Michael Bergonzi began his 21 year career in the alternative health field at Optimum Health Institute of San Diego in 1990.
 

Michael followed his Mother & Father to the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego, CA where his father was the General Manager for 15 years.  During his time at Optimum he worked in many different positions from taking reservations, working in the store, assisting in the kitchen and even maintenance before he found his home in the greenhouse.   (OHI founder, Raychel Solomon, was the grandmother of Michael’s brother-in-law.)
 

In 1995 he built their state of the art greenhouse and utilized the store by selling planting trays, growing racks, seeds and wheatgrass to all the guests.  Beyond the game changing work he did with the greenhouse, Michael started many different programs that OHI that are still used to this day.  One beneficial program he started in 1994 was the OHI Support Network.  This was designed to allow guests, after they had returned home, to find other OHI guests in their area to aid in each other’s continued support.  During his 8 years there he also taught a wheatgrass growing and juicing class every week.   Later he took on a Monday orientation class as well as one of his favorite lectures, Conscious Communication. One of the most important elements to the success of OHI was promoting.  Michael attended Health Expos 6 times a year in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego and others lecturing about the alternative health benefits available at OHI.  It was at these health expos he learned the importance of educating the masses in the ways of alternative health.  By the time Michael left the Optimum Health Institute in 1998, the guest numbers had skyrocketed from 45 people per week, in 1990, to 180.
 

After his departure from Optimum in 1998 he worked for singer-songwriter Jewel and her mother LeNedra Carroll as their nutritionist and ‘Juice Man’.  For the next three years he worked side by side with Ellen Tart-Jensen, the well-know iridologist and protégé of Dr. Bernard Jensen.  It was during these three years he discovered the importance of colon cleansing, in particular, the benefits of the colema board.
 

At the start of 2001, he moved to Livermore, CA to work for a friend who owned the largest wheatgrass growing business in Northern California.  It was during those six months that he learned and understood the business side of selling wheatgrass and sprouts to health food stores, juice bars, etc…
 

On Sept 10th 2001, via his mother sending in his resume to Hippocrates Health Institute, he interviewed with Brian Clement over the phone for their greenhouse management position.  Not sure what to do he asked for some kind of a sign.  The next day, it was clear and the choice was simple.  On Sept. 12th 2001 he decided to pack up his belongings and move across the country for the next ten years of his career with Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Fl.
 

The first six months at HHI were spent reorganizing their brand new greenhouse and start growing the highest quality, best tasting wheatgrass, sunflower greens, pea greens, buckwheat lettuce, alfalfa, clover, radish, broccoli, and sprouted beans anywhere in south Florida.  Over his ten years at HHI he continued to manage the greenhouse and took on many different roles including the program director in charge of reservations in the consultants’ office.  During the next 3 months Hippocrates’ guest count doubled from about 20 to 40 each week, and by the time Michael left in 2011, it had climbed somewhere between 75-90 per week.  During his career at HHI he was asked to return two separate times to this position as the interim director, while suitable management was found.  Once the guests’ attendance numbers were up and stable, Michael went back to focusing on the aspects he enjoyed most; tending to the greenhouse, lecturing 3 times a week, and traveling to Health Expos all over the country. 
 

Much like he did at Optimum he created new programs, like the HHI support list for guests, and improving existing ones. In 2004, he became the director of the Hippocrates Health Educator course.  Over the next 4 years he, together with his handpicked team of five fellow managers, had the most successful run of the HHI Health Educator Course’s history.  In March of 2011, he decided to leave Hippocrates to return to California.  This time, he was in Northern California to promote a wheatgrass business to Whole Foods Markets. All the while he had another goal in mind.

After a few months consulting with another wellness center in Cabo, Mexico he moved to Monterey, CA and put his own plan into action.  Taking all the knowledge and experience he had gathered over his 21 years he develop a brand new wellness program.  Within three months, his wellness center was complete and the Vibrant Retreat Center was born.  In the first month he had 10 guests as well as a few distinguished visitors including, his good friend and mentor LeNedra Carroll and Leola Brooks who is a member on the board of directors of the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico.  With the Vibrant Retreat Center open and running he is now assisting others in starting their own wellness centers, as well as lecturing and continuing to help others start their own wheatgrass/microgreen sprouting businesses all over the world.

In 2005 he started his own website and online store:  wheatgrassgreenhouse.com.  Here he gives helpful information on many subjects in the alternative health field. His store allows people all over the world to purchase many informational DVDs and books as well as some of the best quality juicers, like his personal favorite the Healthy Juicer (Since 2005 he has gone on promotional tours as a spokesman for the Healthy Juicer, at the largest natural product shows in the country).  After just two years his website has been receiving over 2000 hits a day.

He is currently available for lectures and growing classes in your area throughout the year.