In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Brandon Johnson, Director of Business Development at Total Ride (formerly Total Transit/Discount Cab). Johnson shares a pivotal story of loyalty that transformed his career—from a sales rep who sold a telecom solution to Total Transit, to being offered a senior business development role after a period of job searching following a layoff at Zenefits. He emphasizes that superior communication is the key competitive advantage against Uber and Lyft, describing how he built escalation lists and direct contact channels that secured high‑value clients like the Department of Child Safety, generating $60,000+ in monthly revenue. Johnson outlines his core leadership philosophy: never accept credit for successes, always give credit to the team, and take responsibility when things go wrong, positioning this as a hallmark of true leaders. He advises younger professionals to understand their value, pursue passion, and embrace risk rather than settle for jobs that merely pay the bills. On happiness, he stresses the importance of surrounding oneself with good, like‑minded people. His recommended reading is The Carrot Principle, which taught him that recognition, not money, drives performance, and that tailored incentives (“carrots”) boost employee engagement. Johnson also shares a favorite Vince Lombardi quote about competition, discipline, and giving one’s all. The episode concludes with contact information, directing listeners to his LinkedIn profile (@TotalTransit) and Facebook.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Brandon Johnson with us. He's the director of business development of Total Ride, previously known as Discount Cab or Total Transit. So welcome to the show, Brandon.
Thank you.
Of course, man, thanks for joining us. Uh, we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Brandon, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, there's a lot of stories that came to mind when considering this, but the best story from my life has to have been the, I guess, just the story of loyalty, right? So right now I'm currently working in a wonderful position at Total Transit with a leadership opportunity. 8 years ago, I met Total Transit when I was a sales rep at a technology company. I sold to them a solution that helped with their internet and phone services when they had, you know, thousands of calls every hour and worked with them very loyally over 8 years. My career had kind of jumped around and I'd worked for a couple of Silicon Valley companies at Zenefits and Reputation.com. And when Zenefits had their massive layoff of 500 people, I was included in that. So I was kind of looking for my next gig and wanted to get away from that industry of insurance. And I had a couple offers and I was sitting there and went to vacation in the mountains at my house in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. And while I was up there, I was doing a lot of soul searching, praying, meditating, hiking, just wanting to find something best for me and something that gives me a chance to lead and be a director of sorts. Well, I got a call as soon as I got home from that experience, and it was from Total Transit. Asking me if I was interested in starting and running their business development program. Well, I had already basically accepted another job with a much lower income and in a place that I didn't want to be, but spoke with Total Transit, did my presentation in front of their entire board, and everyone there knew me, loved me from my previous experience selling to them, and ended up offering me a position that was at the time well above my pay grade. And it was simply because I was just loyal to them and worked with them and never forgot about them after I got paid my commissions on that sale and ended up getting offered a very strong position just because I took care of my client and ended up now working for what was once my client.
That is awesome, man. Thank you for sharing that. Um, the next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
It's all about communication. I mean, I'm in an industry dominated by Uber and Lyft. So I came in here with Silicon Valley experience to try and compete against those monsters. And it's not a secret that the most underskilled attribute to mostly any company in my industry is that of communication. So I took a little time to do some of my own market analysis and understanding what our competitive advantages are. And what I found is, say something goes wrong with an Uber or Lyft, you can call a call center in India and give a complaint that will never be heard by anyone that really cares. And getting a hold of someone in San Francisco is next to impossible because they're a multi-billion dollar company. Trying to deal with a $10 trip complaint isn't necessarily in their wheelhouse. So what I did is I started putting together escalation lists, contact information. When this happens, call this number, speak to this person. And I started making it really easy for companies to communicate with us by giving them cell phone access to myself and other people, with people within the organization that helped me land some very large clientele just because I was able to take care of them better than really anyone else is. And I've, for example, the Department of Child Safety is a client of mine. I've been to their offices over 25 times giving very descriptive advantages of using our program, how to use it, what numbers to call, where to go when you need certain things. And that, that, that account has now grown month over month and it's now billing somewhere over $60,000 per month. Just because we can communicate better. That's really the only benefit that I can offer.
And what is your— it might tie in, but what is your best piece of overall business advice? You're not necessarily industry-specific.
