446 - Cash In On Your Creative Ideas with Multi-Million Dollar Toy Inventor Azhelle Wade

0:00So I want to hear about the path that brought you to the toy industry. did you always know that this was the career you wanted to get into? Right. So I always knew I wanted to work with kids. That was always my, that's where my baseline was at. So I told my grandmother, I was like, I'm going to be a teacher. Then I moved on to wanting to be a child psychologist. Then I saw the movie of, what was it? The Sixth Sense. Yes. And I got totally freaked out. And I thought, oh, if I do anything wrong, I'm going to get shot. So that's where my mind went. And then little by little, I started getting into the art world and I met somebody who was actually doing exhibition design.

0:38So I just followed in her footsteps and I ended up at the Fashion Institute of Technology where I did study exhibition design and focused on children's exhibitions, which one of my teachers said, Hey, there's a toy design program here. I think you should go for it. And I did. How cool. And so did you, so, okay, you're in the toy design program. When you were studying that, were you like, this is my path in life? Did you have that feeling in your heart? No. No. In my first podcast episode, I literally said there was a time when I started in toy design. I looked at my friend and I said, why did you let me go into this industry?

1:14I am not, I am not made for this. It was so hard to come up with ideas. Oh my gosh. Like the idea phase is so hard. So I, I thought I wasn't cut out for it. I had no idea why I did it to myself. I was going to go for a master's in exhibition design, just as like an exit plan. Yep. And eventually I learned how to like think and how to come up with ideas and how to see the world differently so that I could be creative, but also mass. Because in the toy industry, it's all about selling to mass market predominantly. And then there's like the hobby sector where you can sell the hobby, hobby products.

1:49But yeah, not at first. No. That's so fascinating. And I'm so happy that you brought that up because I feel like there are many times in our lives where we may want to start something new or get into a new field. And we can have that narrative that says, well, I'm not that creative or I can't come up with ideas this fast. And I think what you're sharing is so inspiring because it was like you were in that position. You're you stuck with it and you're like, oh, I can learn how to do this. Oh, I can unlock my creativity and see how to apply it in all of these new directions. Yeah, that is the name of my very first episode, Unlocking Your Creativity.

2:23It's so true. I was always a creative, but unlocking that toy creativity is a whole other experience. I love this. So what inspired you then to make the leap? Because you had this incredible career within the industry of being a toy designer and then the VP of brand and product development, and then that's another leap to then entrepreneurship. Tell us about that. So I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I grew up watching my mom come home at 12 o 'clock in the morning, two o 'clock in the morning, working her butt off as an entrepreneur in her own right. So I said, nope, not for me. I will always stay in corporate.

3:00And then the pandemic hit and I started reassessing life. And I said, you know what? I can't even believe how much time I don't spend at home. And now having this time at home with my partner and imagining our future, I just, you know, I started to see this future where I would never see him. I would never see my potential children in the future. And I just didn't like that. Like, what's the point? So I just said, you know what, maybe now is the time. Maybe I'll take the leap. And I did it. So before COVID hit, did you have rumblings inside? Like, were there little seeds of going like, wow, there's all these aspiring toy people, all these aspiring inventors, all these aspiring toy entrepreneurs.

3:47And I have all this knowledge in my head and my heart that I could pass on to them. Or was it really like COVID hit and boom, it was another creative breakthrough of like, oh, I'm going to make the leap. Okay. So that's a good point. Let me bridge that because there was, I was very entrepreneurial outside of my full-time job, but I have, I have a costume company on the side. It's a whole thing. So I would do that on the side of my job because I legally couldn't do toys. Right. So I would do, I was entrepreneurial in that way. So then, you know, Amy Porterfield, she was always in my ear. I was always listening to her podcast and I was trying to apply what she was teaching to my costume company and it didn't really fit, right?

4:24Like I could use some things, but it didn't really fit because that was a physical business. And then one day I went to a toy industry event and I met this woman who had a game and she was so passionate about this game. And I really wanted to help her. I wanted to pitch her to my boss and share her product and maybe we could license it. Like maybe big things could happen for her, but she just didn't know what I needed to know in order to pitch to him. She didn't have the tools. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't communicate it, but I could see it. Like, you know, you can just sense it. Yes.

