ABOUT ME
So, a little bit of a summary all about me. My name is Kelly Asmus Albornoz, I live in Bairnsdale and my ultimate business goal for Quit Cigarettes in 60 Minutes, East Gippsland is to run out of customers because all of the smokers will have quit smoking cigarettes and be transformed into non-smokers, living happier and healthier lives.
One of my personal goals is for my Mum to quit smoking. My Mum is the main reason I began this training. Unfortunately, I need to wait until she is ready to quit before I can help her, because even a successful program like this can only work if the client is ready to give up smoking. No one can make you do anything you don’t already want to do, even under hypnosis. She knows that I am here for her as soon as she is ready to ‘kick the habit’, just as I am for all of you.
My Quitting Story
I am a non-smoker, but previous to that, I smoked occasionally from the age of 14 with school friends and a once I left school, I got to a point of smoking a packet of 40 per day!! I tried several times to cut down, which didn’t work, I tried a few times to quit ‘cold turkey’ but then I’d go to a party and ‘just had one’ with a drink, then I started smoking again. One day (the 8th of September 1999) I woke up, looked at myself in the mirror and said “No more! I will never ever smoke another cigarette.” And I never have. It took 7 attempts but I finally did it!
In all honesty, it wasn’t as easy as that sounds. The first 3 days I was in hospital recovering from major surgery, so the cravings were masked by powerful pain-killers. After that, I still felt quite ill but I still noticed the cravings, I put on about 8 kilograms within a 2 week period, food just didn’t satisfy. I was irritable, the smell of cigarettes, while disgusting, made me want one so badly. It took a lot of strength and willpower to not pick one up again, especially since my Mum and boyfriend at the time were smokers, as were a fair few friends. But, I am proud to say that I didn’t start again!
So Who am I?
I’m a Mum of 3 beautiful children, our first son watches over us after he was born sleeping in October 2011, our second son is healthy and active, determined like his Mum and strong and athletic like his Dad. Our daughter is a strong willed and determined little munchkin, between the two of our healthy children, there is never a dull moment. We feel very grateful to have been able to have 2 healthy ‘rainbow’ children after losing our first child.
Life so far has been a rollercoaster to the extreme! The great milestones were being accepted into Marine and Freshwater Science at Deakin University in Warrnambool, I see that as a true test of my strength since my Dad passed away 2 weeks before I started Year 12 in 1998. Another great milestone was completing my degree with Honours in Environmental Science in 2003.
I was then lucky enough to travel to Antarctica (a childhood dream) on 3 occasions within 3 years to study sea-ice and whales as well as recording the other amazing wildlife. This is where I honed my love and skills for photography too. So then, funding ran out for the Antarctic Research Project that I was a part of, and my hubby AND I had a wedding to pay for so I went in a different direction for a while. Once we had savings again after our Australian wedding, I ran off to Chile and other South American countries with my new husband for 4 months to get married again with my husband’s family and friends in Chile and finally have a honeymoon!
We ended up coming back to Australia in mid 2008 and living with my Mum in Wy Yung for a year before buying our lovely little house in West Bairnsdale. I worked for nearly 3 years with East Gippsland Landcare Network, which I loved. I left to start my own businesses, Albatross Photography and Design and started the training for this business, AND to start expanding our family, which didn’t go entirely to plan. I was 13 weeks pregnant when I started the training for this business and we were almost 28 weeks pregnant when our beautiful but very sick son passed away. Everything was put on hold for a while after that.
But now, I am determined to put my studies to good use and help as many people quit smoking cigarettes as I can. I’m working around my family so working during school hours. Returning phone calls and emails is completed around my bookings and the kids activities, so sometimes it may take a few hours or even a few days to get back to you. Having said that, I WILL get back to you.
All appointments are at my purpose built home office in Bairnsdale. A beautiful and relaxing space with an amazing LaZBoy recliner for my clients!