✨ The New York Times (!!) featured my Sunday Routine and I’m so grateful. As more of a behind-the-scenes person (as an editor, and now founder of @hugimals ) this was a little out of my comfort zone, but huge thanks to writer @helloitsliapicard and photographer @apisukh for making the process so easy and fun! 😎
Highlights included a brunch at my favorite neighborhood restaurant @leftbanknyc with some amazing women founder friends (part of a series I host), a stop in the garment district to finalize a weighted sweatshirt coming soon from Hugimals World that I’m so excited about (designed by the brilliant @the_olgakapustina ), bopping around the West Village’s independent shops like @casamagazinesnyc (here, showing Ali our Hug Babies, which he’s considering stocking at Casa Next Door) and @bonsignourcafe (obsessed with their iced coffee & blueberry muffins), getting inspired at the @posterhousenyc museum and some much-needed downtime at home with Mike (ordering @shukanyc and watching @hacks right now - so good!)
If nothing else, this Sunday proved that work/life balance doesn’t really exist, especially for solo, bootstrapping founders. It’s all about finding your flow 🤍
✨So thrilled to have our Hugarounds named a winner of Shop TODAY’s Best Sleep Awards (specifically, Best Weighted Stuffed Animal 🧸✨) and to see the @todayshow hosts enjoy them in this live segment this morning!! 🙌🥰🎉
Yes @alroker , we think Ollie the Orangutan and all the Hugarounds would be Punch the Monkey approved (and would help Punch get stronger by lifting them too lol) 🐒🦧 And thank you to @adriannabrach for sharing about her how her own family uses their Hugarounds. So sweet 💗
#plushies #sleepbetter #hugarounds #giftideas #weightedplush
From a little girl who dreamed of working in magazines to the founder of Hugimals World: creating meaningful products that bring comfort to so many 🧸✨
Comment if you are glad @mkhid founded Hugimals!
Happy International Women’s Day 💙
#hugimals #internationalwomensday #founderstory #womanfounder #weightedplush
🚨NEW launch alert!! Introducing Iggy the Bunny Hugimal and 3 new Hugarounds, just in time for Easter! 🌷✨
🐇 Iggy the Bunny has epically soft plush in gentle shades of pink and cream, silky floppy ears, a sweet cottontail, and adorably oversized bunny legs and feet. Iggy’s all-over weighted hugs are so cozy they’ll make you feel like the world just got a little gentler.
🐰 Hug Baby Iggy is also here and perfect to clip on Easter baskets for on-the-go hugs!
🎉 AND meet our three new Hugarounds (all microwave-safe, freezer-safe and always fragrance-free):
🦄💖 Echo the Unicorn: a gentle and imaginative baby unicorn with whimsical pink and lavender accents, a shiny silver horn, and beautiful embroidered wings, here to help reconnect you with a little everyday magic.
🐉💚 Zephyr the Dragon: a brave and loyal baby dragon in cheerful shades of green, with soft plush uniquely textured like gentle scales. Zephyr doesn’t breathe fire, but brings the cozy hugs instead!
🐙💜 Indigo the Octopus: a sweet and clever baby octopus with a soft purple body and aqua tentacles with satisfyingly bumpy sensory plush. Indigo helps you stay calm under pressure & go with the flow.
What do you think of this new Spring crew? Share your favorites in the comments! Any questions? Favorite features? Which can’t you resist?
🎉Available now
🔗Links in bio
#newlaunch #newdrops #hugimals #bunnyplush #eastergifts
This Friday, @hugimals is heading to the Toy of the Year Awards as the only small business finalist in the Plush of the Year category with our Hugarounds—up against some very big, very iconic brands.
No matter what happens, this moment already means so much to me ✨
I started Hugimals World 3.5 years ago from a personal need. I was searching for a substantially weighted, anxiety-relieving plush for all ages that actually felt like it was hugging you back. When I couldn’t find it, I decided to build it, working with therapists to create something grounded in the real science of comfort.
We started with four Hugimals (which were a TOTY finalist the first year we launched!) and a lot of hope. Today, we have six product lines and a global community, and the wildest part is that the joy of building has only gotten stronger for me. I still get genuinely excited developing new products and obsessing over the small details that make something feel just right.
But what has always mattered most is the people using our products.
The customers who tell us their Hugarounds, Hugimals, or Hug Pillows are helping them and their kids sleep, easing their anxiety, supporting them through grief, or simply making the hard days feel a bit more manageable and cozy. The ones who come back again and again to collect a whole set because one hug is never enough.
They’re the real reason we’re in this room.