4:56I could see it. So one day I was just driving, listening to the same podcast and all of a sudden it just hit me And I was like, wait a second, why am I trying to reinvent the wheel and teach myself something I know very little about being fashion design, doing my costume company, instead of trying to do something with all of this knowledge I have for 10 years of being in the toy industry. And it was just kind of the timing. I think the pandemic, those feelings coming up, realizing I didn't need as much as I thought I did to just get by day by day, where I got to the point where I'm like, I can do this.

5:31I took my savings and I was like, I can do this. Let me do it. I'm so happy. Thank you for sharing all of that detail because there's a few things I just want to underscore for our audience. One, the value of continuing to feed yourself inspiring educational information, just like what we're doing right here, where you hear different people's stories, you're focused on entrepreneurship. And even if you don't expect to be an entrepreneur, there's going to come a time perhaps when you're like, whoa, I have something that I can give to the world and I want to do it in a new way. So that's number one.

6:02Number two, I loved that you just said, and again, I'm going to highlight this, is that you took a look at the numbers and you said to yourself like, oh, I don't necessarily need to spend X amount of dollars every month. I can actually do something, not put myself in a position where it's scary, but really go like, wow, I can take a leap towards my big dream. So that's another thing I just want to acknowledge, respect, and appreciate you for, and thank you for sharing that. Thank you. On your podcast, you've talked about this idea called the puzzle of you. And because we have so many multi-passionate entrepreneurs like myself in this audience, tell us about that concept and how maybe it can help our listeners find their own path.

6:43You are such a good example of this. I mean, I follow you as well, obviously. And watching your webinars and your lead-in to B-School and seeing you on social and stuff, you integrate your personality so well into your business, right? Thank you. Yeah, so well. And those pieces of you is what makes you relatable. It's what makes you an expert because it's not about being an expert in everything. It's about being an expert in the specific life that you chose to lead, right? And what I talked about in that podcast episode was just teaching my students like, hey, you don't have to know exactly what your goal is, what your end goal is, how you're going to wrap all this toy industry knowledge you're getting from this podcast up into a pretty bow of a toy business.

7:33But what you do have to know is what you love. You have to know what you're skilled at. You have to know who you're connected to. And you have to want to put all that stuff together into something. So the best example of this, I think for me, is my podcast. For the longest time, I actually wanted to be a voice actor. I was like, that would be a great side gig. Like, how cool would that be? And then I had all this toy knowledge. And literally one day I realized, oh, my voice can combine with this toy knowledge, these pieces of me, and turn into something that people resonate with because they enjoy listening to me.

8:11And I'm giving them valuable information. And that is what you do with those pieces of you. You just have to figure out how they fit together. That's right. It is like a puzzle. And I often love to talk about that part of my journey when I was in my mid-20s and I'm like, okay, I love this coping thing. I love marketing. I love hip hop and dance and spirituality. I felt like I was all over the place. And I was, but that was what needed to happen at that particular stage. And people will be like, oh, did you have the vision for MarieTV? I'm like, hell no, I did not have any vision, right? What's so, I was like, I couldn't see five feet in front of me.

8:49But what I did do, again, echoing exactly what you're talking about was I'm identifying these different pieces that currently feel so disparate. They currently feel so disconnected. But if you continue to lean into those passions or those interests or those talents and give yourself just a little bit of permission to explore them without an attachment to a particular outcome, I find for most of us, convergence happens just like your podcast happened. You're like, wow, voice actor. It's just awesome. So again, thank you for sharing that. I want to move on to the mantra that your mom gave you. Because as you know, my mom gave me a mantra and I love the mantra that your mama gave you.

9:30Can you tell us what that mantra is and any story that comes to mind or your heart about how it's supported you in this journey? Yeah. My mother's mantra is, Jelle, never say you can't. And I have a very distinct memory of the first time I remember hearing it, actually. And I remember what I was wearing, which is the weirdest thing. I was wearing this like plaid tartan skirt that was like blue and lime green. It was so, so bizarre and probably very 90s with like a black, like a black turtleneck top. And I remember coming up to her. I don't even know what I was doing. And I just said, Mom, like, I can't do it.

