Hi, my name is Deb – owner of Easyway Dunedin, this is my story.

I get the most amazing feeling every single time I help someone escape from the nicotine trap.
I never thought I could ever have a job that gives me so much joy and fulfilment.
This is my story about how I took back the control I thought cigarettes had over me and how it has turned into something I am deeply passionate about and how others can do it to.

I started stealing sneaky ciggys from my parents at age seven.
Yes, I know, 7 years old. Shocking but true.
I can remember my parents telling me not to take up smoking as they were puff puffing away.
I remember being the cool kid that got to hang out with the big kids only because I could always get my hands on cigarettes.

Twenty-one years ago now, I was pregnant with my first baby. This was my first attempt to stop smoking after having smoked for thirteen years.
As you can probably guess, I didn’t manage to stop smoking but I did manage to have a mental fight with myself every time I lit one. The war that went on in my head was horrid. Every part of me knew I shouldn’t be smoking while I was pregnant but I just couldn’t stop.

Every time I tried to give up I was an emotional yo-yo. I was just so angry and stressed – and you can ask anyone who was around me at those times – they’ll tell you I was crazy, and when it would become too much and I lit one up, I just felt so guilty.
But, I continued to smoke, through two more pregnancies and so, soo many failed attempts to stop.

I buried both my parents aged 56 and 57 due to cancer and yet, I still smoked. In fact, I was smoking at the hospital while I was with them in their final days.
How was that not enough to make me stop?

I had tried every method known to mankind to stop smoking, in fact I had tried them all twice. Zyban twice. Champix twice. Hypnotism twice.
I’ve lost count of the times I tried nicotine replacement.
In fact it had become a huge joke to all my friends. Any time I said “I am going to quit smoking” it would be followed with laughter and an “I am sure you are”.
Now don’t get me wrong, my friends were 100% supportive of my attempts to stop smoking – well for the first 30 or 40 times anyway.

I’d heard of this amazing book that was helping so many people to stop called ‘Allen Carr’s Easyway to stop smoking’. I got it from the library and began to read.
I actually read it a few times and knew that it was exactly what I needed, but for some reason it still wasn’t enough for me.
I read the details for the ‘Easyway clinics’ in the back of the book and booked myself in and booked a flight to Auckland.

I had exhausted all other avenues and this was my final chance. I knew before we even went to the clinic that this was it, I was going to stop but I did not think it was going to be that easy. It was crazy. I left that day as happy non smokers!
How could it have been so hard trying to quit for 17 years then be so easy and pain free after the clinic?
I just couldn’t explain it, not even to myself.

A couple of years later I contacted the London office and begged them to sell me the rights to the clinics for the South Island in New Zealand.
Full on training ensued for the next couple of years and now here I am helping others to break free.

BEST JOB EVER!!

Once I was trained, I needed people to practice on and my poor friend Kylie (who had come over from Aussie for a nice relaxing holiday) and my sister-in-law Gillian were in my sights. I told them that it wasn’t about them stopping, that was their choice but I really just needed to practice my delivery so they reluctantly agreed.
That was months ago now and they are both still smoke free and loving it.

Granddad was next on my hit list (the kids granddad not mine).
Aged 63 with no intention of stopping and bullied into sitting through a clinic by me.
He was a very dedicated smoker, in fact the smoking shed at his workplace was actually named ‘Ray’s shed’ after him.
He always told me how much he enjoyed smoking, he didn’t actually want to stop but he did want me to stop annoying him about the clinic.
I knew it was a long shot.
I loved that I could help Kylie and Gillian to stop but there is something so special about granddad stopping.
Three months smoke free now and the kids are so excited. We all are.

That is my story of how I got to be here, doing something I love and helping as many people as possible. I thought that the day I attended the Easyway clinic  would be the best day of my life regarding smoking. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I get that same elated feeling every time I show someone else how to painlessly get free.
I get that same feeling listening to them tell me how this has changed their lives and how happy they are.

Deb