Debbie Sterling

Sterling was born in Los Angeles, California on February 26, 1983. Her grandmother, Sterling Sturtevant, was an Academy Award-winning art director for animated films who worked for Walt Disney, Playhouse Pictures, UPA and Charles Schulz; science fiction author Amy Sterling Casil is her aunt. As a child, Sterling spent her time playing with princesses, ponies and dressing up. Growing up, Sterling developed an interest in engineering. She found appeal in combining skills in art, design, mechanics and physics in order to tackle and solve complex problems. Sterling subsequently pursued a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, graduating in 2005;[6] Sterling's friends and classmates while at Stanford included Elizabeth Holmes.[7] Out of college, Sterling moved to Seattle and took a job as an intern at design agency 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]

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. 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 Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us,[12] online at Amazon,[12]  along with featuring a 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]

• Sterling at TEDx