PAGE Video Series: Debbie Sterling

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Debbie Sterling: My name is Debbie Sterling and I'm the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox. GoldieBlox is a toy company out to inspire the next generation of female engineers and entrepreneurs. When I first started GoldieBlox, it really started from a conversation with a girlfriend, and we were lamenting the lack of women in engineering. In fact, only 14 percent of engineers in the U.S. are women. And it's a huge problem because they're the fastest growing jobs and they're critical to our economy. I remember my friend saying, you know, "I got interested in engineering because I grew up playing with my older brother's construction sets." And we both sort of scratched our heads and wondered why is it that girls play with dolls and ponies and tea sets and boys build with construction sets and have super heros and action figures. That's when I had the lightbulb moment that, through GoldieBlox, I can inspire a new generation of girls to kind of think beyond the pink aisle and see more for themselves and what they could become. When I think about my signature initiative and really getting girls around the world excited about entrepreneurship and sharing my story with them and what makes me passionate and showing that if I can do it, they can do it, too -- you know, I think one of the things that GoldieBlox has become known for is the media and the videos that we create and the messages that we send. Those videos can have a global audience and we can literally inspire girls around the world to maybe start rethinking those cultural stereotypes that get placed on them from a young age -- get them excited and empowered to do more and really take their future into their own hands.