Very excited to have wellness coach and certified tobacco treatment specialist Cara Citrowske of Kick It Catalyst™ with us today.

Cara helps women quit smoking. To date, she’s helped over 500 women (and hundreds of men) kick the habit and become smoke-free hotties.

Welcome Cara …

Tell us about your business. What do you do, who do you love to serve?

Do you remember that bad boy you liked who you knew was bad for you but you just couldn’t resist him? Well, for many women, the bad boy is nicotine. My business is Kick It Catalyst™ and I love helping women gain the confidence to break up with cigarettes and become smoke-free hotties™.

Why did you decide to focus on smoking? 

Smoking actually decided to focus on me. In 2006, my husband and I moved back from Turkey (he’s in the military) and I went to a job interview to be a corporate wellness coach. I have a Master’s Degree in Education and a bunch of health certifications so I thought, “I got this.”

Then, the interviewer told me the job would focus on tobacco cessation and asked me what I knew about it. I paused and blurted out, “Well, nearly every woman in my family smokes and I have nagged my mom to quit for the past 25 years.” I am not really sure if that counted as being qualified but I got the job (I would soon become very qualified).

Fast forward a few years later. After helping nearly 1000 “strangers” break their addiction to tobacco, I lost my aunt to lung cancer and another very close family member was diagnosed with it. I started following one of my health mentors, Kris Carr, and through one of her Facebook posts, I learned about a multi-passionate entrepreneur, Marie Forleo. She teaches people how to create socially-conscious online businesses and I said, “I’m in!”

I knew creating Kick It Catalyst would be the way I could help other families avoid losing loved ones to tobacco like I am.

When someone hires you to help them quit smoking what can they expect? What makes your approach to kicking smoking different from other approaches?

When you sign up for the Kick It Kickstart, I am 100% committed to your success. Crabby, sad, excited. I’m here for you no matter what. You will get a series of 1:1 coachings (phone or Skype) for 30-90 days depending on your needs. You’ll learn the real reason you want to be smoke free, how to kick cravings without gaining weight, and what you absolutely must do to prevent relapse. Oh yeah, you also get spoiled with surprises along the way.

My coaching program is different because it combines evidence based tobacco treatment with cutting edge behavior change techniques so you gain the confidence to break up with cigarettes and become a smoke-free hottie. No fear tactics or nagging included. If you want want to learn more about how I can help you, I am happy to offer 15 minute freebie coachings. You can sign up for a Kick It Quick Hit today.

Is there a secret to success for ladies who want to quit smoking?

Yep and I’ll tell ya when you sign up for the Kick It Kickstart (and it’s not willpower!)

What changes have you seen in the lives of your clients after working with you to quit smoking?

I’ll let my hottie, Angela, answer this one.

Cara has supported me 100% in a way that I have never experienced before. I can’t really share my fears and challenges with my friends or family – they don’t smoke and just don’t understand the love hate relationship I had with cigarettes.

Cara was totally in my corner and provided me with a whole new way of looking at the relationship I had with cigarettes and the way to let it go. Cara has been there for me to celebrate little successes and showed me how to build upon those and make the mental and physical transformation into a smoke free hottie.

There is absolutely no way I would be feeling the freedom and certainty I have now without her insight, compassion and encouragement and I know I will never go back to the pack mentality. I want to add that my family and I have faced a huge upheaval in the past few weeks that has injected an enormous amount of stress and tension into our life. But I haven’t smoked. And that is a total previously unimaginable miracle that I know has been achieved because of Cara and her program.”

How has the experience of coaching others through this challenge impacted your life?

It’s not nicotine but through coaching my hotties, I realized I’m a sugar addict. The “eat half a bag of cookies, throw the rest away, and then dig them back out of the trash” kind of addict. I couldn’t believe something could have that much control over me. It’s very similar to what my Hotties go through EVERY day. It’s shown me compassion, forgiveness, and persistence. I am proud to say I’ve been sugar sober since April 15 (my longest stretch yet!).

How has having your own business empowered you?

Quite simply, I am learning there really isn’t anything I can’t accomplish as long I am willing to ask for help and put in the work. This shift in perspective benefits my work and my family life.

What change do you want to bring about in the world as a result of your work?

While training at the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center to become a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist, I was shocked to learn that if you try to quit smoking on your own, you only have a 5% chance of success and most people relapse within 3 days. Those statistics suck. I said, “enough is enough”. There has to be a better way.

This issue is so much bigger than bad breath and wrinkles. There are smart, creative, passionate women like my mom and aunt who are getting sick and dying because of cigarettes. I want every woman to know that if you want to be smoke-free, I am the girl to get you there.

