Company
Our story
Hugimals World's founder Marina Khidekel is a health & wellness journalist and mental health expert. She has served as deputy editor at Women's Health and Chief Content Officer at Thrive Global. She authored the book Your Time To Thrive, about small, easy-to-implement steps to improve your mental & physical well-being.
Hugimals World was born out of a personal quest. Marina tried using a weighted blanket to relieve her nighttime anxiety and racing mind, but like many others, she found it too hot and smothering to use, and difficult to travel with. She started researching other weighted items and the science behind them, looking for something that could ease anxiety in anyone who loved the comforting sensation of Deep Touch Pressure but didn't want to feel smothered: from kids to adults, those who are neurotypical, neurodivergent, sensory-seeking, and everyone in between.
She couldn't find what she was looking for: high-quality, beautifully designed weighted products that were weighted enough to ease anxiety in a wide range of ages, that she would be proud to gift to loved ones, and that would look great with home decor. So, as a first-time solo founder, she launched Hugimals World.
To create the best weighted products on the market, Marina puts to use her journalistic skills, bringing in the expertise of top psychologists, occupational therapists and product designers to make the most comforting, stylish, high-quality weighted comfort items you'll find.
Since launching in summer 2022, Hugimals World products have been recognized with awards like TIME's Best Inventions, Good Housekeeping's Best Toys, and Glamour's Best Woman-Owned Brands, and recommended in dozens of national press outlets like the TODAY Show, The Wall Street Journal, Goop, Travel & Leisure, Elle, InStyle, Oprah Daily, New York Magazine, and many more. We have over a thousand 5-star reviews, and Marina reads and appreciates every single one!
We hope you and your loved ones enjoy our calming, comforting, healing hugs. THANK YOU for supporting this small business on our mission to ease the world's stress with the science-backed power of weighted hugs!
