I turned a wellness side hustle into a full-time business that made over $1 million in sales its first year: I’m ‘doing what I set out to do as a kid’

When I left a 20-year career as a journalist and editor to launch a brand of weighted stuffed animals, my friends and colleagues were shocked. Frankly, I was too. But I knew my career shift was the culmination of a lifelong mission.

My family arrived in Columbus, Ohio, from Russia in the 80s when I was two. Mental health was not a topic of discussion. The prevailing wisdom was: If you’re not seriously injured, no need to complain.

So as a pre-teen grappling with anxiety and depression, I turned to magazines for information and validation. They helped me feel less alone, and it became my goal to do the same for others. I went on to cover mental health as an editor at Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and Glamour, and as chief content officer at Thrive Global.

Behind the scenes, my racing mind and anxiety led to constant sleep issues. I tried a weighted blanket, which calmed my nerves but was too hot and bulky. What I really wanted was something smaller, like a weighted stuffed animal.

While there were a couple on the market, I couldn’t find what I was looking for: a high-quality, beautifully designed weighted plushie that feels like a hug and is heavy enough to work for adults as well as kids. So I decided to create it myself.

What began as a quest to find a product that would calm my swirling thoughts became first a side hustle and then, in 2022, a full-time business.

For nearly four years, on nights and weekends while I held full-time jobs, I worked to develop the product I wanted: a plushie that would feel like it’s giving you a real, comforting hug.

I researched the science behind Deep Touch Pressure, learning that the extra weight on your body works similarly to a hug to help you relax and tamps down your fight-or-flight response.

I enlisted a team of occupational therapists, psychologists, and product designers to help optimize the product’s stress-relieving benefits. For example, we’d make them in calming colors with a sweet, neutral facial expression rather than a big smile, which the therapists told me could be perceived as judgmental or aggressive.

I commissioned an experienced toy designer I found online to work with me on my very first prototype.

My original goal was to license the idea for Hugimals, which I did, with the help of an early mentor and licensing agent, in 2020. A few different designers then helped me iterate on my initial prototype. We tweaked the design so the Hugimal could “hug” better, and made the weighted insert removable so the plush could be machine-washed.

After several rounds of adjustments to get the look and functionality just right, we finalized the first Hugimal, Sam the Sloth. Then we were rolling.

Pretty soon, Sam the Sloth had a few friends: Darby the Bear, Charlie the Puppy, and Emory the Elephant, each one weighing in at 4.5 pounds, more than double the weight of others on the market.

But there was a problem. The company I’d licensed to was bought by a media company that didn’t put out any physical products. I had to use savings to buy back, ship, and store more than 10,000 units of Hugimals inventory that had already been made while I decided what to do next.

Around the same time, I received feedback from a pilot program I’d partnered with a nonprofit to launch. We’d sent dozens of Hugimals to children’s hospitals around the country. The hospital staffers said the Hugimals had helped calm their most stressed patients within minutes, and they wanted to order more.

Courtesy of Marina Khidekel

I had the validation I needed, and I knew what to do. I left my full-time job and launched Hugimals World in the summer of 2022, relying on savings, freelance journalism work, and my existing inventory.

For many years, I’d been an editor fielding dozens of PR pitches a day, so I knew how to — and how not to — pitch my own brand to get media attention. I did my own launch PR, writing a personal note to all my contacts as well as editors at outlets where I didn’t know anyone at all. On my social media, I announced to everyone I knew that I was launching this business, and asked them to share.

Hugimals quickly gained traction. During our first holiday gift guide season, I was thrilled to see Hugimals featured as a TIME Best Invention of 2022 and selected for best toy and other lists compiled by Parents.com, Good Housekeepingand Buzzfeed. Our TikTok videos of people reacting as they held Hugimals for the first time have gone viral, amassing over 22 million views to date.

My fractional sales manager, who I’d hired at launch, helped expand our presence beyond our own website onto Amazon and into specialty toy and gift shops, hospital gift stores, The MoMA Design Store, QVC, and Uncommon Goods.

We sold most of our inventory that first holiday season on the strength of our organic press, some limited Amazon ads, and social virality. We were profitable from the start, and with our sales, and eventually some loans, I was able to buy more inventory and keep the company going.

My own Quinn the Koala is always ready to hug whenever I need to relieve stress or feel grounded. I’ve seen a huge improvement in my nighttime anxiety and insomnia. Hearing many similar stories from customers has been incredibly rewarding.

This year, we teamed up with “SVU” actress and activist Mariska Hargitay and her Joyful Heart Foundation to launch our Heart to Hug Pillow for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This partnership and our work with other nonprofits — which supply Hugimals to child and teen victims of traumatic crimes and to siblings separated in foster care — make my work all the more meaningful. Our product line is growing and more partnerships are in the works.

Looking back, I realize that I’m still doing what I set out to do as a kid: helping people find comfort and support for their mental health. Only now, I’m doing it through physical products rather than words.

Marina Khidekelis the founder ofHugimals Worlda TIME Best Inventions-recognized wellness brand that makes design-forward, anxiety-relieving plushies and pillows for adults and kids. Prior to launching Hugimals World, Marina was a health and wellness journalist and editor at Women’s Health, Glamour and Cosmopolitan, and chief content officer at Thrive Global. All of her work centers around helping people take actionable steps to live with less stress and more joy.

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