#267: Winning a TOTY Award and Scaling a Toy Business Through 3D Printing with Solobo Toys
Can 3D printing really replace traditional toy manufacturing? One founder says “absolutely” and she’s got the award to prove it.
In this episode, I’m chatting with the amazing Courtney Peebles, founder of Solobo Toys, about how she won a TOTY Award for her hit plush toy, Emotional Baggage, and how rising manufacturing challenges pushed her to transform her business using 3D printed toys.
Courtney gets real about the challenges she faced with manufacturing overseas, and how jumping into 3D printed toys helped her reduce costs, improve margins, and take back control of her production. Even better? She did it all while staying true to her brand's mission: creating inclusive toys that help kids express their emotions and feel seen.
We’ll talk about how 3D printing can help small toy brands build profitable direct-to-consumer businesses, the exact steps Courtney took to pass essential safety testing, and why sustainable manufacturing with 3D printers is more accessible than you might think. You’ll also hear how winning a TOTY Award for her plush toy, Emotional Baggage, boosted both her visibility and sales and what it really takes to scale a toy business with limited resources.
If you’ve ever dreamed about taking your toy idea from sketch to shelf without a big factory or warehouse, you need to hear this one!
Listen now and let Courtney’s story inspire your next step in the toy industry.
Listen For These Important Moments
[00:03:27] - Courtney shares the emotional moment her plush toy, Emotional Baggage, won a TOTY Award, beating major brands like Disney and Miss Rachel. She never expected it—and it changed her business overnight.
[00:07:46] - A simple post about her award win triggered a wave of direct-to-consumer orders. She had to leave Toy Fair early just to keep up with the shipping!
[00:13:18] - With rising tariffs and time pressure, Courtney stopped manufacturing overseas and leaned into 3D printed toys to take back control of her production process.
[00:15:32] - Courtney walks us through how she passed all the required safety testing for her 3D printed toys using small-batch manufacturing guidelines—no shortcuts, just smart strategy.
[00:24:57] - Starting with one $600 printer, Courtney’s now scaling up to 41. She explains how Solobo Toys is growing quickly—without the stress of massive factory MOQs.
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
Check out Courtney Peebles’s website at: https://solobotoys.com/
Connect with Courtney Peebles online by clicking here: https://www.instagram.com/solobotoys/
Grab my Toy Safety Bundle and learn exactly how to navigate safety testing like a pro:
https://learn.thetoycoach.com/safety
Check out the exact printer Courtney uses to build her award-winning products:
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[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, episode number 267.
[00:00:11] Welcome to Making It in The Toy Industry, a podcast for inventors, entrepreneurs, and makers like you. And now your host. Azhelle Wade.
[00:00:23] Azhelle Wade: Hey there, toy people. Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It In The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com.
[00:00:33] Azhelle Wade: Today's guest is Courtney Peebles. She is an award-winning toy designer and founder of Solobo Toys, creating expert backed inclusive educational toys that grow with every child, with a background in digital media and design, and a master's in education and instructional design and technology, she blends design and education to design toys that support diverse developmental needs.
[00:00:57] Azhelle Wade: As a late diagnosed autistic adult and a parent of two neurodivergent children, Courtney ensures accessibility and meaningful play in every product. Her work has earned recognition in Parents Magazine, Forbes, Toy insider, the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, more even a TOTY win, solidifying Courtney's impact on the future of inclusive play.
[00:01:19] Azhelle Wade: For today's conversation, one of the topics that Courtney and I are gonna touch on is creating products through 3D printing. Courtney didn't start her brand that way, but in our conversations I found that Courtney said that 3D printed products have actually become a huge profit part of her business.
[00:01:37] Azhelle Wade: So Courtney, welcome to the show. So happy to have you here.
[00:01:39] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:41] Azhelle Wade: So thank you for sending me some product. I'm gonna be doing a little unboxing as I ask you questions and we get into it. So I'm excited to do that for this, uh, video.
[00:01:52] Courtney Peebles: Yes.
[00:01:53] Azhelle Wade: To open this interview, I have to ask you to finish this sentence for me.
[00:01:57] Azhelle Wade: The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was?
[00:02:01] Courtney Peebles: Oh gosh. Just how much different toys there are. I know that sounds kind of given, but like when you're a parent you have a specific set of toys that you like look for for your kid. I think everybody's drawn to that and then you realize how many varieties of toys there are.
[00:02:16] Azhelle Wade: Love that. What's like a variety or a category that you didn't know existed that you know now?
[00:02:21] Courtney Peebles: Oh my gosh. When I go to Target with my son, he finds this just the most random things I've never heard of most of it being like Monster truck based. Oh.
[00:02:32] Azhelle Wade: He has a very specific taste. All right.
[00:02:34] Courtney Peebles: He does, very specific to Monster Trucks and even better if it's like a monster truck transformer.
[00:02:39] Azhelle Wade: Oh, that's cute. Oh my gosh. I appreciate you coming on this podcast to talk about 3D printing. At the time that we're recording this, we are just, we have just learned about an additional 34% tariff being put in on to China imports. Which is being added to the 20% tariff that was talked about in March. So now we're at 54%.
[00:02:57] Azhelle Wade: So everybody's thinking about how can I manufacture locally? So I really appreciate that. We had already planned to have this conversation about 3D printing and toy design and manufacturing. But before we go there, I do wanna give some background and some color on the TOTY Award winner that you sent me.
[00:03:14] Azhelle Wade: So I'd love for you to tell me a little bit about your first product, right? Emotional Baggage. Was this your first product for Solobo Toys?
[00:03:21] Courtney Peebles: No, that wasn't. Our first product was back in 2023. So emotional baggage came out last year, 2024. what year is it? 2025? Yes, 2024.
[00:03:32] Azhelle Wade: Feel the same way.
[00:03:33] Courtney Peebles: I know it time is flying. But yeah. So when our first toys came out, we really focused on simplicity. And I say we, I design toys, but I'm just like naturally drawn to including my husband because he does so much for everything. But yeah, so Emotional Baggage came out last year. The entire point of it is to bring stress relief and just engaging more active way to talk about emotions. So they are actually plush stress balls. And the bag that they come with you, it fits all the balls inside and it also serves as like a hoop. So you can take it with you wherever you go, but then you can also throw the ball into the bag. And then it also just like closes right up.
