The Trust Engine

Go Make a Dollar Team
  • 5.0 (1)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

The Trust Engine is for service entrepreneurs ready to escape the chaos and build a business that works for them. Your host, Johnny Terra, knows the hustle intimately. He arrived in the US with $200 and built a successful CPA firm working 16-hour days out of a pantry. He learned the hard way that grit gets you started, but systems get you free. This podcast is your blueprint for building a profitable service business that scales like a machine and sells like a person. We reject burnout culture and provide actionable strategies to transform your chaos into control. You'll discover how to: 1)Build systems that free you from the daily grind. 2)Attract clients naturally without relentless chasing. 3)Create a legacy of financial success AND personal freedom. Hit subscribe and let's build the machine that eliminates the need for the hustle.

Episodes

  1. JAN 1

    Ep 03: The 18% Clarity Penalty

    Episode Summary: Do you ever wake up at 3 AM in a cold sweat, panicking about payroll, taxes, or unpaid invoices? This is the "fog of financial fear," and it is the dirty secret of most successful entrepreneurs. You may look like you are crushing it, but behind the scenes, you are running your business from your bank account balance, making decisions based on emotion instead of data. In this episode, Johnny Terra (CPA) shares a raw, personal story about the 18% interest rate he paid on his first car—a brutal lesson he calls "The Clarity Penalty." He reveals how you are paying this same penalty in your business right now, in the form of late fees, overpaid taxes, and bad clients you are afraid to fire. Stop being a victim of your finances. This episode gives you the blueprint to move from financial chaos to financial control. Learn how to build your Financial Fortress and transform your numbers from a scary "report card" into an empowering "dashboard." In this episode, you will learn: The Clarity Penalty: What it is and how to identify the 18% "ignorance tax" you are paying in your business every day. The Profit First Mindset (The GMAD Way): Why the formula Sales - Expenses = Profit is a trap, and how to use Sales - Profit = Expenses as a strategic and behavioral system that starts with your pricing. The 3 Key Dashboard Numbers: The only three KPIs you need to track: Gross Margin (your engine's power), Operating Overhead (your engine's drag), and Cash Runway (your fuel tank). How to Find Your Numbers: A simple, CPA-approved guide to finding these three numbers in your existing reports (no complex spreadsheets required). The Monthly Financial Cadence: The 90-minute system to review your dashboard and make one data-driven decision, moving you from panic to control. This Week's Challenge (Action Over Theory): Conduct the 15-Minute Financial Audit. Find your total monthly Operating Overhead. Divide your total Cash on Hand by that number. The result is your Cash Runway (in months). This is your new starting line. Get the Free Tool: Once you have your Cash Runway number, email hello@trustenginepodcast.com with the subject line "DASHBOARD". In the email, share the number you calculated (we are holding you accountable). We will send you the simple, one-page Operator's Dashboard to use in your new Monthly Financial Cadence. Resources Mentioned: Get Your Free Operator's Dashboard: Email hello@trustenginepodcast.com (Subject: DASHBOARD) For more systems and frameworks, visit us at trustenginepodcast.com Connect with The Trust Engine: If this episode helped you, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Share this episode with another entrepreneur who is trapped in the fog of financial fear.

    18 min

  2. 12/31/2025 · BONUS

    2025 Bonus Episode: Stop. Don't Plan Your 2026 Until You Listen To This.

    Episode Summary: As we close the book on 2025, the noise is already starting: "Go faster in 2026." "Adopt AI or die." "Scale at all costs." But before you write your 2026 resolutions, you need to hear this. In this special end-of-year briefing, Johnny Terra (JT) argues that the defining mistake of 2025 for many entrepreneurs was an addiction to "Green Light Thinking"—moving fast just to feel productive. As we enter the Age of Acceleration, doing the same thing faster isn't a strategy; it's a crash waiting to happen. JT breaks down the "Yellow Light Protocol," the crucial pause you must take before the new year begins, and shares a personal hiring horror story that proves why speed without systems is deadly. What You’ll Learn in this Exit Briefing: The 2025 Retrospective: Why your late-night "hustle" sessions were likely just "Fake Work" meant to soothe anxiety. The 2026 Danger Zone: Why AI is a "Multiplier" that will turn a chaotic business into a "Faster Mess." The Hiring Horror Story: A real-world example of what happens when you drop a Ferrari engine (speed) into a car with no steering wheel (systems). The Yellow Light Protocol: The 3-step strategic check (Mission, Systems, Leverage) you must run on your business before January 1st. The Challenge: Don't launch the new product yet. Don't hire the new role yet. Pause. Apply the Yellow Light Protocol. Be the Architect, not the Sprinter.

    10 min
  3. Ep 02: Stop Washing the Laundry: The Myth of the 16-Hour Day

    12/01/2025

    Ep 02: Stop Washing the Laundry: The Myth of the 16-Hour Day

    Episode Summary: You're the heart of your business—the expert, the visionary, the primary salesperson. But are you also the one sending invoice reminders and fixing typos on the website? If you feel constantly busy but not productive, you've likely become the bottleneck. You're the captain of the team, but you're spending your days washing the laundry. In this episode, Johnny Terra shares a deeply personal story from his college basketball days that reveals the core reason entrepreneurs get trapped by their own competence. He exposes the myth of the 16-hour day as a failure of systems, not a badge of honor, and provides the tactical blueprint to escape the chaos. Learn how to reclaim your time, focus on high-value work, and finally move from being the machine to building the machine. In this episode, you will learn: The critical difference between $1000/hr work (Leadership), $100/hr work (The Point Guard), and $10/hr work (Laundry), and why entrepreneurs are addicted to the laundry. How to reframe "servant leadership" to mean focusing on the high-value work that only you can do to serve your team's future. Why the "Perfectionist's Trap" (the all-or-nothing mindset) is the biggest obstacle to your freedom, and why an 80% solution is infinitely better than a 100% plan. The E.A.D. Framework: A simple, powerful system to Eliminate, Automate, and Delegate the low-value tasks that are draining your energy. A simple 3-step model for training your team effectively so you can delegate with confidence. The first step toward creating a Perfect SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to protect your competence and buy back your time. This Week's Challenge (Action Over Theory): Conduct a one-day Forensic Time Audit. For 24 hours, track every task you perform in your business and assign it a value: $10/hr or $100/hr or $1000/hr. The goal isn't to judge yourself; it's to see the truth. Find the "laundry" in your business. Resources Mentioned: For more systems and frameworks, visit us at trustenginepodcast.com Connect with The Trust Engine: If this episode helped you, leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Share this episode with another entrepreneur who is trapped in the hustle.

    21 min
  4. Ep 01: Grit Gets You Started, Systems Get You Free

    11/01/2025

    Ep 01: Grit Gets You Started, Systems Get You Free

    You’ve been told that the only path to success as a service entrepreneur is the endless, soul-crushing hustle. But what if that's a lie? In the debut episode of The Trust Engine, Johnny Terra (CPA) shares his "Reluctant Hustler" origin story—from arriving in the US with just $200 to building a successful CPA firm from a pantry office while working a demanding corporate job. He reveals the painful realization that success without systems is a prison and dismantles the myth of the "trust fall." This episode is your foundational blueprint for the 3 core components of a real Trust Engine (Consistency, Competence, and Transparency) that can build trust at scale and finally set you free from the grind.

    16 min
  • 4 Episodes

About

The Trust Engine is for service entrepreneurs ready to escape the chaos and build a business that works for them. Your host, Johnny Terra, knows the hustle intimately. He arrived in the US with $200 and built a successful CPA firm working 16-hour days out of a pantry. He learned the hard way that grit gets you started, but systems get you free. This podcast is your blueprint for building a profitable service business that scales like a machine and sells like a person. We reject burnout culture and provide actionable strategies to transform your chaos into control. You'll discover how to: 1)Build systems that free you from the daily grind. 2)Attract clients naturally without relentless chasing. 3)Create a legacy of financial success AND personal freedom. Hit subscribe and let's build the machine that eliminates the need for the hustle.

Information

  • Creator
    Go Make a Dollar Team
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 iQpreneur LLC
  • Show Website
    The Trust Engine