About The Toy Coach®

Who We Are

The Toy Coach® Inc. is a Certified Black-Owned & Woman-Owned consulting and education firm dedicated to helping toy creators and brands learn, build, and grow unforgettable brands.

Since 2020, we've supported 250+ innovators worldwide, helping them pitch over 100 toy & game concepts to top-tier consumer goods and entertainment companies.

Our Mission

To make the toy industry more accessible, more consumer-led, and more playful.

We believe parents, teachers, and innovators deserve a seat at the table, because the best toy ideas come from the people who know kids best.

What We Do

- Toy Creators Academy®: Our flagship online program that teaches the full toy development process, from idea to pitch.
- 1:1 Coaching & Intensives: Personalized support to validate your concept, avoid costly mistakes, and fast-track results.
- Courses & Guides: Practical resources like the Toy Trade Show Handbook to help you launch and sell smarter.
- Speaking Engagements: Keynotes that reframe how teams think about innovation by applying toy industry frameworks, like the 4 Toyetic Principles, Toy Math, and how the toy industry’s creative systems can unlock breakthroughs in any field. Example: “Unlocking Creativity” talk at Science Museum Oklahoma.
- Workshops: Hands-on sessions that use creative tools like SCAMPER and Toy Math to spark more toyetic, playful ideas inside your organization.
- Product Development: With 12+ years in toy design and brand leadership, We also support select clients with toy/game development and consumer product design on a project basis.
- Toy Concierge: A white-glove service curating toys for holidays, gifting, and exclusive experiences.
- Custom Toy Creations: One-of-a-kind toy development for high-profile clients, authors, and creators who want a signature play product aligned with their personal brand.

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.

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Meet the Founder

I’m Azhelle Wade, but most people know me as The Toy Coach.

My path into toys began at the Toy Design program at FIT, where I discovered the massive impact childhood play has on how we learn, work, and connect as adults. That realization sparked my passion for creating children’s products that nurture imagination and inspire young minds. It launched me into a 12+ year corporate career, working my way up from toy designer to VP of Brand & Product at companies like Toys“R”Us, Madame Alexander, Party City, Horizon Group USA, and Creative Kids.

Along the way, I earned three U.S. patents, built multi-million-dollar toy lines, and received honors including the TAGIE Game Changer Award and the WIT Wonder Woman Storyteller Award.

But my life has been far from all fun and games. In 2012, a severe car accident left me with lifelong back injuries, yet it pushed me toward salsa dancing, which became a passion and took me around the world performing with a dance team.

Then, in 2016, I was diagnosed with cancer. That moment forced me to pause and ask what truly mattered. Surviving became a turning point: I realized I didn’t just want to build toys, I wanted to leave a legacy by making the toy industry more open and accessible.

That’s why, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I launched The Toy Coach and the Making It In The Toy Industry® podcast. At a time when the world felt isolated, this work created genuine community in the toy industry. It gave aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs a place to ask questions and receive the tools and resources to actually make their ideas real products. Since then, I’ve launched Toy Creators Academy® and supported hundreds of creators in developing their “napkin sketch” ideas into products with real potential.

After five years as an entrepreneur, I was invited to compete on NBC’s On Brand with Jimmy Fallon as part of the On Brand Agency team. It was a chance to showcase the creativity and disruptive thinking that have defined my career. That experience reaffirmed my belief that toys and play aren’t just for kids — they’re powerful tools for creativity in every industry.

Most recently, I’ve stepped into my most meaningful role yet, motherhood. Welcoming my son has added a deeper layer of purpose to everything I do. Now more than ever, I understand the importance of creating toys that inspire, nurture, and reflect the children who play with them.

Today, through The Toy Coach®, I get to bring together all of my experiences: corporate leadership, personal resilience, teaching, creativity, and motherhood, into one mission. That mission is to make the toy industry more accessible, more consumer-led, and more playful.

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