Kristina Kuzmic is a cheerleader for her fellow humans. It’s not something she ever anticipated doing, but after immigrating to America from Croatia during the war in her homeland and later facing more challenges (divorce, single parenting, poverty, mental health challenges), Kristina’s goal became clear: to be for others what she needed when she was at her lowest.

Now, with well over one billion video views, Kristina is providing her audience with encouragement, hope and humor in a role she never expected to fill.

In 2011, when Oprah crowned Kristina the winner of Mark Burnett’s reality TV competition “Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star,” Oprah said, “What is that THING…that’s so charming and charismatic and connected to the audience that makes you feel like, ‘I know her, I want to be her, I’m like her’… Kristina has all of that. She is an ‘IT PLUS’ girl… I wanna watch her!”

Since working with Oprah, Kristina has branched out on her own, creating videos about juggling all of life’s challenges, and encouraging her audience to prioritize their mental health. She has quickly become a viral sensation with 2.9 million Facebook followers and well over 600,000 Instagram followers.

Kristina has performed at comedy clubs and theatres across the country. She is also a sought after international keynote speaker who has a unique way of connecting with audiences of all ages.  Her first book, Hold On But Don’t Hold Still, was released through Penguin Random House in February 2020, and made it on multiple bestseller lists. It has been translated in seven languages so far. Kristina’s second book, I Can Fix This! (And Other Lies I’ve Told Myself while Parenting My Struggling Child), is set to be released in May 2024.