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Debbie Sterling
Born (1983-02-26) February 26, 1983 (age 41)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materStanford University
Occupation(s)Engineer, Businesswoman
Known forFounder of GoldieBlox
SpouseBeau Lewis

Debbie Sterling (born February 26, 1983) is an American businesswoman and the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox. She is an engineer, spokesperson, and advocate for women in engineering and technology. Sterling was named TIME's Person of the Moment in 2013[1] and Business Insider's 30 Women Who Are Changing the World in 2014.[2] GoldieBlox was named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2014.[3] The Toy Industry Association awarded GoldieBlox the 2014 Educational Toy of the Year.[4][5]

Sterling developed GoldieBlox after noticing the lack of available engineering toys targeted at girls. She tried to gain support for GoldieBlox at a New York toy fair but encountered doubt about girls interest in toys traditionally marketed for boys. Instead, Sterling launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly $300,000.[6][7][8]


Personal life[edit]

Early life[edit]

Sterling grew up in Rhode Island.[9] As a 6-year-old, Sterling had an interest in activities such as ballet, bike riding, and drawing.[10] She felt a sense of dissatisfaction when she was called smart instead of pretty at a young age.[9] Looking back on her childhood, she recognized that she, like many other girls at a young age had the same mindset, which was a disinterest in STEM related subjects like math and science.[10] Focusing on developing STEM-related skills in boys (by marketing construction toys for male preference) leaves young girls out and can lead to underdeveloped spatial skills, which Sterling experienced the effects of firsthand during college.[9]

Education[edit]

Sterling attended Stanford University and majored in engineering after her high school math teacher recommended she look into it.[9] Initially, She was hesitant to listen to the recommendation because she perceived engineers to be male and felt she didn't belong.[9] However, she was unsure about what major to pursue so she began by taking ME101 (an introductory mechanical engineering class) her freshman year, which would inspire her to continue pursuing engineering.[9] In 2005, she earned a degree in product design.[10]

Family[edit]

Sterling is currently married to Beau Lewis.[11] Sterling and Lewis have a son together named Miles.[11]

Career[edit]

After graduating, Sterling did an internship at Hornall Anderson, an agency focused on branding and design.[12] After working there for three years, she became the lead brand strategist on many projects.[12] Sterling left her job at Hornall Anderson to volunteer in India, but when she came back to the United States she began working as a marketing director at a small jewelry company called Lori Bonn.[12] While she worked there, Sterling decided she wanted to make construction toys aimed at girls, so she saved her money for a few months before leaving that job.[13][14] She began to make prototypes for the toy she would eventually call GoldieBlox.[15]

GoldieBlox is a construction toy and book set centered around the female character Goldie.[16] Construction toys had usually been marketed towards boys so Goldie would be used as an example for girls to be interested in engineering.[17][14] GoldieBlox would give girls the chance to develop the same spatial skills that boys were already developing from construction toys.[14] Sterling discovered girls had stronger verbal and reading skills than boys at a young age, so her product includes a story about Goldie's adventures alongside a toy to build (that was relevant to the story) to capture more interest from her target audience.[14] Once she was finished with the prototype, Sterling began to introduce the toy to kids to see if they responded well to the concept.[15]

Many people within the toy industry did not think Sterling’s prototype for GoldieBlox would be in-demand or profitable, so she began crowdfunding to make enough money to place a minimum order at a factory.[14] She accomplished this by creating a Kickstarter page to raise money for GoldieBlox, gathering around $285,000 and nearly doubling the original goal.[17] Alongside the start-up, GoldieBlox promoted its #BeLikeHer campaign which encourages kids to be influenced by women and their significant achievements.[18]

Sterling has received much praise for her creation of GoldieBlox. In 2015, Sterling was named one of the 40 under 40 influential people in Fortune magazine.[19] She received the National Women’s History Museum’s Living Legacy Award.[12] Former President Obama named Sterling a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.[12] Steve Bullock, governor of Montana, assigned Sterling to the Main Street Montana project in 2016 which promoted innovation and collaborations throughout Montana.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Debbie Sterling Gives Girl Toys a New Tune". TIME. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. ^ 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. ^ "2014 TOTY WINNERS". 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. ^ Melissa Stanger; Jennifer Polland. "30 Women Who Are Changing The World". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  7. ^ Ruiz, Lorena. "Meet Debbie Sterling, building toys and women engineers". MSNBC.
  8. ^ "GoldieBlox Company Profile". Fast Company. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Inspiring the next generation of female engineers | Debbie Sterling | TEDxPSU - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  10. ^ a b c Atkins, Makayla (2019-11-30). "Debbie Sterling: An Engineer That Inspires Me". Medium. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  11. ^ a b Stanberry, Lindsey. "This Is How I Do It: Goldieblox Debbie Sterling". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  12. ^ a b c d e Gross, Elana Lyn. "How The Founder Of GoldieBlox Is Creating The Next Generation Of Women In STEM". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  13. ^ Morehead, James (2013-03-25). "GoldieBlox Founder Debbie Sterling's Social Mission to Inspire More Female Engineers". OneDublin.org. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  14. ^ a b c d e "How do I become … a toy inventor". the Guardian. 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  15. ^ a b "10 minutes with ... Debbie Sterling, founder of GoldieBlox". the Guardian. 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  16. ^ Wee, Heesun (2013-11-21). "GoldieBlox: Rebelling against the pink princess, toy complex". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  17. ^ a b Wee, Heesun (2013-07-14). "GoldieBlox: How an engineer created a hot toy start-up for girls". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  18. ^ News, The Lily. "GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling is transforming the toy aisle for girls". https://www.thelily.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |website= (help)
  19. ^ "Debbie Sterling". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  20. ^ "Governor Bullock Announces Debbie Sterling, CEO of Award-Winning Toy Company GoldieBlox, to Keynote Main Street Montana Project Event in Billings".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

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