[00:04:15] Courtney Peebles: A big part of everything that I do is storage. I'm really passionate about storage, so I wanted to build in storage into the toy so that parents weren't having to just like struggle with keeping track of all of these stress balls.
[00:04:28] Azhelle Wade: Was being a parent the thing that made you passionate about storage or were you always passionate about storage?
[00:04:33] Courtney Peebles: Definitely being parents. And all the stuff that we had to have and all the extra things I would buy online just for baskets for different things that I needed to keep track of. One of the, like newborns, one of the things that they were always like, have a basket for all the things, for the bottles and all the pacifiers and all that. Like it was like baskets from like day one.
[00:04:55] Azhelle Wade: Really? Okay. Love it. And the quality is beautiful. What is this made of? It's like a canvas, but it's, yeah, it's lined with a, what is it lined with it?
[00:05:02] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, it's canvas. It's a little bit softer on the inside. and then it has, if you pull it up, it has a string closure.
[00:05:09] Azhelle Wade: Mm-hmm. But it's lined with like a, it feels like there's almost like a cardboard or a, it's definitely more of like a thicker canvas.
[00:05:16] Azhelle Wade: Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Wow. Love it. Okay, so this item in 2025 won plush toy of the year. Yes. that's incredible.
[00:05:27] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, that was a huge deal. and honestly, you know, they told us in advance, they were like, you have to come to the gala because you're nominated. So I knew we were nominated and I was like, oh, okay. You know, that'll be fun to go. I was not prepared.
[00:05:41] Azhelle Wade: Wait, so they just told you were nominated? They didn't tell you you won?
[00:05:44] Courtney Peebles: Oh, yeah. No, they don't tell you ahead of time.
[00:05:46] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. But they told you you had to come?
[00:05:48] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. They were like, you have to come, you're required to come. But they like sent it in like a mass email with everybody else. Oh. So I was like, oh. I was like, okay. It's like everybody has to go.
[00:05:57] Azhelle Wade: Interesting.
[00:05:57] Courtney Peebles: yeah, so I wasn't prepared at all. I had gone to the show by myself. we had somebody that was gonna come with us. She had to bail at the last minute 'cause oh no.
[00:06:07] Courtney Peebles: Family stuff. so I came by myself, but luckily two of my friends, they came with me to the gala. So at least I wasn't alone at the gala getting that award. They were cheering me on. So that was really nice.
[00:06:18] Azhelle Wade: Were you shocked when they called your, your name?
[00:06:20] Courtney Peebles: I was, I thought there was no way I was gonna beat out the people in my category.
[00:06:26] Azhelle Wade: Who were some of the big names in your category?
[00:06:28] Courtney Peebles: We had Spin Master, we had Disney. We had, I think it's called Just Play. We had a ton of really big one like Miss Rachel. The Miss Rachel Plush was in our category.
[00:06:40] Azhelle Wade: Stop.
[00:06:41] Courtney Peebles: Yeah.
[00:06:42] Azhelle Wade: You beat the Miss Rachel plush?. Whoa.
[00:06:45] Courtney Peebles: Yes. I know. I, wow. I thought for sure that that was gonna win. For sure.
[00:06:50] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. That's like Walmart's biggest product this past year.
[00:06:53] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. And I was, I was blown away.
[00:06:56] Azhelle Wade: Wow. Congratulations. That's crazy. Thank you. That's crazy. And that award, it's not like a, It's not like a general voting consensus. There's, I think it's like the members vote, but then there's an advisory panel I believe that also decides. Yeah. That's so cool. Congratulations.
[00:07:13] Courtney Peebles: And so I had a lot of people come up to me afterwards, a few that were from the panel and they were like, we're obsessed with it. And I was like, oh, that's amazing.
[00:07:20] Azhelle Wade: So talk to me about the impact that that win has had on your business financially in revenue.
[00:07:26] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so it was interesting because you know, I think naturally people assume that because of that people are gonna be bombarding my booth for orders and all that. But it was actually interesting because we posted about it on social media as soon as we won and that created a flood of orders to our website.
[00:07:47] Azhelle Wade: the, just the post?
[00:07:48] Courtney Peebles: Just the post.
[00:07:49] Azhelle Wade: Wait, direct to consumer orders or retailers?
[00:07:52] Courtney Peebles: Direct to consumer.
[00:07:53] Azhelle Wade: Interesting.
[00:07:55] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So I actually had to fly out early from Toy Fair because I knew that Daniel at home couldn't fill all of this, the orders without me. And so I was like, I have to go home because, you know, we try to keep a really like, streamlined process and we really like want to have a good quality, like people experiencing receiving our toys. And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna have to get home early so that we can take care of this.
[00:08:22] Azhelle Wade: I need to look at this post. You posted what, what?
[00:08:25] Courtney Peebles: Well, so I, the first post I posted was very simple. It was just like a static post of me smiling with the award. And then we posted about four more posts after that, like within the next couple days. But people were like exploding our comments and our dms and like, it was incredible.
[00:08:40] Azhelle Wade: Tell me some of the conversations that were being had in your dms.
[00:08:44] Courtney Peebles: Oh my gosh. It was just people like who have been with us from the very beginning, like congratulating us and telling us like how much like the product meant to them. it was some people who already had emotional baggage and they were like, mm-hmm.
[00:08:55] Courtney Peebles: Coming and saying like this, like, I have people tell me often like this to has changed my life.
[00:09:01] Azhelle Wade: Really. How so?
[00:09:02] Courtney Peebles: Great example is like, we have a lot of therapists that use our toys and they're like, it's changed the way that therapy has been for some of the kids. Wow. like it's engaging and they love it.
[00:09:13] Courtney Peebles: And then we have families who are like, this is something we can all do as a family. Like we can all play with this. We can all throw it in, or we could play dodge ball. Or somebody told me that it was like a amazing family experience that they had with just like one evening was playing with it.
[00:09:29] Azhelle Wade: Oh, that's so beautiful. Thank you for sending me one. I just wanna bring some more color to the post that you post because sometimes people hear these stories and it sounds like such a big, far off dream. So when you first posted your plush toy of the year that you won the award, the picture of you accepting it on stage, it looks like you have 56 likes.
