Did you know that you can turn everyday experiences into great toy ideas? Today’s podcast guest noticed that her toddler loved to play with pretend food toys. However, she saw that the food toys on the market didn’t represent what was popular in Hawai’i, where she lives. So, she created a toy company that started with Hawai’ian food toy sets and has now branched out with toys that represent other cuisines found in Hawai’i like Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese.

April Hail has lived in Hawai’i for between 20 and 30 years of her life. There, she started Keiki KauKau, after being inspired by her kids’ play patterns and the popular foods in Hawai’i. April shares about the struggles of being a parent and being an entrepreneur who is running a small one-person company. Her kids inspired her to create the business, but she also seeks to have balance so she can spend plenty of time with them. You’ll also learn about the unique struggles of importing from China to Hawai’i while also selling to the mainland US, which shipping platform you may want to try to save money, and advice on how to market a niche toy.

Think of a time when you were shopping for a product but couldn’t find quite what you were looking for. You probably thought of a great way to improve that product at that moment. But, maybe you wondered if you could really do everything that goes into creating a successful toy. Keep listening to learn the inspiring story of someone who did just that. Josh White is an award-winning innovator who combines multiple facets of design, manufacturing, branding, and marketing at his creative agency, OffWhite Co. He created a line of kid-friendly measuring tapes called Handy Famm after a dissatisfying trip to the hardware store with his daughter. In today’s episode, you will learn how sticking with the “box” of what you know can actually help you to get started with your ideas. You’ll also learn how Josh’s product is toyetic, the importance of safety in toy design, and how Josh deals with challenges that come his way.

Today’s guest, Theresa Duncan, started a toy store, Villa Villekulla Toys, in her local community with her dad. Together they turned it into a successful family business over the eight years it has been open. Listen to the episode to find out the differences between starting a digital business and a brick-and-mortar business and the importance of a business plan. She also tells how she got the idea to quit her job and start a neighborhood toy store, how focusing on the community can help your small business, and tips for getting your product into a neighborhood toy store.

With AI-Powered Chat GPT, generating toy and game ideas has never been easier. If you are in the process of developing a toy or a game but are stuck in the concept phase, this week’s episode is one you cannot afford to miss. AI-Powered Chat GPT can generate “creative” toy & game ideas quickly and easily - and all you need to get started is a single sentence. Chat GPT was released in November of 2022, and is known for its ability to code, write stories, and even music. But today we’re giving this clever chatbot a new challenge…to come up with a concept for a toy or game. Curious to know how it did? I bet you’ll be shocked by the results.

I bet that YOU can generate a high resolution concept image of your toy idea for free, and in seconds. The use of AI art exploded in recent months, with the search term “AI art” spiking in the US this past December. The breakout AI tools have been Midjourney, Lensa, and DALL-E. Since then, there has been considerable and understandable backlash against AI art from real human artists across the globe. In this episode we explore three things, 1) how AI can help the development process of your toy or game, 2) why some artists are frustrated by the growing popularity of ai art, and 3) what legal ramifications using art generated by AI could pose.