Sherry Berman (left) and Julie Gleeson moved into their new Moraga office a year ago. Photo provided

Sherry Berman and Julie Gleeson are a great professional match. Berman, a career counselor with a different spiritual vision, and Gleeson, a coach in natural wisdom, bring to their clients complementary tools to achieve happiness through work. They believe that the journey they propose, made of self-discovery, empowerment and joy, is the most complete for those in transition - from teens wondering what professional path to choose, to adults pushed into early retirement.

Berman believes that we are all born with a design; a purpose; something we are made to achieve, that can infuse us with passion. "Everybody has a special design, they are a unique piece in the world," says Berman, "there is one thing that people came into this lifetime with and it can't be tested." She believes uncovering that design and following it is the key to resilience and success, "By age eight Oprah was already interviewing squirrels in her backyard," she says.

The next question is-how do you uncover the design after years of family and social pressures that might have directed you down a non-optimal path? Yolanda Mendonza took a six-week class with the Career Wisdom Institute, after she lost her long time corporate job in sales. She reconnected with her long lost love for photography. But what had been pushing her in that direction and how could she turn it into a new career? "Sherry's first recommendation was 'notice what you notice,'" remembers Mendonza, "during the workshop I started paying more attention to what makes me curious or intrigues me. We (the workshop participants) had a lot of homework. As we wrote down everything we wanted to be as children, we put them in categories and started realizing how they are connected." As a result of the workshop, Mendonza has launched her photography career and started creating a network of professional relationship in the non-profit world that really interests her.

The other piece of the Career Wisdom concept is building the confidence that attracts success. That's Gleeson's side of the equation. "There are three principles that apply to all human beings," according to Gleeson, "the first principle states we have thoughts good or bad rolling through us all the time, and we focus only on the those we're familiar with. The second principle is that of consciousness, meaning that we're capable of observing ourselves doing things and thinking things in real time. This allows the application of the third principle, which is wisdom. It's this wisdom that exists in all of us, all the time and we just need to recognize its voice." For example, when someone is engaged in an intense argument with a member of the family and that argument is interrupted by a phone call, let's say from a good friend, bad feelings can change to good in an instant. The situation has not changed, the annoyance still exists, but the perception was changed. "It's the thinking that's messed up, not the circumstance," says Gleeson. She believes that anyone can come to a healthy state of mind, whatever their circumstance, history or brain chemistry. "Thinking that you're a victim of the economy, or too old keeps you there," she adds, "our job is to take people to a vibrant and more resilient place where they can discover their design."

Gleeson and Berman work from their Moraga office at 1036 Country Club Drive. For more information go to

careerwisdominstitute.com, or contact Sherry@Switch-Careers.com, (925) 212-7805 or GleesonJ@aol.com , (925) 408-8422.