Marina Khidekel, Entrepreneur & Inventor

Your New Life Blend

Marina Khidekel had anxiety, and a fidget-spinner wasn't going to cut it. She liked the feeling of a weighted blanket, but having it all over her body was way too much. So she came up with an ingenious solution: a weighted stuffed animal. In June 2022, she launched Hugimals World and its anchor product, the Hugimal, a 4.5-lb weighted stuffed animal in 4 varieties that feel like they are hugging you back. Let's fast forward to 300 glowing press clips later: Hugimals is a multiple award-winning product, one of TIME's Best Inventions, and available from Amazon to Nordstrom to QVC. It's an incredible success story, but like all success stories, it didn't happen overnight. In this episode of "Your New Life Blend,” Marina speaks to host Shoshanna Hecht about making the leap to becoming a first-time founder, the path from idea to invention, and the people she's hugged along the way (via many units of Hugimals, of course).