Making It in The Toy Industry

In celebration of Black History Month, The Toy Coach presents a mini-series: Getting To Know Black Women In Toys and Entertainment. In this mini-series, The Toy Coach asks four interviewees the same 10 questions, in an effort to celebrate their career achievements in toys and entertainment, connect on a personal level, reminisce about toys from their childhood, and share their valuable life lesson...

In celebration of Black History Month, The Toy Coach presents a mini-series: Getting To Know Black Women In Toys and Entertainment. In this mini-series, The Toy Coach asks four interviewees the same 10 questions, in an effort to celebrate their career achievements in toys and entertainment, connect on a personal level, reminisce about toys from their childhood, and share their valuable life lesson...

In celebration of Black History Month, The Toy Coach presents a mini-series: Getting To Know Black Women In Toys and Entertainment. In this mini-series, The Toy Coach asks four interviewees the same 10 questions, in an effort to celebrate their career achievements in toys and entertainment, connect on a personal level, reminisce about toys from their childhood, and share their valuable life lesson...

In celebration of Black History Month, The Toy Coach presents a mini-series: Getting To Know Black Women In Toys and Entertainment. In this mini-series, The Toy Coach asks four interviewees the same 10 questions, in an effort to celebrate their career achievements in toys and entertainment, connect on a personal level, reminisce about toys from their childhood, and share their valuable life lesson...

Content is King. How many times have you heard that statement? And how many times did you take that statement seriously? Today’s podcast episode is focused on teaching you strategies and tactics to build your brand identity as a toy creator. In today’s world, a big part of building that identity is going to be the content you create. So that’s why I reached out to Albert Lawrence, an experienced s...

Have you ever thought about inventing or designing a game? There are two markets you can create games for. The mass market and the hobby market. And on today’s podcast episode, we have Eric Slauson, an accomplished game designer who specializes in designing social and party games. Eric shares with us the process he uses to develop his game concepts, and this process is proven and works! As the cre...

Get your notebook and pen toy people, because we’re about to get down to business. In today’s podcast episode, we talk about the grind of obtaining funding for your toy business. My guest is Terri Nichelle Bradley, the founder, and CEO of Brown Toy Box. Terri’s toy company, Brown Toy Box, makes STEAM culturally representative, accessible, and fun. In 200, Terri was named one of Inc’s 100 Top Femal...

Ready for a myth-buster? How about 5?     For today’s episode I’m going to dispel 5 myths you may have about the toy industry and share personal stories, and lessons that you can learn from each of these myths. When I first started my toy career I had a pretty clear idea about what it would be like to work in toys. I thought I knew what I’d be doing every day, who I’d be working with, and what wou...

As a toy inventor or entrepreneur, you know that there are about a hundred decisions you make on any given day. A decision to partner with a specific person or organization, a decision in how you interact with your customers, the factory you choose, the suggested retail price point you set. And at times it can seem overwhelming and challenging to continue to make the right decisions day in and day...

If you’re a fan of the holiday toy sensation Elf on the Shelf, you may already be familiar with the Lumistella Company. Today’s guest is Brad Reese, and he is the Director of Product Development at this very company! Brad’s experience in the toy industry includes working with brands such as Disney and Baby Einstein, and while his expertise spans a wide range of ages, today we’re going to delve int...

Are you thinking about starting your business in the toy industry but stumped about how to set it up when it comes to taxes? Navigating tax protocols as a new business owner can be confusing and intimidating, but our special guest today will shed valuable light on exactly what you need to know to set yourself up for tax success. Meet Margie Montes, who not only works on Wall Street as a senior boo...

Ever toyed with the idea of creating a children’s book but unsure where to start? Today’s guest, Afro Latina author and illustrator Yesenia Moises, knows exactly what it takes. A graduate of the Fashion Industry of Technology with a BFA in Toy Design, Yesenia has two successful children’s books under her belt and even more exciting projects in the works.  In a time where the world can be a scary p...

