Vapouround magazine ISSUE 12 | Page 40

FEATURE DIARY OF A VAPER Zac Casey shares his life-changing journey on how he went from working at McDonald’s all the way to working for the promotions team at Riot Squad with a little help from his vape pen. This is his story. Like many smokers, I started as a teenager and I was soon smoking at least 20 cigarettes a day. A lot of my friends smoked too, so it became a regular habit to me - just like eating or drinking. My family members all smoked as well including my grandparents. My grandad actually walked into a vape store in the city centre of Milton Keynes and picked up an e-cigarette for himself. Just like that, he quit smoking and hasn’t touched a cigarette for over three years. He really enjoyed it and before I knew it, everyone in my family had switched to vaping except me. My family encouraged me to try vaping and what really motivated me to quit smoking was the fact that it worked for all of my family members. I also wanted to prove to them that I could do it and plus, smoking has become increasingly expensive over the last few years and it was costing me my health too. At the beginning, I remember thinking ‘this is amazing’ and I just couldn’t get over all the different flavours, there really is something for everyone. Vaping tasted a hell of a lot better than cigarettes - it didn’t have the stench that came with cigarettes. The first few days without a cigarette were a bit of a struggle as my friends continued to smoke, so there was that odd 40 ISSUE 12 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE temptation every now and then but soon, I started to realise how bad cigarettes smell and it really put me off craving for one. After just a few weeks of vaping, I was surprised to find that I could breathe a lot more easier and I didn’t smell like stale tobacco. Being able to breathe properly meant that I could walk to the bus stop and be on my feet for longer without feeling breathless. When I first started vaping, I was actually working at McDonald’s and studying at college. We got so many different customers every day and one of them just happened to be from Riot Squad. We had a friendly chat and a few days later, one of the guys called me up and offered me a job. I couldn’t believe it. It’s been over 5 months now that I’ve been working with Riot Squad and I’ve come to absolutely love the vaping community. I’ve met loads of people from all over the UK, from shop owners to members of the vaping public and it’s been great to share our different experiences with vaping. Everyone at Riot Squad is amazing and I really do consider them family. They’ve made me feel so welcome and I couldn’t think of a better e-liquid company to work for. Go Riot or Go Home!