Debbie Sterling Built Her Own Castle & You Can Too

The following is an excerpt from You Are A Mogul by Tiffany Pham, available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

As a girl obsessed with princesses growing up, it never even occurred to me that

engineering was something I would enjoy. In fact, the first time I even thought

about it was my senior year of high school when my math teacher encouraged me

to pursue it in college. Engineer? I pictured someone conducting a train.

But I gave it a try when I went to Stanford and, four years later, I

graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering/Product Design.

Unfortunately, I was one of the only women in my program.

I knew we needed to do something about this. And I decided I wanted to

“disrupt the pink aisle” with a toy that would introduce girls to the joy of

engineering at a young age. I created GoldieBlox.

I never set out to become a toy developer. But sometimes, you have to

follow life’s inspirations as they come, and explore their meaning. This

was a way in which I knew I could impact girls at a young age. Sure I could be one

of the few women in engineering jobs at a company. But who would really see

me? I knew my impact could be greater if I started to show girls right from the

beginning that they could build things themselves. To remind every girl she is

more than just a princess.

In developing our character, Goldie, and her diverse group of friends, our

goal was to create strong, female role models who have grit and are fueled by

failure, yet still fun and relatable for girls and boys alike. The toy has now

spawned books and a You Tube series. One of my favorite moments in our series

is when Goldie takes apart an old car charger and uses its guts to build a DIY

phone charger. As she pulls out the circuit board, she assures the viewers that

these wires can seem intimidating at first, but they’re actually super simple!

That’s the message I want to send through this show – let’s not intimidate kids

with engineering – let’s empower them and encourage them to tinker, maybe

mess up a few times, but ultimately use their creativity to become the makers and

problem solvers of tomorrow.

It’s OK to be a princess, but I want GoldieBlox to let every girl know she

can build her castle too.

By: Debbie Sterling, Founder & CEO of GoldieBlox and TIME’s “Person of the Moment”

You Are A Mogul debuted on September 4, 2018 by Simon & Schuster, available now on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.