Susan Bernstein is a coach, speaker, and author and works with people who have hit a crossroad in their professional life. She sensitively guides people to find and do the work that truly fits for them -- work that brings them meaning and money.

Susan Bernstein is a coach, speaker, and author and works with people who have hit a crossroad in their professional life. She sensitively guides people to find and do the work that truly fits for them -- work that brings them meaning and money. Susan spent the first seventeen years of her working life in marketing and management consulting roles at companies including Intel and Accenture. Although she regularly delighted and dazzled co-workers and clients, the work left her feeling drained. She kept trying to convince herself that she should be happy with her job – after all, she was earning a six-figure salary. Yet, like the clients she now supports, she craved work infused with greater creativity and meaning.

A life crisis in early 2001 forced Susan to do what she now coaches her clients to do – to discover their work from within. In a five-week period her marriage crumbled, her job evaporated, her health deteriorated, and her close-knit family experienced a major crisis. Her perspective as an MBA and strategy consultant made her an expert at crafting detailed plans for the future. Yet in the face of so much change, she could barely forecast what each new day would bring. Somehow, she kept moving — figuratively and literally — through the chaos.

Susan discovered that she could find her direction in a new and satisfying way. Rather than following a linear, prescribed path, she began to listen to her inner wisdom by paying attention to her body as well as her mind. By listening to her body — from the inside out — she grasped the elements she needed to be comfortable and flexible in the world. By focusing on her breathing, she began to sense when she felt anxious about the future and could take a deeper breath and re-center herself in the present moment. By cultivating inner awareness practices, she could organize and move forward on the most precious ideas that were floating around in her rational mind.

An internal nudge told Susan it was finally time to study her first love – psychology – so she could help people navigate career and life transitions. In 2004, she earned an MA in Somatic (mind/body) Psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, where she will complete her PhD in 2008. Unlike the MBA she earned a decade earlier at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, this education allowed Susan to help her clients to integrate their intellect with their body wisdom. Drawing from research in psychoneurobiology, physics, and the creative arts, the field of Somatic Psychology acknowledges the impact of experiences on our bodies. Breath flow, movement habits, muscle tone, cognitive patterns, affective expression, and relational habits are shaped by past and present experiences.

Work From Within
Today, Susan coaches, speaks, and writes to inspire and move people who feel stuck, boxed in, or blocked in their lives, and want to live a prosperous life, filled with meaning, particularly in their work. She teaches people how to do “work from within” instead of “from without.” Susan guides people to find and follow their own path, rather than doing what they feel they “should” do. Her gift is in helping people gain clarity about what’s next, and the inner confidence to pursue it.

Susan coaches more than 150 clients a year, including a 25-year veteran PR manager who is now a voice-over artist and actress, a Hollywood executive who is training to be a physician, a CEO who is cutting back work to pursue a career in writing, and a misplaced mechanic who now designs products with a leading Silicon Valley firm. Her unique approach to career change has a deep impact, as one of her clients expresses: “Susan is an expert listener and has creative methods for exploring one's career and life objectives on a very personal and tangible level.”

The Job Search Gym
While some of Susan’s clients go on to start their own businesses, most opt to join new companies. She is masterful at helping clients to stay true to what they want and communicate authentically with employers so they land a job that truly fits for them and the employer. Based on feedback from my clients, Susan recently launched her newest venture, the Job Search Gym, a 10-week group coaching program to help job seekers get unstuck and stay focused on their job search goals.

At the Job Search Gym, job seekers build their mental fitness and confidence. They develop and practice new skills for making connections, shaping jobs that fit for them, and gaining the attention of hiring managers. This innovative job search program is geared for professionals with 5+ years of experience who want to move into more strategic business roles. The Job Search Gym is also a great support for mothers who are returning to work after some time raising their families, and want to join a community of job seekers who share similar issues and desires to land a job that really fits.

For more information on Susan and her coaching services visit WorkFromWithin.com or JobSearchGym.com