The switch from running a bakery to a plant nursery is the start of a new season for Warrnambool's Kim Sordello who is relishing the change after battling a rare breast cancer.
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Mrs Sordello, and husband Corey, took over All Seasons Nursery in Lava Street after selling the Bakers Delight business they had operated in Warrnambool for the past seven years.
Warrnambool has long been a special place for Mrs Sordello and the way the city has embraced her during her treatment has only cemented that.
Mrs Sordello, who is originally from Geelong, said many years ago she had spent six months working in Warrnambool as a bank manager for Westpac.
So when the couple were looking to buy a Bakers Delight, she felt the pull back to Warrnambool.
"I was just drawn to the people," she said.
But after seven years running a Bakers Delight store in Warrnambool - which had come after seven years of also running one in Geelong - the couple felt it was time for a change.
They sold up and started looking for another business to buy.
"We looked all around Australia. We were open to moving somewhere warmer, then everything just kept leading back to here," Mrs Sordello said.
"The community here is amazing and my heart was here. I just couldn't go. I just love Warrnambool and the people.
"I got really excited about a nursery. It's still retail. It's something that I'm passionate about - customers.
"It just felt right."
Mrs Sordello said it was a big change but she was excited to take the business to the "next level" by bringing in more pots and different ranges of plants.
"It's been good to break away and start again but in the community we love. We've already had our Bakers Delight customers come in and see us which says something about Warrnambool," Mrs Sordello said.
Her customers and team at the bakery had pulled together to support her to get through her treatment, she said.
"I was getting messages and flowers from our customers. It's something that shows just how unique Warrnambool people are," she said.
"So I now have a very strong connection with the Warrnambool people. I just love them to bits."
By the time Mrs Sordello had started her treatment for inflammatory breast cancer - which makes up about five per cent of all breast cancers - it was already stage four.
"It's been a two-year journey. They've got it under control at the moment. It's just something I have to deal with for the rest of my life," she said.
Mrs Sordello was able to do her weekly treatment in Warrnambool, something at first they weren't sure she would be able to do.
"I cannot speak more highly of the team down at the cancer centre and my oncologist," she said.
"I'll never be cleared.
"That was another part of why I wanted to sell. I needed a fresh start. I needed a different environment, being outdoors and creative."
Mrs Sordello said her husband had been her number one support. "
It's not just me going through cancer. It's Corey," she said.
"At the start I wasn't fearful but with everything that everyone was saying, especially when you go to stage four, it had already spread. You have these fears because it can head up to your brain, it can head to your bones.
"Absolutely I was fearful but I've got someone looking after me. I am a miracle. I really am a miracle.
"Even my oncologist and surgeon says 'we cannot believe you are sitting in front of us today with the results we have'."
Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
