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I Left My Journalism Career to Launch a Brand of Weighted Stuffed Animals
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.
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. 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. After nearly four years of development, we finalized the first Hugimal, Sam the Sloth. Then we were rolling.
About $1.4 million in sales in our first full year, and we’re on track to grow. Sam the Sloth and other Hugimals retail for $64, while our newer products range from Hug Babies wrist wraps that cost $11 to Super Sized Hug Pillows that run $88. Two and a half years in, we’ve expanded into Canada, the U.K., France, Sweden, and Denmark.
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 Housekeeping, and 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 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.
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.