[00:09:50] Azhelle Wade: And, uh, about five comments on that one. Then "the proof that the underdog can win real" 106 likes. 27 comments on that one. "Had to leave our toy show early", clever little post. that one had about a 69 likes, nine comments. then we have you hold in the trophy, 75 likes, 12 comments. And then a further, I love how you did this, an announcement talking about how you've been overloaded with order since the award win, and then you gave a discount code and told people if they use that code, they're gonna, you're gonna ship their order by a certain date. And that was, did really well. That one had 135 likes in 12 comments. So I say all that to say like, you know, if you're thinking like courtney had like a thousand comments or something like to get all these orders. Like no, like this is a regular person doing a regular thing and like, yeah, made a big splash from this win, and congratulations. That's so huge.
[00:10:47] Courtney Peebles: Thank you. And it's like, you know, I completely agree with you. I think people underestimate the power of like just like community and Yeah, like the power of like sharing because like yeah, pretty much all the people that were. Commenting on it, shared it and they were like, this is something that happened for sbo.
[00:11:04] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. Wow. Oh my gosh. Okay. That's great. So huge. Congratulations. How long have you been doing this?
[00:11:11] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so we started in the end of 2022. Our first toys hit the market, March, 2023. So the first two toys that I had designed was, one of them was called the Emotions Coin Drop.
[00:11:22] Courtney Peebles: And then the next one was the Learn and Drop. So, both simplistic wooden toys, manufactured overseas and the Emotions Coin Drop was featured in Forbes within three months. wow. That one was, is still very, very popular. It's just like our staple toy that everyone goes to. Learning Drop is a definitely a popular one, but it also hits very much for like homeschool families and teachers.
[00:11:48] Azhelle Wade: And how did you get that visibility? Did you tend to have media contacts or did you just pitch at the right time to the right place?
[00:11:54] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so at the time I didn't know anybody, nobody. So this PR company reached out to me and they were like, we can just do some outreach for you. And I was like, okay, I've never done anything, anything like this before.
[00:12:05] Courtney Peebles: So I did like their lowest package possible and the person that they reached out to really loved it. So they picked it up and that. Like, we didn't even know about it until about a month later. We started getting all this traffic to our website and we're like, that's crazy. I don't know where it's coming from.
[00:12:22] Azhelle Wade: That's hilarious.
[00:12:23] Courtney Peebles: And so then we found out about it later.
[00:12:25] Azhelle Wade: That's hilarious. Yeah. Sometimes I get moments like that and I'm like, where are all these people coming from? I still, there was a moment like two months ago and I was like, I don't know what happened, but I know it's interesting. I wish I could figure it out.
[00:12:35] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, could like, your prices are really great too. I have to say. Your prices are pretty on par with mass companies, which is hard to do when you're a small startup. So in talking about that, can we talk about 3D printing? So what country do you primarily produce in right now?
[00:12:50] Courtney Peebles: So up until the end of last year was China. All of our factories were in China When we heard about the potential tariffs, so like this company is everything that we have, this is how we pay for our kids' food. Oh, wow. Like this. Everything we knew we couldn't just wait and see. We had to get ahead of it. I was actually really, really, really a like apprehensive about 3D printing just because it was something new I'd have to learn.
[00:13:17] Courtney Peebles: And I was like, well, I'm already doing so much. I'm working like literally nonstop. I work at night when my kids go to sleep. And I was like, I'm gonna have to do this. And my husband was like, no, but like, it'll be, it'll be good. And I was like, okay. Oh, if you say so. so we ended up ordering the first printer.
[00:13:36] Courtney Peebles: So when we got it, I messed around with it and I started learning more and watching videos and how tos, but before we did anything, we got it safety tested because we wanted to make sure that the material that was coming through the printer was safe. So we went through that process.
[00:13:51] Azhelle Wade: Well, slow down. Let's back up a little bit. I have two questions. One, why did you go right to, I'm going to 3D print whatever toys I can and not to let me find another country to create my product in?
[00:14:04] Courtney Peebles: There was a lot of talk about the tariffs, not only applying to China uhhuh. so we knew like number one factories that we have in China are very experienced in what they do.
[00:14:15] Courtney Peebles: So we knew that we'd have to start from scratch Yes. And find all of that all over again. And that's really not like simple. because you have to go through sampling and everything, and we knew that it was coming fast, right? So we were trying to turn around something faster.
[00:14:30] Azhelle Wade: So the toys like this, plush, like your wooden toys, are those still things that you have overseas and now you're just creating new products with the 3D printer?
[00:14:38] Courtney Peebles: So for Emotional Baggage, we are exploring ways to manufacture it in the states. There is some possibility that we could pull it off because it is simple. The wooden toys that we have, there's actually wooden infused filament that you can use in the 3D printer.
[00:14:58] Courtney Peebles: So we're experimenting with that and seeing if it's something that isn't just, you know, as good of a replacement as possible for our wooden toys, especially after the news today with the tariffs, right? it's looking less and less like it makes sense to do overseas productions.
[00:15:13] Azhelle Wade: Okay, so now moving on. You decide. All right. Let's look into 3D Printing. You said you safety tested the printer. Are you saying you safety tested the first batch that you ran from it, or did you actually safety pre-test the filament? Like what exactly did you do?
[00:15:28] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so we are registered as a small batch manufacturer. So we have to follow the guidelines set out in that. Until we hit, I think it's. 1.4 million in sales of the product specifically until we hit that point for those we're following those guidelines. So basically what that means is we have to determine and test that this materials that is coming from the printer is safe.
[00:15:53] Courtney Peebles: So it's not just testing the filament as it is in a spool, it's testing it once it's out of the machine. So we did a batch and we sent it like of different colors and we sent it off to the lab to make sure that everything passed. And then we became very well versed in different tests that are required for different like age ranges.
