Women Branching Out: Cara Citrowske
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.
Cara Citrowske is the Kick It Catalyst™. She has a Master’s Degree in Education with a Concentration in Kinesiology and Health Promotion from the University of Texas at San Antonio, is a Wellcoaches Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist trained by the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center.
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.
I’d love to kick the lazy habit into the butt! 🙂
PS: I really like Cara’s approach and website!
PPS: It was strange to see Marie’s being mentioned so “facelessly”, we all feel so close to her these days!
Great interview with Cara! I’m not a smoking or sugar addict. I guess my addiction is: planning!
Indeed, I’m very good at coming up with elaborate plans and to-do lists, but less good at following through… That’s the habit I would like to kick: stop planning so much and not living-up to those plans.
Any tips?
Thanks
I quit smoking 25 years ago. It was not easy. I would have liked to have a coach at the time. As it was, it was either quit…or quit quitting! I think the 2nd hand smoke studies as well as the stigma that went with smoking helped me a lot. My best tip is lots of deep breaths. You have to want it. Thanks for another great interview! ~Cathy
I have seen the struggles of quitting from my boyfriend to my aunt. They all quit because of health reasons. I wish that they had a coach like you so that they didn’t have such a struggle when they were quitting or did it before their health was at risk. Thank you for creating an amazing service, I know you have and will save many lives.
Wow! My mother smoked for 30 years and it drove me crazy! You are literally saving lives, Cara! And improving the air quality! Thank you, Christine, for bring yet another amazing women into my view! Xx
What a mission! As a former smoker I love that Cara has dedicated herself to something sooo important. Great interview Christie.