About The Toy Coach®

Who We Are

Helping the next generation of toy and game creators bring their ideas to life.

The Toy Coach is where toy and game creators go to turn an idea into a real product. Through coaching, consulting, education, and hands-on product development, we help inventors and brands design, manufacture, and sell toys that actually make it to shelves.

What began as one expert helping a handful of inventors has grown into something bigger: a mission to open up an industry that has stayed closed and confusing for far too long.

The Toy Coach started with education and consulting. As it grew, it became clear that creators needed more than guidance.

They needed tools built for how the toy industry actually works.

So we built them. We founded Forge & Wade, a software and technology company that creates AI-powered platforms turning the gatekept parts of the toy business into something clear and doable. Its first product, The Toy Matchmaker, uses AI and real market data to connect independent toy brands with the retailers that actually fit their products. AI Toy Team, designed to put an expert product team at every creator's side, is in development, with more tools on the way.

Different brands, one mission: to make the toy industry more open, connected, and profitable for the people shaping the future of play.

Our Mission

We believe the most impactful toy ideas come from people who understand kids deeply: parents, educators, creatives, and cultural innovators. Our mission is to help those ideas take shape with clarity, intention, and confidence, and to make the business of toys more accessible for everyone in it.

Two women are at a booth with dolls on display, talking and smiling. One woman holds a doll in her hand. A camera is set up in the foreground, recording the scene. There is a person in the background observing the booth.

What We Do

For creators and inventors: coaching, courses, and community that teach you how to design, manufacture, market, and sell your toy or game idea, whether you plan to license it or launch your own brand.

For brands and corporate clients: with 16+ years of experience in toy design and brand leadership, we take on select product development, design, and consulting projects, from early concept all the way to production ready product.

For the whole industry: a top ranked podcast, free and low cost resources, and software like The Toy Matchmaker that connects creators with the partners and opportunities they need to grow.

We also produce the award-winning podcast Making It In The Toy Industry®, with 149,000+ downloads and a 4.9⭐ rating, making it one of the most trusted resources for emerging toy inventors and entrepreneurs worldwide.

Three women sitting on director's chairs, engaged in conversation, with a large screen behind them displaying 'Hasbro Women Innovators of Play September 12, 2023' with colorful gear icons
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People at a toy showcase booth with stuffed animals, dolls, and toy posters displayed on the wall.

Meet the Founder

Azhelle Wade is the founder and CEO of The Toy Coach and founder of Forge & Wade.

Since 2010, she has designed and managed multi-million-dollar toy lines for companies like Toys"R"Us, Party City, Madame Alexander, and Creative Kids, earning three U.S. patents along the way. As The Toy Coach, she has consulted for major brands including National Geographic, NBC, Hasbro, Cas Holman's Rigamajig, and BDA Inc.

Her work has been featured on NBC's Access Daily, On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, and the History Channel's The Toys That Built America, plus Forbes and Essence. She has earned the TAGIE Game Changer Award and the WIT Wonder Woman Storyteller Award, but the recognition she is proudest of is her clients' wins:

  • Samantha Ong grew Joey Dolls into a multi six figure company and pitched investors on Dragons' Den.

  • Brandon Braswell founded an action figure line called 9 to 5 Warriors through Kickstarter and landed it in dozens of specialty stores.

  • Joanna Paul licensed her plush invention, Whatsitsface, and got it into Walmart and Kohl's.

  • Chrissy Fagerholt went from inventing to running her own brand and back again, selling her own game to Target and licensing another with Mattel.


A Toy Design graduate of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, Azhelle has supported 250+ creators through Toy Creators Academy®.

Across everything she builds, Azhelle helps creators clarify the market opportunity for their idea, develop their pitch materials or manufacturing, and build the network to sell or license their ideas for a profit.

Whether you are sketching your very first concept or scaling an established toy line, she is here to help you Make It Toyetic®.

Portfolio Highlights

  • A young girl sitting on a purple stool at a craft table in a bright room with a window seat, pillows, and a woven ottoman. She is smiling and surrounded by colorful jewelry-making supplies and jewelry she has made.

    Totally Me Craft Desk for Toys R Us

  • Four dolls dressed in equestrian clothing with three horses in a field with a white fence, green grass, mountains, and a partly cloudy sky background.

    Journey Girls Product Design for Toys R Us

  • A pink toy car with three doll passengers and yellow wheels, parked on a white surface next to a picnic blanket with a small basket and utensils, with a blurred window in the background.

    Happy Together Car Design for Toys R Us

  • Colorful indoor cat tree with plush cat toys, a small slide, and bowls, set against pink wall and sliding glass door showing a garden with a stuffed animal outside.

    Journey Girls Kitty Condo for Toys R Us

  • Three plush dolls with brown and blonde hair dressed in pastel dresses holding hands, sitting on a white bench near a window with a blurred green background.

    Plush Dolls for Toys R Us

  • Display of various screen printing supplies including adhesive sprays, stencil sprays, and themed screen printing kits on a pegboard.

    Product Invention, Zip Screens for Horizon Group USA

  • Display of colorful packaging and examples of creative, monster-themed embroidered iron-on appliqués for Halloween costumes. The designs include various cartoonish monster faces with different eye and mouth features, inspired by kids' drawings and 1980s colors.

    Line Creation for Blumenthal Lansing

  • Display shelf with craft supplies and kits for creating tie-dye items, with a large colorful tie-dye cloth hanging on the left, and a sign that reads 'Craft Vibes Only' at the top right. Some products are in small boxes, jars, and bottles, with decorative flowers and craftsmanship themes.

    Brand Development Craft Vibes Only for Creative Kids

  • Trade show booth for Wrap 'N Wear featuring pink and purple decor, mirrors, product displays, a mannequin head with wig, promotional posters, and a retail table with tools for hair styling, all set on pink rug in exhibit hall.

    Brand Development, Wrap N Wear for Creative Kids

  • Colorful illustration of a fantasy scene with a girl fairy and a green monster in pajamas. The girl has red hair, fairy wings, and a crown, holding a magic wand. The monster is green with blue horns, big eyes, and is smiling. There are images of a sleeping girl, a fairy costume, and a decorated door with a monster face. The background features stars, curtains, and text about Zorbies environment and features.

    Concept Sketch, Zorbies

  • A black-and-white coloring page with instructions for a plush sheep toy named Sleepy Sheepy. The page shows a large illustrated sheep with a screen on its tummy, a smaller plush sheep in bed, and a hand pointing to the sheep's plush features. There are text explanations of the toy's features, including a sparkle touch technology, speakers, and a sheep counting display for sleep aid.

    Concept Sketch, Sleepy Sheepy

  • Two young girls playing with a pink toy kitchen set with dolls and pretend food in a bright room with large windows.

    Product Design, Play Kitchen for Toys R Us

  • A booth with stuffed teddy bears on display, a woman with long hair and a lanyard, and a large poster featuring smiling children and a psychologist named Dr. Erica Gergely. A laptop showing a teddy bear and logo, with a man sitting behind the booth. A pink speech bubble sign reads, "We talk press our P."

    Booth Design for Soothing Snuggler

Founder
Achievements

Featured In:

NBC’s On Brand With Jimmy Fallon · History Channel · Forbes · Essence · Access Daily · The Toy Book · Women In Toys · TAGIE · Mojo Nation + more. Click here for full press page.

Awards:

  • 2022 WIT Wonder Woman Storyteller Award

  • 2021 TAGIE Game Changer Award

  • 2021 Mojo Nation Design Champion

  • 2016 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal

Patents: