Ann Johnson - How a $250,000 Employee Theft Changed One Business Forever

Ann Johnson is the Founder and Owner of Waste Tech Services, a nationwide trash consulting and brokerage firm that negotiates waste contracts and reduces disposal costs for businesses. Since its founding, Waste Tech Services has negotiated thousands of contracts for clients and has saved millions of dollars for the companies it represents. With decades of experience in waste management, Ann built the company by forming buying co-ops, reviewing invoices, resolving service issues, and securing optimal contract terms. In this episode… Trust is essential in business, but it can also expose an owner to risks that are difficult to see from the outside. When a longtime employee quietly steals from the company, how does a leader respond without letting the betrayal define everything that follows? Waste-industry expert Ann Johnson built her career by understanding contracts, pricing, service structures, and the hidden costs clients often overlook. That attention to detail became critical when her company uncovered that a trusted bookkeeper had created false businesses, opened unauthorized accounts, and stolen $250,000 over the course of a year and a half. Ann helped build the case, strengthened internal controls, and eventually confronted the toll the experience took on her health. Her experience is a reminder for business owners to strengthen safeguards, share responsibility, and make space for their well-being when the weight of running a business becomes personal. In this episode of The Decision, Robert Hartline sits down with Ann Johnson, Founder and Owner of Waste Tech Services, to discuss how she rebuilt trust and leadership after a major employee theft. Ann explores how the $250,000 scheme was uncovered, the safeguards she put in place afterward, and why the experience led her to prioritize her health and hand daily operations to a trusted CEO.