[00:16:13] Courtney Peebles: Yes. Yeah, so we do like drop tests and we make sure, but as a general rule of thumb, because this is newer, we don't recommend it for any children under the age of three. Just for choking hazard, if anything were to happen, we put a lot of warnings on things to make sure people are very aware, like while this is durable, 3D printing is relatively new,
[00:16:33] Azhelle Wade: Right. So I wanna recommend small batch manufacturers. It's something you can register for with the US cpsc.gov. I actually detail this in a guide I have called the Toy Safety Bundle. So go to learn do thetoycoach.com/safety. But what's interesting, she's right, the $1.4 million number you have to hit, there's also like a unit production number.
[00:16:52] Courtney Peebles: It's, yeah, 7,500 units.
[00:16:54] Azhelle Wade: Right. And then basically in a nutshell though, that standard says that you are responsible for a lot of the testing and the big change over it once you hit that number is that then you'll have to send everything out to a lab for the official certification. But yeah, that's the big shift.
[00:17:09] Azhelle Wade: But, this is so great. Okay, so let's talk about it. It, what was the first product that you decided to 3D Print. You sent me some wonderful gifts.
[00:17:17] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so that axolotl was the first thing that I designed in a software called Blender. I've been a graphic designer for years, but I've never like tinkered with 3D CAD softwares before. So that was, that was a lot, but it turned out super cute and people love it. And it's definitely one of like the most favorites out of like our fidgets that we have.
[00:17:43] Azhelle Wade: Really? Yeah. Axolotls are so in.
[00:17:47] Courtney Peebles: Yes. They're, they're so, so hip.
[00:17:51] Azhelle Wade: And tell me about these little guys that I'm holding up here.
[00:17:53] Courtney Peebles: Yes. So those are our newest release. Those are the Emotion Friends. So we wanted a way to just like put a figurine to the emotions that we have, you know? In general, like a lot of the toys that we have are simple, but have really rich educational, like learning in them. But we also know that kids love like, playing with dollhouses and playing with figurines.
[00:18:14] Courtney Peebles: So we were like, we wanna just put them to little figures and I gotta say, so like my kids, like they love dollhouses to like a slight degree, but it's not like something they absolutely love. So when we release these, I was expecting them to be like. A favorite, but not like so much of a favorite. People have surprised me.
[00:18:31] Courtney Peebles: They have been selling like hotcakes. It has been crazy. Yeah. We actually put on our website a discount code for people to wait to ship them so that we can
[00:18:45] Azhelle Wade: You put a discount code to wait please. If you can have some patience, you can get a discount. Yes. That's hilarious.
[00:18:52] Courtney Peebles: And some people, people are using it, which is really helpful for us.
[00:18:55] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh, that is such a great idea. So talk to me about how do you price this now? 'cause it was, it was in some ways. Easier for you when you would go to a factory, they'd give you a cost, you'd order a unit and you'd say, okay, I know how much my product costs. I set my retail price. Now you're ordering raw materials, you're spending your time producing it.
[00:19:13] Azhelle Wade: You have to account for errors. If the printer stops midway, power cuts out. Right? We don't know. So how are you calculating your cost now?
[00:19:21] Courtney Peebles: So first of all, the printers that we use have built into their software pricing for their specific filaments. So when we generate a print, we know how much it costs to print that specific plate, which is so helpful for a starting point. And then from there we calculate in the like additional cost, like packaging and just like materials that we would need to use to actually execute the like. Start to finish it, get into a customer. So we actually price it a little bit higher because right now we don't buy filament in excessive bulk.
[00:19:55] Courtney Peebles: We buy it based on what we need when we we're actually going through an expansion plan in the next few months. When that changes, we'll actually be able to bring our prices down a little bit because we'll be able to buy our filament in bulk.
[00:20:06] Azhelle Wade: Oh wow. That's incredible. So you're doing an expansion. How long did it take for you to launch your company for it to become the sole income source for your family? Or the main, I should say the main, I don't know what else is going on in your life. Is it the primary income source for your family?
[00:20:21] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so, I'm trying to think. I wanna say it was like the end of 2023 maybe, that my husband quit his job.
[00:20:29] Courtney Peebles: I was a stay-at-home mom.
[00:20:30] Azhelle Wade: Wow. look at you doing things.
[00:20:34] Courtney Peebles: Yes. And he worked from home, so that was obviously convenient, but it got to the point where we just couldn't handle both. And I actually, it's actually kind of a sad story. I worked myself so hard and so much that I actually got a kidney infection.
[00:20:52] Azhelle Wade: I've done that. Yeah, I did that.
[00:20:53] Courtney Peebles: It's really, really not fun.
[00:20:55] Azhelle Wade: And then, and then you're work. Tell me if this happened to you. 'cause I was like working through, I just thought I was like, had like a pain or something. Yes. And I think I, I felt like hot. Yes. And I was like, I'm fine. I just need to lay down.
[00:21:07] Azhelle Wade: Yes. And I was not fine.
[00:21:09] Courtney Peebles: I know, I know. It was scary because it was Easter and like, oh my gosh, the doctor's offices were closing, the pharmacies were closing and I was like running a fever. Oh yeah. and so I, the doctor I talked to on the phone, he was like, he was like, where's your husband? And I was like, I was like right next to me and he was like, can he run to the pharmacy?
[00:21:27] Courtney Peebles: Like I will call it in right now. They'll have you ready? He was like, run, like, go to the pharmacy. And so that doctor was. I'm so glad because I would've had to go to the hospital. I would've the hospital.
[00:21:38] Azhelle Wade: I went to the hospital. Yeah.
[00:21:40] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. And so like that, that doctor saved my butt.
[00:21:44] Azhelle Wade: Oh my God. I think my partner at the time saved mine because I was not gonna go to the hospital. I was like, no, I just need a nap. Yeah. It's like fine. I went to leave. Fine.
[00:21:55] Courtney Peebles: Exactly. I'm the same way. And I was like, it'll be good. It's funny, I tell this story like sometimes I sound pitiful, but No, I. I was, so my second son was born in 2021.
[00:22:08] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. And then six weeks later, you know, you're going to your typical six week checkup, I get home that night and I started having this really bad pain in my stomach and I was so nauseous and I was like, I don't know what's wrong with me. And so I told my husband that I would eat a piece of pizza in the shower to see if I felt better, turned out I had to have my appendix removed.
[00:22:31] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. Stop. Oh, we are so similar. Yes, we're so similar.
[00:22:37] Courtney Peebles: He called my dad and he was like, you need to get her and take her to the hospital. Now.