10:07And she just looked at me from her computer so seriously and calmly. And she was just a gel. Never say you can't. And for some reason that sat with me so hard and I went and I did that thing and I went and did many more things from that. So I hear her and I made a tick tock about it. It's hilarious. She loved it for Mother's Day. Just doing that whole never say you can't because she literally would say it to me every time. So when people ask me, Nigel, how do you get so much done? And it's because I literally believe I can do it. So there is no, nothing worrying me about what if I do it wrong?

10:46I assume I'll do it wrong, but I can do it. Yes. That's the same. That's, that is the power of our beliefs and how they really do drive, not only how we perceive ourselves in the world, but how we then live into and form into reality. That's when people ask me about anything and they're like, but you didn't know how to, you know, anything around the book or I did my, my crazy book launch concert. I was like, yeah, it's like everything is figureoutable. Like I'm not just saying this shit. I believe it. Like I literally live it. And I have your book and I love it. And I bought it because of that reason.

11:25It's the same mantra. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's so, it's like, people may think these things are like woo woo, or it's just affirmations or like positive pop psychology that is just fluff, but it's like, no, this is like real. Like the most important conversations in the world are the conversations that you have with yourself. And if they are encouraging, and again, it's not all going to go right. All so much stuff that I'm trying to figure out. It goes wrong. It gets messy. It gets real messy. The ugly cries, the frustration, like all that's great, but eventually I'm going to figure it out.

11:57And that's how you become a trailblazer. Like with your concert, who'd done that before? I'm telling you, Michelle, can I just tell you, I was thinking because I'm like, okay, we're kind of coming out of this pandemic thing, right? We got this light at the end of the tunnel, really excited about it. And I was thinking to myself, I'm like, when can I do something like that again? Because I'm sure you have this experience too. When your mom gave you that incredible mantra, never say you can't, it kind of awakens a superpower within you where you're like, oh, right. You get hungry then to take an adventure.

12:29Or if someone tells you, and you've probably experienced this, right? So many times in your business and so many times in the toy industry, or you see it in other people where somebody is telling them they can't, you're like, don't listen, don't listen. You can. And then you get excited to take on those challenges. Yes. Right before our call, I jumped into my Facebook group because my students just got off pitch meetings with toy companies and we got a lot of maybes, but we did get some no's. And I went in to tell them like, guys, I know you're discouraged by these no's. And I brought like a little toy from my side of my thing, like this little, like this random turtle I got from Puerto Rico.

13:05And I was like, if you pitch this turtle to someone and they say, I really don't like that his head moves. You can't go into the next pitch meeting thinking, oh my gosh, his head moves. I should not show this to anyone. You have to go into that meeting thinking like I made his head move for a reason. And instead of defending with your why, lead with your why. And I just talked to them about that. So I love that you brought that up. If you're struggling to make progress on your dreams, this free tool is going to help. It's called the yearly goals map. And in just 10 minutes, you're going to get clear on your top priorities and let go of what's keeping you stuck.

13:40It's super quick. It's powerful. And you can do it any time. Get it now at marieforleo.com slash yearly-goals, or just scan the QR code on your screen right now. I want to talk about some mistakes because I suspect we may have some aspiring toy entrepreneurs or toy makers or toy inventors in the audience. And plus too, entrepreneurship, like mistakes are mistakes are mistakes, but we can totally get granular and talk about the toy industry here for a second. I read in something you wrote that there's one particular mistake about not considering the price before you put in a ton. And I feel like this is one of those universal things.

14:18Again, I have made this mistake before. I think we've all made this mistake before. So this is not about shaming anybody, but we want to highlight it so you can learn from our pain and not do it. Can you explain this from your industry standpoint? What happens? Oh, this is so challenged because I come from the physical product industry where this is like Like my goal, this is my gold standard. Moving into the coaching industry, you know, everybody's so opposite. They're like, charge what you're worth and like all this. And it's true. You want to be paid for what you're worth. But when you're developing physical product, people have preset ideas of how much something should cost.