What did 9 year old Cara want to be when she grew up?

A doctor. I guess I found a different way to help people heal.

She’s helped over 500 women (and hundreds of men) end the pack mentality and become smoke-free hotties™. She created her business with the intention of ending the fear of failure, promoting gratitude, and creating a system to end tobacco addiction that actually works. She’s also a military wife and mom of two who stays sane with the help of yoga, green juice, and her ability to laugh at herself. You can find her at her website and on Facebook and Twitter.

What habit have you kicked or would like to kick? Comment below.

Happy to have personal shopper and wardrobe stylist Hanna Ashbaugh of Hanna Lee Style here on the blog today.

Hanna helps professional women discover what styles of clothing work best on their body types. Then, she transforms their wardrobes and closets so that they can look polished in 20 minutes or less.

You can purchase Hanna’s custom body type guide, Sexier You, on her site. Hanna will use your personal measurements to create a custom Sexier You guide so that you know which style of clothing will work best for your specific body type.

Along with helping her clients look their best, Hanna also works as a print and commercial stylist helping magazines and companies like Tostino’s Pizza Rolls, Pepsi-Co, and OfficeMax show up in style.

Here’s Hanna

Tell us about your business, Hanna Lee Style. What do you do, who do you love to serve and why?

I am a personal shopper and wardrobe stylist.  I help busy, professional women have the wardrobe and tools to look polished in 20 minutes or less. I help buy mix and match pieces, so their wardrobes make sense and they can get dressed easily. 

What are busy professional’s closets suffering from?

Lack of cohesiveness! Most women I work with are buying a piece here or there when they’re out – it’s not planned, so then, when it gets back to their closets, it doesn’t make sense and therefore, never ends up worn. Comes full circle- what do I wear with this or that.  It’s why dressing can be difficult for people without the time to shop.  Shopping for a cohesive wardrobe takes time and a plan.

When someone hires you to be their personal shopper what can they expect to happen?

They can expect to have fun and it be an easy process. I’ll teach them what colors help them glow. Which styles most flatter their figure. And they can expect a lot of compliments! When women wear the best colors & styles for themselves, a new woman can appear. It’s why I love what I do!

What changes have you seen in the lives of your clients after working with you to refine their wardrobes?

Love lives have excelled, endless compliments about weight loss (when none has occurred but their clothing actually fits correctly), improved confidence in their work life. Ease. Getting dressed in the morning effortlessly without worry.

What are the biggest surprises your clients have when you take them out shopping?

When women try on something they would never try on and see themselves looking great- they’re always surprised. The “I would have never chosen that and it looks great..” I love those quotes. It happens often- and it should, it’s why they hire me. 

When did you decide you wanted to be a personal stylist?

During college my brother asked me what I really wanted to do. No hesitation for me – I wanted to be a personal shopper.  

How would you describe your own style? What do you love to wear?

I’m a mix of classic, simple and romantic. I feel my best in wardrobe that accentuates my body. I love wide leg pants or maxi skirts with a tucked in tank. Simplicity is great. The classic style comes in with my love for chunky gold jewelry; I got that love from my grandma.  

How has the experience of styling others impacted your life?

I love my life, that’s the greatest impact! I love being with people helping them with a task they truly dislike. It’s a great feat to really love what you do every day and ask yourself often “is this really my job?” To me, that’s amazing.

Wardrobe (and how you look) can be such an intimate experience. I don’t take that for granted. I feel grateful that men and women have invited me into their lives and their closets.

I never quite understood how people didn’t like to shop, it was hard for me to grasp. And, when clients told me they were nervous, I couldn’t quite get in their shoes about it and recently when I began shopping for my wedding dress – I finally got it. A total “aha!” moment for me. It was a chore for me to go shopping for my wedding dress; I had so much other stuff I would have rather been doing. And, going to these boutiques, I felt the nerves.

For my clients, shopping is a chore and it’s time consuming. And, these are people that know how they look makes a difference in their lives. Whether that difference is in a board room or a dating scenario, they know wardrobe makes a difference. They need to look put together for their jobs. People listen to you differently when you’re dressed confidently.

How has having your own business empowered you?  

I love living a life of passion. Having my own business hasn’t been easy. Sometimes, it’s difficult to take a day off, you’re almost always working. But when you really love what you do- that’s empowering. 

Hanna Ashbaugh is a Chicago-based personal shopper and wardrobe stylist. You can find Hanna at her website Hanna Lee Style and on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

Comment below: What’s your style? What do you love to wear?