www.inthedollworld.com In today's episode, we sit down with Adwoa Cooper from Adwoa Design. Adwoa details her journey from using crochet for stress relief to developing a successful business, illustrating that the path to achievement can be as unexpected as it is rewarding.Adwoa brings a fresh vibe to crochet, merging hip-hop influences with her unique doll designs that echo a whole culture's beat. We delve into how her dolls bring fresh perspectives to both the hip-ho...

www.inthedollworld.com In this wonderful episode of In The Doll World, I am joined by Azhelle Wade, the Toy Coach. Her journey to a key figure in the toy industry is an incredible testament to the power of passion and commitment and her love of teaching and being creative.Embark on Azelle's journey as she shares her reasons for leaving corporate life to pursue her dreams. Explore the challenges and misconceptions of entering the toy industry, enriched by Azhelle's valuable insight...

Welcome to an inspiring conversation with Andrea Furtick, the innovative CEO and founder of AGC Toys, and the creative force behind the Afro Goddess Warrior Dolls and Project. www.inthedollworld.com Get an intriguing glimpse into Andrea's artistic journey that led to the creation of the Afro Goddess Tarot Arkanas and ultimately, these unique, representation-rich dolls. Discover how she overcame the hurdles of cost-effective doll creation, and ushered in the creation of Nova: Goddess of the Un...

Listen at www.inthedollworld.com Karen Oyekanmi, the founder of the American Black Beauty Doll Association, opens up the conversation as she shares the inspiration behind her quest to fill the market gap for beautiful black dolls and to provide positive representation for children of color - a mission that still holds significant relevance almost 40 years later, as they celebrate their upcoming annual Festival of Black Doll Show and Sale, Nov 4th 2023.As we chat with this ...

Our latest podcast episode introduces Samantha Ong, the innovative CEO of Joeydolls, celebrating the diversity and beauty of the Asian diaspora. www.inthedollworld.comSamantha's story begins with a simple desire - to create dolls that reflected her daughter's Asian heritage. Frustrated with the lack of diversity in the toy market, she embarked on a journey to make dolls that would allow children of Asian descent to see themselves in the toys they play with.Joeydolls are more than just dolls, ...

A journey into the heart of the doll industry with our enthralling guest, Diana Jones, the dynamic owner of Dolls Magazine. www.inthedollworld.com As a child, Diana enjoyed altering her dolls' hair, creating unique looks for each of them, Diana has since navigated through life's turns, acquiring a microbiology degree, raising seven children, and eventually taking the reins of Dolls Magazine. Her tale is a testament to the power of passion she has for what she does.As we converse wi...

Join us on a fascinating journey as we travel into the world of miniatures with our special guest Kat Picot, the inspiring publisher behind Shrunk magazine. www.inthedollworld.com Kat's story is a testament to passion and perseverance, as she beautifully recounts her transition from working in a doll's house shop to launching her own internationally acclaimed miniatures magazine. In our discussion, Kat sheds light on the highs and lows of independent magazine publishing and the unique challen...

A beautiful and delightful interview with Zoe Oli, the 11-year-old mastermind behind Beautiful Curly Me. Zoe's inspiring journey starts at the tender age of six, when she decided to tackle her self-confidence issues head-on by creating her own line of dolls that feature curls and braids just like hers. Don't miss Zoe's incredible tale of resilience and ambition, and how even the youngest among us can make a significant difference when they dare to dream. Zoe's story is not just abo...

What if you could transform a childhood hobby into a thriving Instagram account, creating a community around the love of doll collecting? Cassie Jenkins, the talent behind Dolls On The Scene, did just that, and she's here to share her journey with us. www.inthedollworld.comCassie's passion for dolls sparked at a young age, and her enthusiasm only grew with her age, with her family playing a considerable role in fostering this love. She opens up about the pivotal role her mother had in her hob...

What happens when a doll enthusiast, collector, and social media star joins In The Doll World to share their unique journey? You get an inspiring conversation with the talented and passionate Clawdeena www.inthedollworld.com Clawdeena found solace in their love for dolls, creativity, and makeup transformations growing up in a small conservative town after being born in Queens, New York. With an impressive following of over 3 million fans and followers across various social platfo...