[00:22:43] Azhelle Wade: Are you serious? Why pizza? And why in the shower? And what?
[00:22:47] Courtney Peebles: I don't know. I was like maybe thinking it would help me feel better. I don't know.
[00:22:51] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. I'm a kidney cancer survivor, actually. But when I first had the pain, I. Went home. 'cause I was, it was so painful. Yeah. And then the next day I was like, I just need to exercise more. So I like went for like a 3.5 mile run. Oh my gosh. And then I was like, maybe I just go to the doctor just to see what that pain was the other day.
[00:23:13] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. And it was kidney cancer. That's crazy. Oh my gosh. But no, I'm a similar way. I'm like, I'm strong, I can do anything. Yes. It's like, Jesus,
[00:23:24] Courtney Peebles: I can, I can eat pizza and get away with not removing my appendix.
[00:23:29] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. That's wild. Like wild behavior. Oh my gosh. That's, that's so funny. Oh man. But when you're laser focused, I'm like, what you wanna do in your life?
[00:23:40] Azhelle Wade: Sometimes it's easy to forget. Also, I feel like at our, I don't know, we're seem like a similar age. I feel like you come from, or you still feel like you're in your twenties. Yeah. And you were kind of invincible then, so you like Yeah. Really think you're like, everything's fine. Like everything's okay. I know.
[00:23:55] Courtney Peebles: I'm like all, all is good. Yeah. I just need pizza and a shower. I just, yes. She pizza in the shower. Pizza in the shower for whatever reason. Oh my God.
[00:24:07] Azhelle Wade: Wow. okay. I would love to talk a little bit, I mean, I'm sure so many people are gonna have questions about 3D printing. How many 3D printers do you have right now?
[00:24:15] Courtney Peebles: We have five. Wow. Our expansion plan will put us at 41.
[00:24:20] Azhelle Wade: Are you gonna hire a team?
[00:24:24] Courtney Peebles: So, no. That's the thing. These printers don't require us to do a whole lot. Which, like it requires us to take out the print and like put in the new stuff and like that kind of stuff.
[00:24:35] Courtney Peebles: But in general, they're pretty easy to just let them go. We are bringing on investors to help us kinda make that shift. We definitely don't have the money to buy 41 printers.
[00:24:46] Azhelle Wade: That is a lot. I was gonna say, like, okay. Yeah.
[00:24:49] Courtney Peebles: So we've been talking with investors for the past two months and we're narrowing on in on one that we should know pretty soon.
[00:24:58] Azhelle Wade: Good luck. I hope that works out. Mm-hmm. And so I know sustainability is also a key focus for your brand. Yeah. How does 3D printing align with that commitment to eco-friendly practices?
[00:25:08] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so it's actually really nice because there's a significant less amount of waste. So like, okay, so if we're using a printer that we have to switch the filament, it produces something called, people call it filament poop.
[00:25:21] Courtney Peebles: But it's basically just like in the switch, so we can actually turn around and recycle that into different products. Now we don't recycle it into the toys. But we recycle it into other things that, 'cause it's like once it goes through the printer and you're putting it back into something, it doesn't make it comfortable for me for all those extra layers to be something that I'm, it's not as streamlined. So, but you can take it and actually melt it back down and make like coasters, and stuff like that. So it definitely helps remove that level of waste. But in general, we aren't producing an excessive amount of product and sitting on it.
[00:25:57] Courtney Peebles: We're producing what we need. And I think that that is definitely a big difference because when we produce overseas, we have to meet our minimum quantity, right? We have to import it all. We have to, you know, if there is errors, then we have to discard that toy. There is a significantly less room for error in these printers, which definitely helped reduced waste.
[00:26:21] Azhelle Wade: What percentage of your product assortment now is 3D printer versus something you're making with a factory?
[00:26:27] Courtney Peebles: We're reaching like 75%. 3D printed.
[00:26:30] Azhelle Wade: What? No way.
[00:26:32] Courtney Peebles: We've introduced 40 3D printed products.
[00:26:36] Azhelle Wade: And are they like people are enjoying them just as much?
[00:26:39] Courtney Peebles: Oh yeah. If anything, like we did a test of our, like our emotions, coin drop is wood and our coins that are associated with wood.
[00:26:48] Courtney Peebles: We actually did a test with our customers and we were like, which ones do you like better? Are 3D printed coins that are literally the same thing except their 3D printed. The material feels a little bit differently. I was like, or do you like the wood? And everybody has said they like the 3D printed, which is interesting because.
[00:27:03] Courtney Peebles: A lot of them are moms who are used to like wooden toys. Like that's their thing. Interesting. And they were like, they were like, we love it so much more.
[00:27:12] Azhelle Wade: So talk to me about the margin difference. Are you able to make a better margin doing this on your own with the 3D printer?
[00:27:19] Courtney Peebles: Hands down. Yes. Really? Yes.
[00:27:22] Azhelle Wade: Fantastic.
[00:27:23] Courtney Peebles: And that has been a big part in our expansion plan and showing investors just how much we save. Like if you're talking about per like financial projections? Yeah. Like our financial projections with our overseas productions doesn't really yield a profit as strongly. But if you turn around and switch the projections to our 3D printed products, our profit margins are much better.
[00:27:47] Azhelle Wade: So where did you find the 3D printer you decide to move forward with? How did you know which one? There's so many out there.
[00:27:53] Courtney Peebles: There is, I actually have a friend of mine, that I met through Solobo, through Instagram. She does 3D printing, 3D printing. It's called Chomper Champs.
[00:28:04] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So she's a speech language pathologist. She does 3D printing of this dog, she does a dog and a cat now, that is basically a speech therapy tool. I reached out to her and I, you know, I was talking to her for a couple weeks. I was like, I don't know, like, I don't really wanna get into this.
[00:28:18] Courtney Peebles: Like, it sounds like it's a lot of stuff to learn. And she was like, honestly, just like, try it, like see what happens. Like the printer that we bought was, it was like 600 bucks.
[00:28:28] Azhelle Wade: It was only 600 bucks?
[00:28:30] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. It wasn't anything crazy. And so we were like, you know, I think I bought it on sale. they were having a sale and I was like, yeah, let's, let's just try this.
