Today we’re super excited to feature Kelly Stumpe, a multi-hyphenate mama with a passion for cars and family safety. She is the founder of “The Car Mom” and a mama to two young kids under three. Learn about how Kelly manages mompreneurship, her favorite car organizing tips (YES!), road trip essentials and more below.

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Introduce yourself, your family and mission!

Hi! I’m Kelly Stumpe - a mom, car saleswoman, Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, and “The Car Mom”. My husband Tyler and I have two young kids, George (2) and Hattie (9 months).

The Car Mom is dedicated to empowering moms and families to make the most informed and confident decision when car shopping. We want to create a positive car buying experience for both the female consumer and the dealership by dismantling outdated stereotypes between the two and changing the narrative of a traditionally male-dominated industry.

What compelled you to start reviewing cars and accessories for families? Have you always been into cars?

I launched The Car Mom in June of 2020, when the Coronavirus pandemic was in full swing. At the time, I didn’t feel like I could bring my toddler to the grocery store with me safely and I couldn’t imagine how moms felt about car shopping with their families. I hoped that by touring cars from the perspective of a mom and posting those tours to social media, I could help families immensely as they narrowed down vehicles in their car shopping journey. I was five months pregnant at the time and had a one-year-old at home - I saw a need and was looking for a creative outlet, hoping to build a small community and sell a few more cars.

The response to The Car Mom honestly blew me out of the water (and continues daily with plenty of “is this my real life?!” moments). In the past year, The Car Mom's Instagram following has grown (through sharing + word of mouth) to 165k+, we have almost 30k YouTube subscribers and recently passed the 2 million view mark on our video content. I’m so proud of the community of empowered, educated female consumers that we've created and that we've done that work while continuing to lift up car dealerships and break down outdated stereotypes.

What was the very first post you ever made? How does it make you feel looking back at it now?

The very first post I ever made was of The Car Mom logo on a simple, white background with the caption “Stay tuned!” I designed the logo myself using Canva and remember it feeling like a pretty big deal at the time. Something about putting the logo out in the world made it feel like my idea was actually taking shape. Looking back on it now and knowing how far that logo has carried us, I feel proud that I went with my gut, embraced my limited skills in graphic design, and created something that’s now a recognizable logo. How cool is that?!

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As a mompreneur, what are three tips you can share that help you live your professional and personal life?

1. Set goals! I’m huge on goal setting and sharing those goals with anyone and everyone to hold myself accountable. When I first launched The Car Mom, I shared my business goals with my community and continued to share as each month passed. Knowing that I had a community of other amazing women cheering me on and helping me to crush my goals was and continue to be, such a gift.

2. Get organized! Funny enough - “organize” was my word for 2021. I live by my email inbox. I use it as a filing system and as a to-do list! I also schedule out my entire day, right down to eating lunch and running errands!

3. Self-care! Taking time for myself, giving myself permission to unplug to be with my family and prioritizing going to bed early. I am a huge fan of taking my MTO (mom time off).

What are your top three road trip essentials?

My FREE Car Mom road trip printables!
Lunii Storyteller: Choose your own adventure, anyone? This is one of the coolest “kid toys” - screen-free and comes pre-loaded with stories so your kiddo can start listening right away! 10 out of 10 would recommend.
Car Vacuum: Road trips mean snacking in the car and snacking in the car with kids means crumbs… lots. of. crumbs. This vacuum can fit in your car cup holder or side cubby and can pick up everything from dirt to goldfish. I’ve been pledging my love for this little workhorse of a vacuum for the last year and it has yet to let me down. A must-have!

What are your favorite car organization tips?

I think the glovebox is the most underutilized place in the car. People love to keep their owner’s manual and service records in there. You should still keep this information in the car, but move it to a storage compartment in the trunk so it’s not taking up valuable space. Make your glovebox work for you!

Mesh zipper pouches: These pouches are a game-changer when it comes to keeping my car/life organized with two young kids. I have pouches for both George and Hattie that have extra clothes + jammies, toys and snacks, a first aid pouch, and a mom pouch with anything that I might need (extra hair tie, anyone?). From one parent to another - these are sanity savers.
All of my center console and glove box favorites can be found, here!

And finally, where can we find you?