Self-Proclaimed Recovering Pessimist and Truth Bomb Mom: Meet Kristina Kuzmic
By Jennifer Weaver
TRUE BEAUTY AWARD WINNER
MAY 2017
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After the thirtieth person left her tiny, one-bedroom apartment where she’d prepared and hosted a free pasta dinner, Kristina Kuzmic collapsed to the floor and wept the most joyous tears she’d ever experienced in her life. In an instant, the single mother of two toddlers realized she could make a positive difference in people’s lives.
“I realized how obsessed I’d become with myself and my own misery. I breathe, and eat, and drink, and make-out with self-pity. That’s literally how I felt,” Kristina said as tears welled up in her eyes. “All of sudden, I believed I had something to give … I had been sobbing for so long of hopelessness and despair, but in that moment, it was a glimmer of hope. I never again felt defeated, or worthless, or useless.”
Being an internet sensation with more than 300 million video views is a far cry from the destitute divorcée who once was struggling to make ends meet with a government-issued food assistance card a decade ago. Today, Kristina is living in Southern California, happily married and the mother of three children who keep her creative juices flowing on parenting topics that viewers can’t stop watching.
“It is just so refreshing to see a community rally around a real person and a real mom,” said Kuzmic fan, Elizabeth Peace, mother of two from Arlington, Va. “She’s somebody who makes you feel better for being human instead of trying to be this fake version of what everyone wants you to be.”
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