He graduated from Sac Community High School in 1991 and earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Iowa State University in 1995.

Upon graduating from college, Stanzel went to work for the 1996 Bob Dole presidential campaign as the Northwest Iowa Field Representative.

Following Dole's victory in the 1996 Iowa Republican caucuses, Stanzel was recruited to serve as the Deputy Finance Director for Jim Ross Lightfoot's unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate.

Following Bush's second inauguration in 2005, Stanzel moved to the private sector to work for Microsoft as a senior public relations manager.

[5] In this role, Stanzel served as a spokesman for Bush on a variety of issues, including homeland security, education, agriculture and energy.

In 2011, Stanzel married Priscilla Jones, a prosecutor in the office of the South Carolina attorney general and former White House staff member.