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.
BUONGIORNO, BREAKFAST I pop down to Bonsignour and get a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin. I always see a few neighborhood regulars in the Village. Some of them have been here since the ’60s or ’70s and they have the best stories. I love talking with them, and I love supporting the mom-and-pop businesses that still exist because there aren’t many of them anymore.
HARD COPIES While I’m out, I go into Casa Magazines. Growing up in an immigrant family in Ohio, I took comfort in magazines because they helped me navigate and make sense of the world and my anxiety when I couldn’t ask my parents for advice navigating middle school politics in Ohio. I buy newsmagazines like Inc. — I have a column in it — and mainstays like Elle Decor, as well as niche magazines.
BRUNCH BONDING I’ve met so many interesting people since I launched Hugimals World, and I’ve cultivated a community of mostly women founders at different stages of their companies, and I connect with them pretty regularly. Today, a group of us have brunch at Left Bank to celebrate our wins from the year, talk through the challenges and just connect at a festive time of year.
DESIGNING WOMEN Afterwards, I head uptown to the garment district to meet with designer Olga Kapustina, who I brought on to finalize a more modern weighted sweatshirt. I love visiting this old-school factory, and being here feels like seeing a little piece of New York City history.
MEDITATIVE MEANDERING The factory’s on West 35th Street, and I walk back to the West Village after. I love walking the city. I love the rhythms of the different neighborhoods. I also need a lot of alone time to recharge my batteries. On my way, I pop into Poster House, a poster museum. I get a lot of product design inspiration there.
KOALA-TY TIME It’s not always fun to work on a Sunday, but when you own 100 percent of your company, you need to sometimes. I put my koala Hugimal on my lap and set myself up for the week ahead. I’ll check my calendar, schedule emails.
Mike and I order dinner in from Shuka. I get the Arctic char kebab, and he gets the chicken shawarma. I’m newly obsessed with labneh and it’s so delicious there. Then we watch TV. I can’t watch anything loud or with violence before bed, so we’re watching “Hacks.”
NIGHT OWL I use a red light mask for three minutes each night and I’m in bed by 12:30 a.m. I’m definitely the night owl prototype. I feel strongly that I’ll never be part of the “5 a.m. club,” and the founder bro culture is kind of toxic. You need to do what works for you, and whatever sustains you while you’re in the stress and roller coaster of running a company.
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