Podcast Magazine recently featured Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach for an incredible interview about the vision that pushed her to leave her 9-5 to help aspiring toy inventors and entrepreneurs with her podcast, Making It In The Toy Industry with The Toy Coach. Azhelle’s podcast has been releasing episodes every single week (sometimes more than once a week!), since its inception in 2020. The show is credited with inspiring and educating listeners from across the globe and giving them the tools they need to take the next step in their toy businesses.

During the pandemic, consumers purchased, what we refer to in the industry, as “traditional toys”. The sales went to games and puzzles, outdoor and sports toys, building sets (such as LEGO), arts and crafts, and dolls (notably Barbie). I guess it’s easy to see why these categories were top choices. Families were stuck at home with lots of hours to fill and screen-fatigue quickly set in. We’ve all spent way too much online this year, don’t you agree?

This year the concept of “diversifying your toy box” is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. And, as The Toy Coach, toy companies have been reaching out to me asking what they can do to rise to the occasion and diversify their product lines.

On December 16th, 2020 at 1 PM EST time, I joined Kit and Scott on NBC’s Access Daily with a holiday toy segment featuring toys from companies that are centered around inclusion.

Not only do these toys promote diverse play, thinking, and come from diverse entrepreneurs but they ALSO crush the four Toyetic Principles which are the rules to making products that kids love to play with.

If you already caught the segment, and you’re looking for links to BUY some of the amazing toy products, I covered then you’ve come to the right place. I’m going to share a summary of each toy covered and a link to you can shop, hopefully in time for the holidays.

We only have one earth, and we need to take care of it. You may feel that there is little you can do, as someone in the toy industry, but there are actually many ways we can help the cause by making sure our toys are more sustainable than those that came before. Here are some ways you can make more eco-friendly toys.

When you’re a toy inventor or entrepreneur, you’re probably used to doing it all. You want to have a hand in every part of the invention and production process. However, there may be some times you need some help, and that’s OK. A great entrepreneur knows when to delegate tasks instead of taking on too much for themselves.

Starting out in the toy (or any professional) industry can be a long, difficult, and even lonely journey. Luckily, there’s an organization dedicated to the success and empowerment of women working in the toy, licensing, and entertainment industries.

So, you have an idea for a toy or a game. What next? Should you start with product development, branding, or marketing? Each of these aspects is incredibly important in the invention process. However, there is definitely an ideal order for the development process.

Creative block is a toy inventor’s worst enemy. It can strike when you are overworked or stressed. In that case, just walk away and come back to the project once you have had a chance to clear your mind. However, if you’re trying something completely new, your block may be caused by the dreaded “imposter syndrome.” Your self-doubt may cause you to wonder why you wanted to become a toy inventor in the first place.

In the times before social media, you could purchase commercial space on kids’ TV channels or in age-appropriate magazines, but now, everything is digital or on social media. To a newbie, it seems like a random game, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of getting spotlighted in an amazing way.

I can remember, at the beginning of my career, I believed it when people told me that dolls of color just don’t sell as well as white, blonde dolls. I was told that covers and ads for toy lines had to have a certain ratio of white models to models of color, and I went with it. However, at a certain point, I had to examine my own thoughts and came to the conclusion that I was done supporting these ideals.

Today, media properties also include personalities, influencers, and characters. A popular media property from the past, “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers,” sets a great example of how to reach success against the four toyetic principles: distinct character personalities, scalability by theme, character-specific accessories, and surprise conflict. I'm going to break them down as they were applied in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers:

Taking place over four weeks with each week dedicated to a global region from October 6-29, the all-virtual event serves as a large-scale digital gathering that aims to bring together the global licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage. Live and on-demand content will span keynotes, educational sessions, plentiful networking opportunities, and even entertainment.