This season we’ve all cozied up and scrolled through Netflix trying to find the perfect holiday flick, but there’s one in particular that will resonate well with my fellow toy inventors. The movie is called Jingle Jangle, and it’s a musical adventure about a toymaker’s journey...from which those of us in the toy industry can glean some valuable insight.  In today’s episode, we’ll outline seven spe...

Have you ever watched a child engage with a push-button toy and couldn’t help but feel something was missing? Today we explore why the toy industry needs more toys designed for free play, experimentation, and discovery.  After recently playing with a building kit called Rigamajig from toy designer Cas Holman, The Toy Coach was inspired to delve into the importance of diversifying the play patterns...

Today’s episode is an extremely important topic. We’re going to talk about how to protect not only your toy ideas but also your toy business. You’ll learn the 3 most valuable contracts you need to have in your arsenal as a toy business owner, as well as what you need to look out for when you’re signing any work agreement as an employee. The goal of today’s episode is to give you a better understan...

With the Christmas season fast approaching and COVID-19 numbers rising, today’s episode focuses on what you need to do to adapt your toy business or toy career so that you can attract sales and clients in a seemingly cold virtual climate. This new virtual first world we’re living in, while efficient, lacks human connection and warmth. So today we’re going to talk about the marketing tactics that l...

Are you curious about how COVID-19 might impact toy sales this Christmas and beyond? Whether you're a corporate toy professional or an independent toy-preneur, this is the episode for you. To kick off today’s conversation, we jump into a year review of the impact that COVID-19, stay at home orders, remote learning, and working all made on the toy industry. The Toy Coach highlights the top gro...

Currently, the People of Play Young Inventors Challenge is in full swing. Kids from all over have submitted their toy inventions and game ideas for a chance to be named Young Inventor of The Year. Which makes this week the perfect week to celebrate young inventors. And what better way to do that than to have my first kid inventor on the podcast? I have two guests today, kid inventor Sebastian Flor...

Today's podcast topic is a very important one because we will talk about toy safety. When you are creating your toy, you want to make sure it is safe for the age group it is intended for and that it follows all regulations of the countries in which you intend to sell your toy. This topic can be scary when you're just starting out, but the goal of today's episode is to connect you wi...

In today's episode, I will explain everything about THE event that is known for connecting inventors to pitch their toy ideas to large and small toy companies. People of Play, formerly known as CHITAG, is a weeklong toy fair for industry inventors, manufacturers, and it’s open to the public. With 2020 knocking out all hopes for an in-person fair this year, the CHITAG group, put together a mas...

Toy creators today are in an ongoing battle for kids’ attention. So, I thought, what better way to find inspiration for new toy ideas than to connect with children’s entertainers? And it just so happens that a friend of mine Regina Martinez is also known as Silly Sparkles the clown. As Silly Sparkles the clown, Regina utilizes interactive balloon play, comedy, and magic to entertain and engage wit...

This episode will highlight the change and movement already happening to support diversity and inclusion within the toy industry. In the past few months, toy organizations started creating safe spaces for black people in toys, webinars focused on diversity were planned, and major mass retailers made a push for more inclusive packaging. The fact that organizations and companies have created zoom ev...

Are you attending the Festival of Licensing? Amanda Cioletti joins The Toy Coach in this episode to tell you how this festival works, what it is, and how you can make the most of it. If you don’t already know, the Festival of Licensing is a virtual event, designed to combine and connect the audience that typically attends three major global licensing events that cover Europe, Asia, and the America...

Can you change the world with bubbles? Well, that’s the goal of Paola Dyboski-Bryant of Dr. Zigs’ extraordinary bubbles. Inspired by her toddler, she built an eco-friendly and socially conscious toy company that puts smiles on kids’ faces around the world with beautiful bubbles. Paola joins us on the show to round out our recent conversations on sustainability and the toy industry. What’s beautifu...

This episode gets personal. Today’s episode guest is Christian Castro, Design Director of What Do You Meme? and significant other to The Toy Coach. Christian and Azhelle have an off the cuff conversation about finding ways to support and motivate your entrepreneurial significant other. How do you tell your partner that you want to start a toy business? How do you overcome imposter syndrome togethe...