[00:28:39] Courtney Peebles: So she was a big part in us starting because she was just like, you just never know, like you could create anything. So that, that was cool. And I still talk to her regularly and we kind of just like, if there's something going on and we needed just like pick each other's brains like we do. And so that is really nice.
[00:28:55] Azhelle Wade: Tell me about this 3D printer. I might wanna get one. Which 3D printer is this?
[00:28:59] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so this is, Bambu. Yeah. So they're, gosh, they're just fantastic. So we use their filament and we use their printers,
[00:29:09] Azhelle Wade: And it's not $600.
[00:29:11] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, I think their prices went up a little bit.
[00:29:14] Azhelle Wade: It's $1,400.
[00:29:16] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so we have the P1S, and then we also have an X1, but then we're also gonna be expanding with their new printer that they just released called the H 2D.
[00:29:25] Azhelle Wade: Oh wait, the P1S is $649?
[00:29:28] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. Yeah, so that one is not bad. There like structurally, like I really don't feel like there's that significant of a difference between the P1S and the X1. There is something called lidar that is, it's like a tracking, if there's like filament errors, but we're here with the printers, so it's not that big of a deal for us right now. But I mean, we pretty much took it out of the box and printed something that day.
[00:29:53] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, that's exactly what it says in their site. Like 15 minutes set up time, print right now. Are you ever concerned about the toxicity of the filament being heated and going through the machine,
[00:30:01] Courtney Peebles: I'm not worried about it because we got the testing done like that was my concern.
[00:30:06] Azhelle Wade: I mean for yourself? Oh, like, yeah, for like the room you're in right now.
[00:30:11] Courtney Peebles: Oh, no. So they're fully enclosed. Okay. so there's like one little vent at the top that does go out, but, we actually upgraded our filters so that there like more, there's more filtration and it actually goes through like multiple, like chambers and like carbon and all this. And then we also have like air purifiers.
[00:30:31] Courtney Peebles: Okay.
[00:30:31] Azhelle Wade: No, but this is all very good detail. Thank you so much for sharing that.
[00:30:35] Courtney Peebles: Yeah.
[00:30:36] Azhelle Wade: Oh, this is so great. Do you feel like 3D printers might be the future for the toy industry, for those people that want to move some production into the us?
[00:30:46] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So honestly, I feel like people are hesitant of 3D printing. Yeah. And I feel like they underestimate it. In these conversations that I've had with investors, I'm like, you don't, like, you don't understand how much this is beneficial to our business. Like obviously if they start to see the money, they're like, oh, right. They're like, we get it now.
[00:31:06] Courtney Peebles: They're like, alright, money. But it's so, like, it's such a foreign idea to them that it's like, wait, like we've had people be like, you're not gonna be able to scale with 3D printers. And I'm like, you don't know these 3D printers.
[00:31:19] Courtney Peebles: I'm like, we can turn around things so quickly.
[00:31:22] Azhelle Wade: I should ask that. I'm sorry. You're giving me too many questions. How many, how long does it take to make your whole, your little set? Because you must have like a printer set up with each color, or are you like, is one color coming out of one printer? So
[00:31:35] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so we have, for those specifically the Emotion Friends, we print 14 of them on a plate. Okay. We print per color so that we, everything that, like if you see the a MS behind us, that is basically where the hub of all the colors you can actually print up to 24 colors. So some of our prints are, I think the most that we've used in a print before is eight colors. So we actually hook up additional ams to a machine in order to print things that are several colors.
[00:32:05] Courtney Peebles: And so that prints specifically for like one plate of 14, let's say for happy. Mm-hmm. that takes about 10 hours. Okay. Now the new printer that just came out, our printer time is gonna go down.
[00:32:20] Courtney Peebles: So, and it's a bigger like capacity now, another great example is our emotion block. they actually print 35 on the plate.
[00:32:30] Courtney Peebles: So we can turn around way quicker on those. And like, batch printing is really the key and fitting as much as possible on the plate.
[00:32:39] Azhelle Wade: I was gonna say, like, designing to the plate. So, ah, this is. So exciting. This is exciting stuff, but okay. I look at your friend who, Chomper Champs. Yeah. And the character she has, looks more rounded.
[00:32:53] Azhelle Wade: Do you have the ability to do that? Like what, how, like talk to me about the limitations. Like I can still see with the 3D printing, we can see like the ridges from how it's building and layers in her champs, at least in the images I see here. I don't see that. So I wanna talk a little bit about the detail that you can get and what you think you're gonna be able to do in the future.
[00:33:13] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So there's a couple different ways you can go about it. People actually like the texture of our 3D printed stuff.
[00:33:19] Azhelle Wade: Sensory. Sensory.
[00:33:21] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. It's a sensory feeling. It's like the tactile. And people also like that on the backside of it. It's like that textured feeling. So we actually print on a textured plate, which is how we get that effect.
[00:33:32] Courtney Peebles: And so there's like a difference between a textured plate and a smooth plate. The reason why we don't do a smooth plate is because to get the best adhesion, you should use glue. But we haven't safety tested to use glue, so we're not gonna even hit that until, until that's something that we need to do.
[00:33:51] Courtney Peebles: Once you add that extra layer of something, you have to get everything retested. And so we're very, very cautious about that stuff. But it's crazy to me like how much you can customize the printer settings to get the effect that you want. So you can actually change like the layer of the height of the filament.
[00:34:09] Courtney Peebles: You can change like it's pretty crazy how much you can change. And so it actually like really affects like the outcome of the print. So you can print things that, like, people can print like vases and it can go like up. And then go in. It's just really about how you structure it. We have things that are printed that the axolotl that you have is a great example.
[00:34:32] Courtney Peebles: If you look at it, the little, what is it? The fins in the front. Like the little ears. Underneath of it, it kind of goes and builds on an like a, like an overhang. But it builds fine because of the way that we structured it. People use supports. I don't like using supports as of now because it adds an extra layer of complication and you have to take all the supports off and it's just like a lot of like extra work that you have to do.
[00:34:57] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So I in general, we print without supports.
[00:35:01] Azhelle Wade: You're trying to streamline again.
[00:35:03] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. making it as smooth as possible.