We continue our Part 2 conversation with my guest Aniqua Wilkerson, Fiber Artist Dollmaker and Owner of My Kinda Thing. www.inthedollworld.comWe continue our Part 2 conversation with my guest Aniqua Wilkerson, Fiber Artist Dollmaker and Owner of My Kinda Thing. www.inthedollworld.comAs Aniqua continues to share her wonderful doll journey, we find her moving into another pivotal and proud moment in her life as she becomes very instrumental in helping to create for Lions Brand for the fir...

Another wonderful In The Doll World show with my guest Aniqua Wilkerson, Fiber Doll Artist and Owner of My Kinda Thing. (Pt.1) www.inthedollworld.com What a great and purposeful doll journey Anqiua's shares with us, the educator is definitely in the house. As the third child of seven children, creativity was always encouraged in her house growing up and Aniqua always had dolls to play with, from the time she can remember, but did not have her first bla...

A passionate and powerful interview with Flora Ekpe-Idang, the CEO, Founder and creator of Corage Dolls. www.inthedollworld.com Flora shares with us her inspiration for creating Corage Dolls, out of her experience of watching the documentary “Gril Like Me”. She was struck by the lack of positive diverse representation in media and products had on black children and even though this ‘doll experiment” was done more recently than the historical “Doll Test” done by Dr. Kenneth an...

A delightful interview with Evelyn Smith aka Evalina, owner of Evergreen Art Dolls and silicone doll artist. From animal science to doll making, her journey has been just as eclectic as the wonderful doll she makes. www.inthedollworld.comGrowing up she loved sci-fi, art and animals, so it’s no surprise she has found a way to marry the three.Although she loved playing with dolls and being creative, she didn’t stumble upon the true doll world until 2017 while in graduate school, working o...

What a wonderful conversation with Debra Pounds, Doll Artist and owner of Paddlefootz Dolls & Thangs www.inthedollworld.comDebra shares how in 1997 a request from her mother for a Black Santa lead her to crafting but it was after the many conversations with her sister on how hard it had been and still was to find black dolls that were true, cute, and beautiful reflections of us as Black people for her nieces, and her daughters that led her to her doll creating.We also talk about the...

Another FANGIRL moment for me at IDTW. What a fantastic time spent with Ms. Yla Eason, creator of Sun-Man, the first Black superhero action figure and owner of Olmec Toys. www.inthedollworld.com Ms. Eason is an award-winning educator and entrepreneur who is largely credited with pioneering the ethnic toy market at mass market stores. As an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Rutgers University, her focus is Business Communications, Multicultural Marketing, a...

Such a beautiful conversation with art doll artist, Natasha Smith, Owner of Mend By Ruby Grace. www.inthedollworld.com Nastasha shares with us how her love for her daughter jump started her journey into doll making, while not having a clue at all where to start. As a self-taught doll maker, she has been honing her craft in the doll artistry since 2008. Natasha thrives in trying new techniques and experimenting with design, color and whimsical style, her love for nostalgia...

What delightful show with this 10-year-old entrepreneur and doll creator, Demetrius Davis, Jr. aka Lil Dee, CEO of Our Brown Boy Joy, and his mom Dr. Luciana Gilmore. www.inthedollworld.com Our Brown Boy Joy created "My Friend," a character plush doll that speaks positive affirmations, such as “Brown Boy you are smart!” and more.LiL Dee shares that while watching the news during lock down from COVID, stories of George Floyd was unfolding, his mom could see it was making him incredibly sa...

A fun and phenomenal interview with Sandra Epps, artist and author. Founder of Sandy’s Land LLC an entertainment service and the Detroit Doll Show. www.inthedollworld.comAs a creative force and a survivor of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a disease where the immune system attacks both the body tissue and organs, Sandra continues to use her strength, resiliency, passion, and creativity in celebrating history, culture, self-love, and diversity with the promotion of dolls of color and throu...

A great conversation with Janet Lovett, Sculptor & Reborn Doll Artist. Janet is also a GOLD Award Professional Doll Makers Art Guild winner, PDMAG member and PDMAG mentor. www.inthedollworld.comThis is our 3rd episode of our In The Doll World collaboration with the Professional Doll Makers Art Guild (PDMAG) as the Media Partner for their free upcoming online convention, October 14th-16th, which will celebrate doll artists within PDMAG, free classes, demos and much more.From her gran...