14:59You know, they have preset values in their head. And it's usually based around how a product makes them feel or how it will make their family members feel or the prestige. Like when you get into prestige, when you get into like Louis Vuitton, like then you get into prestige, right? That's a whole different category. But you have to look at the majority of your market and what is the majority of your market doing? And I hate it. It breaks my heart when I see inventors develop and invest their life savings in something that is not manufacturable for a reasonable price. So I really push my students and all you have to do is go out and look at product, existing product that is similar to what your idea is.

15:38And don't get your ego involved and get all like, there's nothing like what I have. There is something. And if there is really nothing like it, you find the two things that are like similar, that if they came together would be like your idea. And you look at the price of those two things and you assume that these prices are the sustainable prices. So you have to be able to like cost reduce your item so that it's like a quarter of that price is what your factory price will be. So I just encourage my students, like, look at your item, look at competitor items. If you have, let's say, like a game that you're making and it has like five plastic pieces and most of games of that price point have two, you've gone too far.

16:18You've got to rework your gameplay. You've got to rework your product to drop that price point or no one will accept it. I have one example. I literally just pitched an item today with a student. And the first thing they said was, oh, we love this plastic feature that you guys incorporated, but it's too expensive. And I said, I know, but I have a solution. So the solution was just to use a vac tray. It's a part of packaging that's really affordable. You can have them made in mass for 10 cents a piece. And as soon as we had that answer, they became more interested. They wanted to see more. So you just have to prepare and think cost-wise.

16:56Yeah. And I'll apply this in a different realm because sometimes through B-School, when I've worked with people and I'm trying and I get so fired up, right? I love helping, especially women, get really wealthy and however they define that for themselves. And so when we're looking at their business plans or we're talking and we're coaching and we're working through things and I'm like, okay, so you've got this clear financial goals, but then you're pricing your product down here, but then you want to spend like, you know,$25 ,000 on development. I'm like, these numbers aren't adding up. And so I just, it's such an important thing for anyone out there who is entrepreneurial.

17:31It's like getting these numbers right from the onset before you're putting in all of this creative work, before you're investing, right, a ton of money into a prototype or a ton of money into technology, or even a ton of your thought capital into like, this is where I'm going and this is how it's got to turn out when your numbers don't actually make sense. So thank you for sharing that. I love this other thing too that you said, especially in the world we're in right now where everyone doesn't necessarily have to go into a boardroom or a physical location to pitch, that there are certain pitching mistakes that you've noticed aspiring toy entrepreneurs are making in this new digital format.

18:12And I love you shared that it's never been easier to get in front of toy buyers, but you've got to do it right. So can we talk about the power of like a killer sizzle video and not using virtual backdrops? Oh my gosh. Do you, do you not like them as well? Am I? I mean, people, they're like, oh, Marie, you're such a nice visual. And I'm like, dude, this is like my house. This is real. This is a real thing. I don't, you know, I personally don't care, but I thought it was just so absolutely valuable for you as the toy coach to go like, hey, look, here's what's wrong. And here's what you got to switch up.

18:46So the sizzle reel, I feel like I see that people get this wrong in every industry, but tell us about it. So a sizzle video in the toy industry is usually a 30 to 60 second video that explains your product concept. It shows, you know, what it is, why kids will love it and why a buyer should buy it. Right. So it usually shows some of the marketing features. The biggest mistake that people make with a sizzle video is they wait until halfway through the video to actually show you all the good stuff about the product. Cause they're thinking they're doing like a buildup. They'll do an intro of themselves as an inventor.

19:18They'll have like a logo and a jingle for like a minute. And, and that is, that is not what you want to do because I know having been a toy industry executive, you are so busy. You want to look at these ideas, but you have zero time. In the time that you hit the download button for that video, you could be like called into a meeting. So we don't have time. I tell people keep everything good before the 45 second mark. But honestly, in 30 seconds in, if you haven't said something to catch their attention, like this rocket shoots 150 feet in the air, like you're at a loss. So yes. So sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, But I, again, this is something that I've seen and I even noticed it too.