[00:35:05] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. So how long did it take you to learn how to do this?
[00:35:08] Courtney Peebles: Oh gosh, actually it only took me a weekend. My husband is fantastic and then he is, was literally such the best husband and the best dad because he was like, no, I got the kids like you, you just knock it out.
[00:35:21] Courtney Peebles: So I just like was up in the office just getting it all done and he was like, he was like, it's amazing and. I don't know. I have such a, like a photographic memory that I can look at things and then like duplicate it. So I looked at different techniques about how I could basically mold it and put it all together.
[00:35:40] Courtney Peebles: And I actually, last year I like took some time to like really get back to like original like art concepts of like how to build and like sculpt. So that actually came in handy that I did that last year just for like kit.
[00:35:55] Azhelle Wade: Wait, so all these different pieces in her vertebrae are, they're actually 3D printed together. You didn't, they weren't glued.
[00:36:03] Courtney Peebles: Nope. They were all 3D printed together.
[00:36:04] Azhelle Wade: Wow. Yeah. 'cause I'm like looking in the inside now and I can see the, like the filament. Yeah. Like, wow. That's crazy.
[00:36:11] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So it's all 3D printed in place. And that's the thing, it's like we don't. We don't have any extra stuff that we have to do afterwards.
[00:36:18] Azhelle Wade: Oh man, that's amazing. It's just gonna get you to design smarter. Like that's like, yes. Wow. Okay. Let's go back on track. 'cause now you just took me, I just went all of our talking points out the window, but this was, it's interesting. Yeah. So interesting. Okay. I'd love to talk about marketing and selling 3D printed toys a a little bit more in depth.
[00:36:38] Azhelle Wade: To wrap up our conversation, you said 3D printed toys are relatively new to many consumers. So what did you have to do to educate your consumers about this product so that they would invest in it and try it out.
[00:36:50] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So leading up to that, in general, we talk to our customers about safety a lot, and we talk to them about how our products go through consumer product safety testing.
[00:36:59] Courtney Peebles: I actually talk to quite a few, small business owners who didn't know they had to do safety testing.
[00:37:04] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. I meet them all the time. I meet them all the time and I'm like, oh,
[00:37:08] Courtney Peebles: It's, it's so scary. Yeah. We try to educate our customers in general about what that is so that they know to look for that in toys. So we told them in advance that we were going to be exploring 3D printing, but we weren't gonna release anything until we went through all the safety protocols. So they knew that it was something that we were experimenting with, and they were like curious about it because it is, it's new and it's different.
[00:37:33] Courtney Peebles: So once we started, like actually showing them what could be done. And showing them like how the printers work and like that kind of stuff. Like, they were like really like in it. They were like, I wanna try this, I wanna see what happens. And we really like asked for their feedback. Like one of our toys, we came up with a 3D printed version of it.
[00:37:54] Courtney Peebles: That one of them that's a wooden toy.
[00:37:56] Courtney Peebles: And we were like, what do you guys think? Like, tell us what you think. And so we really tried to make it interactive and really get their feedback.
[00:38:03] Courtney Peebles: Yeah.
[00:38:03] Courtney Peebles: And when I say that it's all on Instagram. Mm-hmm. Like our community is mostly like on Instagram and having their feedback and having like their sort of like buy-in really kept their interest.
[00:38:15] Courtney Peebles: We also did a lot of giveaways. So we, we gave away, I think total, we probably gave away 150 3D printed products. Just so that people could feel it and like have it for themselves to then decide, okay, yes, I want to actually turn around and buy this.
[00:38:35] Azhelle Wade: That's so interesting. Wow.
[00:38:37] Courtney Peebles: And we, our 3D printers have built in cameras so people love
[00:38:41] Azhelle Wade: Oh, to watch it.
[00:38:42] Courtney Peebles: To watch it. Yeah.
[00:38:44] Azhelle Wade: So one of the things we often talk about in the toy industry is like how having a product pipeline is so important. Like a plan for what's your next product next year. People always wanna know what's new. So because you don't have the minimums that you were limited with when you're working with a factory.
[00:38:59] Azhelle Wade: I'm assuming it's a lot easier for you to say, oh, you know what, we're gonna update the faces next season, or we're gonna give them new outfits, you know? Yeah. So do you already have plans for that and have you enjoyed that or have you been able to experience that joy already where you get to experiment more, elevate your products more, change your products more, because you are literally creating what you need to sell as you need to sell it.
[00:39:19] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, and that's the thing I, there's less guessing. Like, we're not like hoping that we're gonna hit a trend like a year later. We're like hitting it right there.
[00:39:29] Courtney Peebles: And that is huge because I mean, there some major companies you see interviews and they're like talking about how they're planning years in advance.
[00:39:38] Azhelle Wade: 2027. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:39:40] Courtney Peebles: And I'm like, no, we're like doing it in real time. We're getting feedback from people in real time. We're seeing what people are interested in and we're adapting our toys based on what they're looking for. It's all happening fast, and that is really what sets us apart because we can turn around and do a toy. Now. Instead of waiting two years.
[00:40:02] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh, that's so amazing. Oh, you were just inspiring, I'm sure me and other listeners. Yeah. Inspiring. Yes, yes. Love it. Real quick, talk to me. Say if I want to get the printer today and say I had an idea for a six set of these little figurines, like not these, but this little toy coach figurines or something. I wanna talk about the investment. To make your first prototype or maybe even make your first small run, compared to doing that with like a factory.
[00:40:32] Courtney Peebles: Yeah. So, uh, let's take our Emotion Friends, for example. So I designed it in Blender. That's the software. That we use. And then. The filament cost.
[00:40:45] Courtney Peebles: I mean, it's like you buy a spool and the spool will last a while. So let's take the silly one, for example. The silly uses green, pink, black and white. So we basically have those four spools. The spools go for between 20 and $24 per spool. So then you can just, you're talking, okay. If you're talking about 4, 20, 40, 60, 8, a hundred, like a hundred dollars for the filament, and then $600 for the printer, and then about $250 for the a MS. So you're talking about buying into it for like a thousand dollars and then turning around and making anything. I think obviously you have to either know some level of design or being willing to teach yourself. Or you can also look on fiverr.
