“I’ve Never Told That Story Before”: Coastal CEO Eric Berridge on Leadership, Conflict, and the Magic of Building Together

What does it really take to build a great services company—and keep its soul as it scales?In this episode of Who Moved My Career?!, Nicole sits down with Eric Berridge, longtime tech operator, former Oracle exec, founder of IBM Bluewolf, and CEO of Coastal—heading up some of the most meaningful consulting companies in the cloud. Eric traces his journey from Oracle to founding Bluewolf, becoming Salesforce’s first consulting partner, and ultimately leading Coastal through growth, change, and its recent acquisition by Tata Consulting Services.Along the way, Nicole and Eric unpack what most leaders don’t talk about:Why the real IP in a services company is how your people show up every dayWhat it’s like to be a CEO without founder credibility—and how to build belief anywayWhy “growth and comfort cannot coexist”Why the truth is always with the customer (even when it’s uncomfortable)And why human creativity—and the humanities—still matter deeply in a tech-driven worldThis is a conversation about leadership without polish, building belief systems instead of org charts, and why so much magic still happens when people are in the room together.