20:00I remember like some of my earliest videos. I'm like, oh God, Marie, like the intro, like your intro is so long. And now I'm just like, get to the point, get to the point. Let's get to the point, right? I love your intros, by the way. I was watching one the other day and you wrote like, oh, headphones, this episode contains explicit content. I was like, oh, that's so nice. I should have that. I was like, that's so well done. Thank you. But like the early days, I, again, because I have all my stuff up. I always tell people, they're like, oh, it's, I'm like, y 'all got to go look back at like 2011, like go look at the stuff from my webcam.

20:34When I was like, I just had a puppy and I don't know what the hell's going on. I'm like, all right, I'm going to do a Q and A Tuesday. There's nothing. But point is, thank you for sharing that because I get video pitches a lot for different things, even people for jobs. And it's like teaching anyone, all of us, all of us need this reminder. I need this reminder too. It's like getting to the point. It was the other day, I have an herb garden. It's a very small herb garden, but I was short on time and I needed to trim my parsley. And I'm one of those humans. I'm like, I just want to like do it right.

21:06And I'm going on YouTube, right? And this like one guy, it's just, it's a whole intro. It was like, he went on Fiverr and he got this whole logo that spins. And I'm like, nope, can't even deal with it. Somebody else, I'm going to teach you how to harvest your parsley right now. And it was like, boom. And I'm like, done. Yes. Yes. Just another example. We can learn from TikTok, right? Yes. We can learn from TikTok. It's yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. No, I agree. That is the most important thing. And other than that, the file size of your video, I'm sure you experienced that when they send these massive files and you don't even want to download it.

21:41Like put it in a Google drive link so that I can just view it. Make sure it's link shareable to all. Keep it simple. Am I right? No, it's just thinking through the details and you're helping people so much with that. Okay. So, um, this may be our last question, but I want to hear more about your vision. I think you have such incredible passion. I'm so excited for you because one of the other things that I read that really, um, it's so warmed my heart that you were saying, Hey, this audience that I am serving this audience that I am cultivating and correct me if I'm wrong here, if I didn't get this right, it was like, this is not, These folks are like harder to reach.

22:16They're harder to find. But you have such a heart connection to them and you want to help them be successful. So I want to hear more. So it sounds like I got that right. Oh my gosh, yes. Tell me more about your vision, where it is right now, and what's really getting you excited as you're coaching these new toy entrepreneurs and where you kind of want to see this go, whether six months, 12 months, whatever feels true to your heart. Oh, so much is I'm excited about so much. What I'm realizing in these pitch events is the toy companies are really appreciating that I'm bringing new people to them in the industry to pitch product.

22:50Finding those people is now my secret sauce and I will tell no one. But it is so, so challenging and I'm sure I'm going to have to keep tweaking how I'm finding them throughout the life of my business. It's not easy. They're all so different. Like I had a clown in my class. I had a cake entrepreneur. I have people working as doctors, psychiatrists. I have industrial designers, people working in animation. They are all over the map. You can't put in like one specific Facebook anything into Facebook ads and find these people. It is all over the map. But I think when I get specific about my messaging, I'm going to help you do children's product, toys, games.

23:32It's a little bit easier to get the right people to find me. Yeah. And I've been doing that a lot. And that's why I love being on platforms like this, because it's just kind of a megaphone out there. Like, where are you? You know, I am here and I'm using my connections and taking a step back from being a toy creator myself to nurture and educate and help other people create better products. And I call them my mission driven toy creators. That's who I help. I love it. And so speaking of that, are you most active on TikTok or Insta or tell everyone where they can find you? because I know that there are people in our audience, whether it's them or it's their sister or their husband or their cousin or somebody that they know who they've had this conversation with, like, oh, I have this idea for a toy, but they just don't know how to get started.

24:19So where's the best places for people to find you? Yeah, I'm on Instagram the most, at the Toy Coach. I'm trying for TikTok, but not there yet. So Instagram is where I'm at right now. I'd love to connect with you. Awesome. Aiselle, you are just such a gift. I'm so excited. I'm so happy that you listened to that call in your heart and you took advantage of this massively changing world to say, you know what, now is the time for me to go out and leap on my own. And I'm just excited for how you're helping people bring these incredible dreams that they have to life because it's so unusual. I don't think I've ever met anyone who's been a toy designer before, and I've certainly never met a toy coach.