At Sloomoo, joy isn’t just encouraged—it’s the point. The multi-sensory playground, built on the simple act of playing with slime, has become an unexpected refuge for stress, nostalgia, and emotional release.
For Karen Robinovitz, co-founder of Sloomoo and former pioneer of the influencer industry with Digital Brand Architects, that mission is deeply personal. After enduring profound personal loss, she found herself drawn not to what was next—but to what might help her feel whole again. That answer came in an unexpected form: slime. In its simplicity, she rediscovered a sense of lightness—and, ultimately, a new way forward.
For our Mental Health Awareness issue, we spoke to Karen about reframing healing in a surprising way and the power in play, no matter your age.
Can you tell us a little bit about your own discovery of slime?
Almost nine years ago, my life really, truly fell apart. I went through a series of personal tragedies around loss back to back, and these losses left me in a tremendous depression, and I literally barely functioned for a really long time. One day, my friend came by with her then 10-year-old, and she happened to have slime. I was curious about it because I grew up with slime the first time around in the ‘70s. So I wound up on the floor with my friend's daughter for four hours, and when they were leaving, it really hit me that I had reconnected with a part of me that knows how to experience joy. It gave me this unbelievable, healthy escape and brought me back in touch with my little inner seven-year-old.
Why do you think so many adults are craving tactile, joyful experiences like Sloomoo right now?
I'd love to take on part of the conversation of whimsy, from adults needing to bring out their inner child. When you are playing with your hands, you're triggering neurogenesis, so you're building new brain neurons. You're igniting your creativity. You're creating a connection, not just with others, but with yourself. There's a real science to really embracing the analog.
What makes slime uniquely effective compared to other tactile or mindfulness tools? What’s actually happening in our brains when we interact with it?
When you interact with it, you're definitely triggering your endorphins and dopamine. And I felt this instinctively. You're literally stimulating your production of endorphins and dopamine. And then our slime is scented. Scent is the sense that's closest tied to memory, so you are also triggering your brain with something that reminds you of that scent. When you're doing all of this at once and in the moment, it's really hard for your brain to then go into all of your anxiety.
What kind of feedback do you hear most often from people after they leave the Sloomoo institute?
Somebody posted yesterday that they left feeling lighter than they had in years.
