After The Tones Drop
Embark on a journey that goes beyond sirens and flashing lights After The Tones Drop Podcast provides a safe haven to explore, demystify, and destigmatize mental health and wellness for first responders.
Join Cinnamon and her guests as they pull back the curtain, sharing powerful stories and expert insights that resonate with the heartbeat of those who run towards danger when others step back. It's more than just a podcast; it's a lifeline for the ones who dedicate their lives to saving others.
In each episode, stories get unraveled and struggles behind the badges are shared, showcasing the human side of heroism. Discover the strength in vulnerability and the power in sharing. It's more than a conversation; it's a revolution—a revolution in mental health care for our first responders.
So, tune in for candid conversations, practical strategies, and a sprinkle of humor—because healing begins with understanding, and understanding starts here.
Let's break down the barriers, one episode at a time. Because after the tones drop, the real conversation begins, and we're here to make sure it's heard loud and clear.
Episodes
152 episodes
How Healthy Firefighters Become the Standard with Ryan Provencher
Firefighters know how to maintain equipment. The question Ryan Provencher raises in this episode is simple and uncomfortable. Why don’t we apply that same mindset to the people wearing the gear?In this conversation, Ryan and I talk about...
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Season 3
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Episode 150
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1:11:58
Breaking the Trauma Inheritance | Dave Freeman on Suicide, Childhood Trauma, and Choosing a Different Ending
What happens when the trauma you carry didn’t start with you?In this episode of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with Dave Freeman for a conversation that moves through childhood violence, emotional survival strategies, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 149
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1:32:22
Biohacking Sleep: What the FBI’s Sleep Expert Wants First Responders to Know
Sleep is not a luxury, and for first responders, poor sleep is not just inconvenient. It can impact mood, decision-making, trauma recovery, physical health, and even long-term brain function. In this conversation, Cinnamon...
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Season 3
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Episode 148
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56:15
Finding Magic in the Mayhem: A Fire Wife's Story of Death, Addiction and Finding her way to peace.
What does it take to find peace after chaos?In Episode 147 of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with Kelly Cheatham for a deeply honest conversation about marriage, addiction, grief, and the long road to personal healing....
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Season 3
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Episode 147
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29:52
START Where You Stand: Commitment, Forgiveness, and the Courage to Rebuild
This episode is not a highlight reel. It’s a reckoning.I sit down with retired firefighter and transformational speaker Rick Cheatham and his wife Kelly for a raw, two-hour conversation about addiction, loss, paralysis, forgiveness, and ...
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Season 3
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Episode 146
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1:13:32
The Cost of A False Narrative: Separating Fact from Fiction of the Breonna Taylor Case
In this episode, Cinnamon sits down with former Louisville Metro Police Sergeant John Mattingly to talk about what really happened the night of March 13, 2020, and what it cost him to survive it.John was shot in the femoral artery while ...
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Season 3
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Episode 145
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1:35:53
The Responder Reset: 99 Ways to Regulate in Real Time with AK Dozanti
In this episode of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with AK Dozanti, former deputy sheriff, victim advocate, wellness coach, and author of The Responder Reset: 99 Real-Time Tactics for Frontline Regulation.This ...
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Season 3
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Episode 144
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54:08
Healing Language That Hurts: How Good Intentions and Bad Metaphors Undermine Recovery
Episode 143: Healing Language That HurtsSome of the most damaging things we say about healing are said with the best intentions.In this short solocast, Cinnamon takes a hard look at the phrases we casually throw around when...
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Season 3
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Episode 143
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13:03
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Frontline Strong and the Power of Peer-Led Mental Health Support
Episode 142: Frontline Strong Together – When Support Actually Shows UpIn this episode, I sit down with Mike Mattern and Scott Taylor from Frontline Strong Together, a Michigan-based mental health program built by first r...
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Season 3
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Episode 142
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46:19
What Did I Say? Internal Accountability in High-Risk Roles with Justin Atherton
In this episode, I’m joined by Justin Atherton for a conversation every first responder and leader needs to hear.Justin spent twenty years in law enforcement as a SWAT breacher, detective, and training lieutenant. But it was a nine-week ...
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Season 3
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Episode 141
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1:24:09
It Takes 15 Years to Get 15 Years: Cinnamon's Sobriety Anniversary Episode
Episode 140: It Takes 15 Years to Get 15 Years – Cinnamon’s Sobriety Anniversary SolocastFifteen years ago, my life split into a before and an after.In this deeply personal solocast, I’m marking 15 years of sobriety and ref...
