Sharmi's daughter, Nina, had a terrible time building her first toy robot. That led Sharmi to investigate the connections between play, learning styles, STEM careers, and how we raise our boys and girls. Sharmi Albrechtsen is CEO of SmartGurlz, a fast-growing start-up company focused on making STEM, coding and digital learning more accessible to girls. Sharmi was recently featured on a special episode of ABC’s hit TV show Shark Tank, where Sharmi battled more than 40,000 companies to face celebrity sharks including Richard Branson and Mark Cuban, and closed a deal with Daymond John. Sharmi was recently given AdWeek's Disruptor Award. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx