Debbie Sterling

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Debbie Sterling
Debbie Sterling on September 21, 2015 judging Startup Battlefield at Day 1 of TechCrunch in San Francisco, California.
Born (1983-02-26) February 26, 1983 (age 41)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationStanford University
Occupation(s)Engineer, businesswoman
Known forFounder of GoldieBlox

Debbie Sterling (born February 26, 1983) is an American engineer, businesswoman and the founder and CEO of

Toy Industry Association awarded GoldieBlox the 2014 Educational Toy of the Year.[4][5]

Background

Sterling was born in

Hornall Anderson. Honing her skills branding and design, Sterling was offered full-time employment by the company a few months after.[8] Within 3 years, Sterling had moved up to be the lead brand strategist on the New York Knicks re-brand. While Sterling says she enjoyed the work, she wanted to contribute to the world in a more meaningful way, spending time volunteering at various organizations such as the Peace Corps.[8] Sterling spent six months volunteering in India, and cites this time as one of the most influential in her life. This time spent abroad allowed her to realize non profit was not her calling in life, so she once again searched for something else, eventually landing a job in jewelry making in 2009.[8]

GoldieBlox

While hosting a once monthly "Idea Brunch", the idea for GoldieBlox emerged from a discussion about the lack of women in engineering.[9][8] Having spent time working in branding, marketing and jewelry making, Sterling was well prepared to found GoldieBlox – a company that focuses STEM education, specifically engineering, to young girls with a new construction toy destined with girls in mind. Initial criticisms of the company targeted at her product were that construction toys would never catch on, and that "fighting nature" was no good – construction toys were meant to be for boys, and dolls for girls, as Sterling discussed in a 2017 Forbes interview.[citation needed] Years of research concluded this was incorrect, and she pursued the concept.[9] After initially trying to gain support for GoldieBlox at a New York toy fair, Sterling launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $300,000.[2][10][11] The campaign, which ended in 2012, was backed by 5,519 backers, and incentives included magnets, tee shirts, and toys.

Since then, GoldieBlox found success, selling over a million toys and racking up a million downloads on the app store, as of late 2017. GoldieBlox has been featured in traditional brick and mortar retail stores such as

Super Bowl commercial that aired during the 2014 game. GoldieBlox expanded into puzzle books in 2017, after feedback from users suggested interest in the product. Sterling successfully worked with the Girl Scouts of the USA to include new badges in STEM fields, with the stated goal of getting girls to think about inventing and engineering.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Debbie Sterling Gives Girl Toys a New Tune". Time. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Melissa Stanger; Jennifer Polland. "30 Women Who Are Changing The World". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  3. ^ "The Most Innovative Companies of 2014". Fast Company. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  4. Toy Industry Association. Archived from the original
    on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  5. ^ "2015 TOTY Winners". Toy Industry Association. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Debbie Sterling". EngineerGirl.
  7. ^ Chozick, Amy (2023-05-07). "Liz Holmes Wants You to Forget About Elizabeth".
  8. ^ a b c d e Gross, Elana Lyn. "How The Founder Of GoldieBlox Is Creating The Next Generation Of Women In STEM". Forbes.
  9. ^ a b "Debbie Sterling". Roadtrip Nation.
  10. ^ Ruiz, Lorena. "Meet Debbie Sterling, building toys and women engineers". MSNBC.
  11. ^ "GoldieBlox Company Profile". Fast Company. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Meet Debbie Sterling, one of Fast Company's Most Creative People". Fast Company.

External links

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