How a Maker of Weighted Stuffed Animals Spends Her Sundays

Marina Khidekel founded Hugimals World as an answer to her own anxiety. She spends her Sundays watching “Hacks,” hanging out with other female founders and dropping in at a factory.

For 20 years, Marina Khidekel worked at magazines like Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health, and as chief content officer for Thrive Global. While her work centered on helping readers manage their mental wellness, she faced her own struggles, too. “I had a lot of nighttime anxiety,” she said. “So I tried a weighted blanket, but it was too smothering for me.”

Seeking something more cuddly, Ms. Khidekel designed a weighted stuffed animal. In 2022, she left her journalism career and founded Hugimals World.

Ms. Khidekel, who is in her mid-40s, worked with occupational therapists and psychologists to design stuffed animals with sweet expressions in soft colors. The brand has expanded beyond its original lineup of four five-pound stuffed animals to include weighted pillows and plush balls.

They’ve proven to be a hit, and videos of people — including many adults — hugging the stuffed animals have spread widely on TikTok. “We’ve had customers thank us for normalizing weighted plushies for adults,” she said.

Ms. Khidekel’s family moved to Ohio from Russia when she was 2 years old. She attended Ohio University and moved to New York in the early 2000s to work for magazines. Today, she shares a brightly decorated one-bedroom apartment in the West Village with her partner, Mike Joyce, 52, a graphic designer and founder of Stereotype Design. “People walk in and they say it looks like a museum or something, but it just feels like home because we’ve been here so long,” Ms. Khidekel said.

SLEEP IN I usually sleep until 9 a.m. most weekends, and it’s about an hour before Mike gets up. I use that quiet time to collect thoughts that bubble up to the surface when I sleep, which happens a lot. Then I watch something quiet like “House Hunters” because I need to turn my mind off, too.