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Season 3
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Episode 140
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13:57
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Accountability, Leadership, and the Cost of Avoidance
Episode 139 | Doug White on Accountability, Leadership, and the Cost of AvoidanceIn this episode of After the Tones Drop, I sit down with Doug White for a conversation that isn’t comfortable, polished, or performative and...
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Season 3
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Episode 139
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59:20
New Year, Same You – And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing
January tells us to reinvent ourselves.Your body tells a different story.In this New Year’s solocast, Cinnamon pushes back on the pressure to start strong, fix everything, and become someone new just because the calendar flipped. Jan...
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Season 3
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Episode 138
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13:13
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When the Magic Feels Missing – Navigating Numbness and Disconnection During the Holidays
Christmas Eve is supposed to feel magical. For a lot of first responders, it just feels flat.In this solocast, I’m talking about the numbness that so many of you experience during the holidays and why it doesn’t mean you’re broken, ungra...
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Season 3
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Episode 137
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15:41
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When the Crisis Is Inside of You With Brad Shepherd
Episode 136: From Crisis to Connection with Brad ShepardWhat happens when the crisis isn’t on the call sheet, but inside you?In this episode of After the Tones Drop, I sit down with retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol Captain...
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1:20:52
Backpacks, Badges, and Burnout: Finding Freedom on the Trail
Episode 135: After the Tones Drop with Michael Slocum of Frontline FreedomIn this inspiring episode, Cinnamon welcomes Michael Slocum—active Lieutenant with the Painesville Police Department and a leader at Frontline Freedom: Adve...
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Season 3
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Episode 135
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53:18
Kenny Schroeder When Someone You Care About Doesn’t Survive: A Conversation About Loss, Humanity, and the Work We Do
In this deeply personal episode, host Cinnamon is joined by her friend and colleague, Lieutenant Kenny Schroeder, to explore the profound impact of losing someone to suicide within the first responder community. Together, they share their inter...
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Season 3
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Episode 134
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59:05
Radical Openness: Healing Over-Control with RO-DBT
What if the very traits that helped you survive your childhood, your career, and your trauma are now the same traits keeping you lonely, exhausted, or shut down?In Episode 133, I sit down with Jimmy Portner and Dr. Nate Tomcik — founders...
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Season 3
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Episode 133
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1:19:37
The Other Side of Suicide: Generational Suicidal Ideation and the Price Everyone Pays
This week I sit down with Chicago Police Officer Carrie Matthews for one of the most honest and needed conversations we have ever had on this show. Carrie talks about living on both sides of suicide. She is a cop, and she is the daughter of an ...
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Season 3
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Episode 132
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1:21:40
Responder Resilience : Tools for Trauma and Post-Traumatic Growth with David Dachinger
In this powerful episode, Cinnamon sits down with David Dachinger, a retired fire lieutenant, Grammy-nominated music producer, cancer survivor, and mental wellness advocate to explore the intersection of trauma, healing, and transformati...
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Season 3
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Episode 131
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53:40
Out of the Warzone and Into the Water — Gage Hall on Stoke Therapy, Joy, and Healing in Motion
Episode 130: Out of the Warzone and Into the Water — Gage Hall on Stoke Therapy, Joy, and Healing in MotionWhat happens when the battlefield follows you home? In this powerful conversation, Cinnamon sits down with Gage...
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Season 3
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Episode 130
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58:34
Rick Markley on CRACKYL Magazine, Wellness, and Why Every Firefighter Should Register for the NIOSH Cancer Registry
Episode 129: Rick Markley on CRACKYL Magazine, Wellness, and Why Every Firefighter Should Register for the NIOSH Cancer RegistryRick Markley doesn't just talk about firefighter wellness—he's building the infrastructure to support ...
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Season 3
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Episode 129
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38:41
Kory Pearn-The Man with a Method: Kory Pearn on Pulling Back to Create Balance.
Episode 128: From Burnout to Breakthrough — How Kory Pearn Built CRACKYL Magazine and a New Model for Firefighter WellnessWhen passion becomes overdrive, the crash can be devastating. In this episode, Cinnamon sits down with firefighter,...
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Season 3
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Episode 128
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1:14:29
From Counterterrorism to Co-Responder: The Unlikely Next Chapter of an NYPD Legend
In this powerful episode of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with retired NYPD detective Tom Smith. Tom is a man who’s lived through the kind of calls most of us only read about. From growing up as the son of an NYPD cop to spe...
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Season 3
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Episode 127
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1:04:30
Leading the Brave Way: Mental Health, Courage, and Culture with Matt Davis
Let’s not pretend. Leading is hard! Especially when you’re carrying your own scars. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Davis, a law enforcement leader and former crisis negotiator who’s walked through the fire and lived to talk about it....
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Season 3
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Episode 126
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1:09:01
