the talK podKast

This episode gets down to the financial strategies behind Cristina’s vision for KOZ. It is the perfect pod for startup impact investors, anyone interested in being involved in KOZ’s purpose to keep kids safe online, and everyone who enjoys rooting for the underdog, and seeing a good mission come to life. This is the sequel to our fourth episode where KOZ was first introduced to the world. As an instrumental part of Cristina’s coming back journey, KOZ is her unexpected startup concept that has been the focus for much of her neurodivergent brain power since the moment she conceived it. While more detailed info is reserved for the most serious of interested parties, this pod will give our listeners a much deeper understanding about KOZ, and all that Cristina, her vision and the KOZ team are set out to do, with the right resources in place. 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]

Want to read real-time thoughts and updates in Cristina’s new blog? Subscribe at thetalkpodkast.substack.com

For more info, visit our website thetalkpodkast.podbean.com 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot on January 7, 2025 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights are reserved.

Isolation and inadequate support is a stark and unfortunate reality for many trauma survivors, particularly survivors of relational trauma, especially childhood trauma. Cristina is no exception. It took Cristina, and it takes survivors a lot of courage to ASK FOR HELP, and there’s no easy answer or way to learn how to do so. We have to take the leap, and indeed it is very hard. Join Joel and Cristina as they talk about how Joel became Cristina’s safe person for life. You’ve already come to know Joel as a dear childhood friend of Cristina’s, now you can take a closer looK at this important side of their special relationship. Cristina talks about the importance of being our own safe person FIRST, and shares her definitions on the different types of “safe people.” Joel shares his (very humble) tips for other safe people, and how he’s benefitted from being one. Customary to all of our episodes, they warm up their talk with an MHM (Mental Health Moment), Cristina’s coming back story updates and clarifications & additions related to prior episodes. 

CONTENT SENSITIVITY NOTE: reference to aspects of Cristina’s darkest times pursuant to her IPV abuse are made. 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot on December 3, 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

For more info, visit our website thetalkpodkast.podbean.com 

 COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights are reserved.

Relational trauma like complex childhood trauma impacts the intimate relationships of adult survivors in wide-reaching, life-changing and deeply impactful ways, and at very alarming rates. With reports citing numbers as high as 80%, Cristina was one of the lucky ones in that she was with loving, caring intimate partners who were mindful of her past. Everything drastically changed when she met her last intimate partner, her abusive ex-husband, in her late 40’s. Her marriage shattered everything with Intimate Partner Violence, crashing her life and mental health to rock bottom. Cristina survived covert narcissistic abuse for years, enduring emotional, psychological, physical and financial abuse. The IPV deeply triggered Cristina’s childhood trauma and the mental disabilities she lives with because of it, arresting her life to a halt. Recovery from this trauma, and all of its impacts on Cristina’s life, is her “coming back” journey that you are bearing witness to, as it happens, here on the talK. 

CONTENT SENSITIVITY NOTE: reference to Cristina’s IPV are made in this episode, please listen with caution and care. 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot on November 19, 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights are protected.

Meet Charlotte. Just shy of 19, Charlotte is KOZ’s resident youth, first ever Core Youth Officer, a Niece-by-Choice (NBC) of Cristina’s, eldest daughter of Joel’s, and one of KOZ’s originals. Join them as they talk about their goals and dreams, travelling, KOZ, growing up around entrepreneuring, coming of age, mental health and more. 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot on October 24, 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers. 

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

Meet sport-tech & health-tech entrepreneur Michael, KOZ’s tech and business Advisor. Listen in as Joel, Cristina and Michael talk (KOZ) shop, mental health and entrepreneuring, starting over, startup stress, coping with shame and guilt, their gratitude for failures, and how KOZ is entirely feasible as a startup concept. When it comes to delivering KOZ’s purpose to keep kids safe online, Cristina has been hypervigilant in every aspect of her vision for KOZ’s Safety Formula, and Michael has been instrumental in vetting her concepts and strategies. Nobody considers safety in the same way a childhood trauma survivor does, and this is why KOZ is an integral part of Cristina’s coming back and healing journey.

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot on October 29, 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

Every family has an origin story that affects its unique dynamic. Individual, collective and intergenerational trauma can really run deep and affect every member of it. Listen in for a first looK at Cristina’s only family by blood…her family of origin. Hear the familial traumas that impacted her family, her life, and the complex dynamics of their complicated relationships. Get to know more about Cristina and the remarkable life roots that made her into who, and how, she is today. As usual for the talK, Cristina and Joel start today’s podcast with a coming back update and a Mental Health Moment. This episode was shot on November 26, 2024. 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot at the end of 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

…talk about the safety of kids online. The harms met by today’s kids on the internet have undeniably and terrifyingly changed the landscape of childhood trauma. The first of many conversations on this important topic, Joel and Cristina talk with Terry, a fellow law enforcement officer to Joel, a childhood friend of Cristina’s, and KOZ’s Safety & Security Advisor. Listen in as they talk about the darker sides of the internet for kids, and the things that will make KOZ different and able to keep them safe online. There’s no one more committed to keeping kids safe than a neurodivergent childhood trauma survivor who grew up to be an entrepreneur. Hear their real knowledge and inspiring vibe and vision of it all. #underdogrising #comingback #startingover #startingUP

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot in late 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

Childhood trauma costs today’s societies trillions of dollars. It impacts adults who have survived it, immeasurably. Join Cristina and Joel as they share the first intimate looK at Cristina’s childhood trauma. Learn how it’s the foundational reason she is building KOZ, her unexpected startup she created while healing her childhood abuse and neglect, to keep kids safe online.

🖤 Content sensitivity note: while there is no trauma dumping shared, references to Cristina’s childhood trauma are made in this podcast. Please listen with care. 

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it will take a nation to support an adult from a shattered childhood.” ~ Cristina 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot at the end of 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

Meet Beth in this BONUS episode! Beth is the talK’s faKtifier and one of the original KOZ volunteers as our Knowledge ambassador. Committed to sharing the facts with our listeners, Beth is also the Kurator of the talKipedia, the talK’s library of linKs,  background info, behind-the-scenes sneaK peeKs, and cool closer looKs at things historic to KOZ, the talK, our team and our hosts. We are so grateful for Beth! 

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot at the end of 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers. COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected

KOZ is Cristina's kids' digital media startup that she created when healing her own childhood trauma. An inspiring tale of an underdog rising from the ashes of horrible traumas, Cristina's "coming back story" is incomplete without KOZ, her digital fortress she hopes to build to keep kids safe online.

#entrepreneur #mentalhealth #startup #recovery #underdogrising #comingback #startingover

Thank you for joining us!  Please FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW our podcast, it really helps us be seen and heard by many others like you. 

Want to talK? Email us at [email protected]. 

Interested in KOZ? Email Cristina at [email protected]

This episode was shot at the end of 2024 in our virtual studio. Sound quality may differ between speakers.

COPYRIGHT 2025 All rights protected