This is going to be somewhat unique, I'm sure, compared to what you've traditionally heard on this podcast, but for me, it's to not accept credit. It started back a long time ago with my father when He had those "We don't accept credit" signs all over his offices. And people nowadays don't see those because everywhere takes credit cards. But back then, he meant it, even though it was a credit card sign, he meant it in a source of "Don't overdo credit." He would prefer someone take responsibility in a negative situation instead of credit in a positive one. So for me, I was once recognized as the top performer in my first quarter as a sales rep at a technology company that was nationwide. Fortune 500 company. I was on a conference call with all the salespeople in the country, and my director, VP of that area, asked me why I was able to achieve such high results. And from that training from my father, I was able to say, look, you know, I had all these great results because my engineer put together an amazing plan. My manager taught me exactly how to get in front of the right people. And even my colleagues here helped me put together my proposals and everything else. And without them, there's no way any of this is possible. And other people know that that's not true, per se. They know that I had to have done something else that they didn't do to win. But if I would have said that, it would have fallen on deaf ears and would have made me look like an egotistical jerk-off. But I said, you know, it was because of everyone else that I achieved this success. And then when problems arise, I said, look, I could have done this that could have mitigated that and created a way for us to get around this. And taking responsibility when I didn't need to. Those sorts of things make me look like a leader and make people look to me to fix problems. And they want to work hard for me because they know I'll give them the credit that they deserve when they help. So for me, my, my best advice is don't accept credit. Always give credit to those around you and accept responsibility when things go wrong. That's how true leaders can stand out and define themselves while everyone else is trying to say, look at me, look at me, look at me. You can say, look at these guys, look at how great they did. Because now while you're putting up and kind of tooting their horn, you're making yourself look like a leader.
Yes, I love that answer. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, to know your value and understand your passion. I mean, oftentimes people take jobs to pay bills, and most of the time it's a necessary evil, but you never put your toe into the water of a professional ambition If you're going to take on a new adventure path, be passionate about it. People who are miserable and work simply to pay bills will be stuck in a life of doldrums that won't give them worth in themselves. But, you know, when you can be passionate about something, you become invested into something. And by being passionately invested in something, you can assure they will give your best effort and your most focused thought. So don't be afraid of risk and to push yourself out of your comfort level.
And a good way to tie in, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Being surrounded by good people. I'm happiest when I'm around fun, creative, and like-minded individuals. To be able to know who you thrive around and who drags you down is an important skill to possess. So once you are surrounded by loved ones, friends, and colleagues, and leaders you respect, it would be hard to not be happy. So really, in whatever the endeavor is, surround yourself with those on the same mission as you.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I read a lot of business books and I have a lot to kind of talk to you about. One that's fresh on my mind that I guess you could call one of my favorites is The Carrot Principle. Um, it goes over longevity studies of large organizations that perform and it measures the individuals at those companies and their performance over the years. They kind of notice what the I guess, potential is of each person. And then they start to introduce carrots or incentives, things of the financial variety or one, you know, vacations for their loved ones. And it gives people incentive. And time and time again, it shows that even though people will always say they're motivated by money, they're really motivated by recognition. And this goes back into the leadership of giving credit to others, even when it's yours to take. Is that the more you can incentivize someone and show them they're valuable and how worthy they are and how much they're appreciated, the more you'll get out of that employee. So the book taught me that you need to manage in a way that you understand your people and you give them carrots of things that they care about and you recognize them. You let other leaders know how good they're doing and you do this type of praise and reward system in front of them so they know you're having these conversations with leaders. And the CARE principle teaches that and it teaches you how to know what type of incentive to offer each type of personality. And definitely recommend reading it for any of your listeners.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Well, it's a quote that I'm sure a lot of people know, and it's something that everyone that works for me has on their desk. I printed out and made it very, very aware of this, but I'm going to read you an excerpt from it because it's a longer speech given by Vince Lombardi. As a coach of the Green Bay Packers before going into a Super Bowl game. Halfway through it, it starts off by saying, it's a reality of life that men are competitive, and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there, to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules, but to win. And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There's something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat. I don't say these things because I believe in the brute nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God and I believe in human decency, but I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in good cause and lies exhausted in the field of battle victorious. I love that speech and I love that line that just gets people fired up to go out and do whatever it takes to win. And even if you don't win, giving everything you have at the end of the day will make you feel proud.
I love it, man. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
I have a very common name, so it's hard to find me, but Brandon Johnson is my name, and I do work for Total Transit, also known as Total Ride, or as you know, Discount Cab. But you can find me by looking up Brandon Johnson @TotalTransit on LinkedIn, and probably using the same format to find me on Facebook. You'll likely see pictures of my two boxers and me everywhere. That's how you know it's me. Perfect, man.
Thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
Thanks, Tyler. The podcast you just heard was published with Anchor. Got something you want to say to the creator of this show? Send them a voice message using the Anchor app, free for iOS and Android.
