Making It in The Toy Industry
How do I bring my toy ideas to life? How can I pitch my toy concept to top toy companies like Hasbro, Mattel, or Goliath Games? What does it cost to make a prototype, and where can I get one made? Are there toy manufacturing options outside of China?
These are just a few of the questions that will be answered on this weekly podcast, Making It In The Toy Industry. In addition to mini toy masterclasses, and step-by-step guides, each episode is designed to help you take immediate action toward developing, presenting, licensing, and producing your next big toy or game idea.
Learn how to find the right factory, negotiate manufacturing costs, and use successful sales techniques to get your product noticed by major toy companies.
Meet Your Host
Azhelle Wade, aka The Toy Coach, has been in the toy industry since 2010. With 3 toy patents, multiple toy awards, and a track record of managing multi-million-dollar toy lines for companies like Toys R Us, Party City, Madame Alexander, and Creative Kids, Azhelle brings passionate and enthusiastic toy industry expertise to every episode.
Join thousands of toy creators and entrepreneurs who are making their toy dreams real with Making It In The Toy Industry!
Making It in The Toy Industry
#300: What I’ve Learned, What’s Changing, and What Comes Next
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
After 299 weeks of toy talk, our 300th episode marks the closing of one chapter and opening another. This little podcast that started as “let’s see what happens” has turned into a full-on resource library for toy inventors, toy entrepreneurs, and creative creatives like you who just can’t shake that pull toward the toy industry.
In this episode, I'm sharing the biggest lessons from 5+ years of episodes: why most toy ideas don’t fail because they’re “bad,” how confidence actually follows clarity, and why community and the right mentors matter more than “perfect” artwork or prototypes.
This year I was on national TV with Jimmy Fallon, landed some truly incredible clients, and became a mom for the first time. So with all those big life shifts, it was time to take a reflective look at this podcast as well.
About My NEW Podcast Art:
The podcast art for Season 6 of Making It In The Toy Industry features product illustrations of toys and games I helped guide in Toy Creators Academy and TCA Accelerator. Tap the brand name below to check them out!
Playcor by Courtney Smithee
9 to 5 Warriors by Brandon Braswell
Catoms by Kieche O'Connell
The Lunch Room by EAP Toys and Games founder, Chrissy Fagerholt