I love listening to other people’s perspectives on life. I truly enjoy taking advantage of every learning opportunity.”
Stephanie is planning many things for the future. She’s hoping to finish her Master’s degree by Spring 2021.
“I’m hoping that this degree will help me gain the tools that I need to become a better Higher Education Student Affairs professional,” Montero says. “I enjoy working with students and help them plan out their events. I genuinely enjoy planning special events for our students.“
As far as her influence career, Stephanie hopes to continue to inspire women to do their best at anything they’re working at.
“I will continue to use my social media platform to keep inspiring women to achieve whatever they want in life. I have a daughter who looks up to me, and I plan on continuing to inspire her,” Montero continued. “There are so many new plans that are under construction, and we are so excited. I will share more once it’s all approved. I’m a firm believer in putting things into action first before sharing.”
Visit https://www.liketoknow.it/stephaniem.details to see more of Stephanie Montero’s work.
