By Josie Goldberg
Steve Kuzj is currently working on-air in New York for NewsChannel 13 WNYT. After spending nearly a decade in Los Angeles on KTLA 5 News. Steve has been in major television markets across the country, including Atlanta, Phoenix, and NYC. He’s even picked up a few Emmys and other awards along the way.
When I tested for the Playboy Playmate Centerfold for my 25 birthday at Playboy Studios, Hugh Hefner asked the potential candidate to fill out a Playboy Questionnaire for Hefner to really get to know you. The questions were basic, but the last question always stood out to me for years to come. The question was “What would be your dream job in the entertainment industry”. I answered it without any hesitation, and I even remember what I wrote, (I hope to one day have my own talk show on tv, because I can relate to most everyone and love interviewing people to share their journeys to their success. Then I added that I have always been told that I am good at getting to the bottom of things, with my skill of asking questions. Even at school, Kids would always call me Miss? (Question Mark). If anyone could not find out the 411, I was always called to see if I could figure it out. As one knows getting your own talk show like “Dr. Phil, Oprah, Wendy Williams, Joan Rivers” is probably one of the hardest goals to achieve in the entertainment industry. I have always known one day that as I evolve my Kraft, an opportunity would arise.
Back in 2019, there was tragedy at Santa Anita Racetrack and many horses lost their life on the racetrack. Southern California was experiencing an unusual amount of rain that year, and industry experts attributed the unsafety to the track to an excess amount of water which made the track rock hard (as experts say). Unfortunately, accidents happen, and I too lost my racehorse in a race on Palm Sunday on March 29, 2015. It was the saddest day in my horse racing career. I loved my racehorse “Only Josie Knows” with all my heart and soul.
There was a very handsome reporter from KTLA named Steve Kuzj, covering the tragic deaths of multiple racehorses at Santa Anita Racetrack in 2019. I walked over to him and introduced myself and told him about how I lost my horse “Only Josie Knows” in 2015 during her race. We talked briefly and I told him I was a thoroughbred horse owner and breeder here on the California circuit. He then decided to interview me and did a segment on my racehorse “Only Josie Knows’’ to hear our journey from start to finish. I got very good responses from all and they loved my amazing journey with “Only Josie Knows”. Steve Kuzj told my story so precisely with so much compassion, that it brought me closure to that chapter of my life. I then had the idea that I would love to have a job like Steve Kuzj (general assignment field reporter for KTLA) and really help people tell their stories. Mr. Steve Kuzj really inspired me to evolve my entertainment career in the direction of reporting.
When I got my racehorse “Only Josie Knows” “as a 2-year-old, I knew God sent me something special in my racehorse. I told everyone this horse is not only my soul mate, but she will give me everything I need in my life to push me forward. I waited my whole for that lucky break. I even went on “The Dr. Phil Show” and cried that I am dying waiting for my lucky break and waiting for a Jewish A list director to save me. Dr. Phil and so many said, there is no lucky breaks, there is just hard work which Dr. Phil told me I’m not working hard enough. So, when it came via thoroughbred horses, I knew God did not forget me. I held on for as long as Destiny could allow me too. I had the best five years with her. Josie not only helped solve many of the problems in my life, but also was a catalyst for many of my blessings to come. She was my everything and still is. She even comes to me in my dreams occasionally and gives me kisses and tells me she is still alive. The next day I seemed to be super lucky, that things just go right for me. I do believe in lucky breaks in our entertainment industry because there are so many talented people and not enough good paying jobs, so I work hard, do the best to my ability and pray to the big man upstairs that he will send me those golden opportunities when he feels its time. Which he has, but now I want new ones.
I finally got my first reporting job as a Celebrity Entertainment News Reporter, and I am coming up on my 1-year anniversary with “The Hollywood Times”. I also am a columnist named “Only Josie Knows”. My horse was right, she never died, she is still alive in me and instead of pushing herself to the finish line, she is pushing me. I love being a reporter. I have never been so contenting in my career. I get to be myself and get to the bottom of things and help others as well as myself get their dreams to become a reality, by figuring out the path that brings (Romance, glamour and some money). I am “Only Josie Knows” and one way or another we will all get to where we want to go, it’s just a matter of time, and you have me and “Only Josie Knows” who is pushing us all to the finish line.