[00:41:32] Courtney Peebles: And look on design for designers on fiber. But it's like, it's not anything crazy. I mean, our productions overseas, we have to drop thousands of dollars to get like a first
[00:41:42] Azhelle Wade: And you dunno what you're gonna get. Yeah.
[00:41:43] Courtney Peebles: You don't.
[00:41:44] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. I mean you, you know, you make agreements, but people have damaged goods arrive all the time, so, yeah.
[00:41:51] Courtney Peebles: Sometimes there's like, you know, and you approve the samples, but then something gets here and then maybe it's not exactly like fitting. Fitting your, yeah. Fitting what you wanted and then we had, you know, we've had to get like flashcards, reprinted and like, you know, just different stuff that has happened that is a waste of money.
[00:42:10] Azhelle Wade: And resources. Right? And our resources and as, as a community, this must feel so empowering. I love it. I'm so curious how you got your logo on the back of here. I don't think I've ever seen that before in a 3D print,
[00:42:21] Courtney Peebles: So, yeah, you know what? I've never seen anybody do that technique and it's probably because I feel like maybe I created it.
[00:42:29] Azhelle Wade: Really?
[00:42:30] Courtney Peebles: I dunno. Maybe I've never seen any, I just figured it out some serious. Effort went into figuring that one out.
[00:42:37] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. I just gotta say she has her logo printed on the back of her 3D print characters. I'm like, how did that, I've never seen that.
[00:42:43] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, and it's fully flat. It prints on the first layer. Yeah. That took some really like tinkering. Maybe I haven't invented that. Maybe people are gonna listen to this and be like, no girl, we're gonna Google it. Like everyone knows how to do that.
[00:42:55] Azhelle Wade: Well if they can comment and let us know. Yeah. oh man, this has been a great conversation. Thank you so much for the recommendations.
[00:43:03] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, and I would love to close with some, I guess I would love to close and talk about one piece of advice you would've given yourself when first starting. I wonder if it has to do with media and marketing. 'cause I think that's how you got off the ground. But one piece of advice should've given yourself when starting.
[00:43:21] Courtney Peebles: So when you go into any business, there's gonna be all this information about how you should do things, and I think that it's important to learn those things, but then also know when to break from those things. It's like I always like, I've heard graphic designers say this for years. It's like you know the rules and you know how to break them.
[00:43:40] Courtney Peebles: Yes. And I think the same thing applies to business as, you know, the rules not, you don't break them when it comes to safety or anything like that. Right. But if you're talking about marketing, you can like know the rules, know what to say, and know what to do and like all these things you should be doing.
[00:43:55] Courtney Peebles: But then ultimately. You have to follow what your customers will be looking for. And in the beginning I was very much like, buy the book. This is how you're supposed to do things. This is what you should do. And then I just scrapped it all and I just went completely against the grain. And that's how we built such an incredible community is by doing really differently.
[00:44:16] Azhelle Wade: Love that. Yeah, I agree a hundred percent. I'm always teaching my students, like in, in my TCA program, I'm like, okay, now that you learned everything, I want you to do it your own way. Like break it all. Yeah, break it all down. But you do have to learn it first like that. 'cause you wanna know when you're breaking what the repercussions are gonna be.
[00:44:33] Azhelle Wade: So, you know, okay, that repercussion is worth it 'cause I know I'm gonna get X, Y, Z out of it. Exactly. Or I feel like it's better for me or something. no, that's great advice. And my final and favorite question, what toy or game blew your mind as a kid?
[00:44:49] Courtney Peebles: Oh my gosh. Furby
[00:44:51] Azhelle Wade: Furby. Really? Oh my gosh. Furby scared me.
[00:44:54] Courtney Peebles: You know what's funny? I loved Furby and I actually met with somebody who brought Furby to Market. Like he was one of the founding people who brought Furby to Market. And it like blew my mind. Like he was even just like talking to me and he's become like a real, like I call him if I have questions.
[00:45:13] Courtney Peebles: I still can't believe I like get to talk to the person who like was in the room in Furby.
[00:45:20] Courtney Peebles: That's so cute. Decided.
[00:45:21] Azhelle Wade: Oh, so sweet. Oh my gosh. Courtney, thank you so much for joining us here today and sharing your insights on 3D printing and toy design and production. I'm sure so many toy creators would've wondered like, can I really make a toy business doing 3D printing?
[00:45:34] Azhelle Wade: Well, Courtney's doing it. She's showing us the way I love it. And doing it safely. Yes, doing it safely. Safety is key, profitably and scaling. It's incredible. Yeah. Your dedication to this business is inspiring. And is that your kid? That's great. So cute. She's a mom. She's supporting a family with this incredible toy business.
[00:46:00] Azhelle Wade: And thank you. Thank you for the Bambu Lab recommendation. Yeah, for a 3D printer. We'll put the link in the show notes. All the links mentioned today, including the toy safety bundle, will be in the show notes. And Courtney, where can people learn more about you and Solobo Toys?
[00:46:17] Courtney Peebles: Yeah, so you can go to solobotoys.com. It's S-O-L-O-B-O toys.com. Uh, Solobo is actually a mixture of my kids' middle names. So that's where the view came from.
[00:46:28] Azhelle Wade: I was literally gonna ask. Cute.
[00:46:30] Courtney Peebles: Yeah.
[00:46:31] Courtney Peebles: But you can also find us on Instagram. That's where you'll mostly find me. if you're looking for. Taught to talk to me, either Instagram or LinkedIn. Instagram is where our main community is, so definitely join it.
[00:46:43] Azhelle Wade: Yes, join in and check out. I love your, your posts. It's so real and down to earth and it's great. If you love this podcast and you haven't already left a review, what are you waiting for? Your reviews keep me and guests like Courtney coming back week after week, and every time a new one pops in, I get notified on my phone.
[00:46:59] Azhelle Wade: It puts a huge smile on my face. I call my mom. It's a great time, so please stop what you're doing. Leave us a rating and review. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there, so it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one.
[00:47:15] Azhelle Wade: Until next week, I'll see you later toy people.
[00:47:20] Thanks for listening to the Making It In The Toy Industry Podcast with Azhelle Wade. Head over to thetoycoach.com for more information, tips, and advice.
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