Wish us luck on Friday 💛
#hugimals #hugarounds #toty #smallbusinessowner #shopsmall
This year surprised me in some of the best ways and tested my resolve as well. 💙
From new launches to milestones that reminded me why we started in the first place, 2025 was full of growth, challenges, and so many hugs along the way.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Can’t wait for more exciting moments together in 2026! 🎉
#hugimals #hugarounds #weightedplushies #founderlife #smallbusinessowner #womeninbusiness #toty #yearinreview #2025recap #cuteplushies
Surprise drop @hugimals : The Weighted Hug Sweatshirt 💜 a hug you can actually wear.
💡I teamed up with my friend and sustainable designer @the_olgakapustina to create the thing I wished existed. The result is a chic, cozy premium cotton fleece sweatshirt with a stylish weighted yoke that delivers light deep touch pressure to your shoulders, back & chest, where many of us store tension. (Plus a kangaroo pocket for added function.) And it’s made locally here in NYC.
🥰 We designed The Hug Sweatshirt to look effortlessly put together, to feel instantly grounding, and get you compliments during zoom meetings while it secretly settles your nervous system
⚡ This is a limited-edition release, and once this first run is gone, it’s gone!
✨ So excited that Sidney the Sea Turtle made The Strategist’s holiday gift guide! Seeing our cozy, calming Hugaround featured as a best holiday gift in New York Mag (in print!) is a total pinch me moment 🐢🎁✨
Thank you @thestrategist - we know how much curation and elimination goes on to land on this selection of gifts. Doing a happy dance over here💖
#giftguide #holidaygiftideas #holidaygiftguide #seaturtle #turtlelove #giftideas #cozygifts #giftsforfriends #hugarounds #cozyvibes #plushies
🚨✨We are proud, honored and honestly mind-blown that Hugarounds are a finalist in the 2026 Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards, the Oscars of the toy industry! And we need everyone’s support to help the underdog (us) win: go to toyawards.org & vote for Hugarounds. It’s quick & easy, no signup required 🙏 When we say underdog, we mean it: we are the ONLY small, independent brand in our category up against six global corporations with big name toys like Disney’s Stitch, Care Bears, and How to Train Your Dragon.
Still letting this sink in. Thank you, our Hugimals World fam, for voting for us and cheering us on! 💛
#awardwinning #finalist #pleasevote #underdog #bignews #award #toty #toyswards #plushtoy
🚨New launch alert! ✨ We could not be more excited to introduce Bowie the Panda 🐼 (calm, cozy, and always down to snuggle), and Forrest the Fox 🦊 (clever, playful, and full of heart.) These adorable new Hugimals are here to bring even more calm and comfort to the Hugimals family.
AND! Their Hug Babies are also here and ready to order!
Which one will you hug first? 🧡🖤🤍
#comfortcore #stressrelief #holidaygifting #giftideas #stuffedanimalsofinstagram #plushies #plushiecommunity #emotionalsupportanimal #feelgoodcontent #cozyvibes #anxietyrelief #hugimals #emotionalsupportplush #pandaplushie #foxplush #cutestuffedanimals #newlaunch
Hi, it’s Marina 💕
I launched Hugimals because I couldn’t find what I was looking for: a weighted plush to help ease my anxiety that was portable, comforting, aesthetic, and felt like a real hug.
Flash forward three years: Hugimals went from an idea in my head to a thriving brand, created with therapists, that made it into the Emmys Gift Bags, hosted a sold-out Pop-Up in NYC, and has been featured in the New York Times, TODAY, The Strategist, and TIME’s Best Inventions. Best of all, our products have brought comfort and calm to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and helped normalize weighted plushies for adults as well as kids. ✨
I think young me (who was rarely without a plushie!) would be really proud. 🥹
#Hugimals #WeightedPlush #EmotionalSupportPlush #FounderStory #ComfortLooksGoodOnYou #FeelGoodContent #ForYourInnerChild #CozyVibesOnly #WholesomeContent #businessowner #founder
We celebrated Hugimals turning 3 🥹🎂 and it was such a special day!
From the sweetest guests to the cutest gift bags. It was hugs, laughter, and so much love all around 🧸✨
Huge shoutout to @joanas_ricc and @carbpusher for creating the most gorgeous cheese and charcuterie table 😍🧀🍇
Still can’t get over how magical this day was 💛
#Hugimals #Hugarounds #PopUpShop #WeightedPlush #StuffedAnimalsOfInstagram #Plushies #CozyVibesOnly #ComfortLooksGoodOnYou #EventRecap #FeelGoodContent
