Your Episodes

Send us a text 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, ungrateful, or doing something wrong. You’ll hear p…

Send us a text Episode 136: From Crisis to Connection with Brad Shepard What 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 Brad Shepherd for one of the most honest conversations we’ve…

Send us a text Episode 135: After the Tones Drop with Michael Slocum of Frontline Freedom In this inspiring episode, Cinnamon welcomes Michael Slocum—active Lieutenant with the Painesville Police Department and a leader at Frontline Freedom: Adventure Therapy. Michael shares how his passion for the…

Send us a text 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 intertwined stories of grief, vulnerability, …

Send us a text 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 of Radically Open Connections — for a powerfu…

Send us a text 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 officer who died by suicide. Her story i…

Send us a text 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 transformation in the first responder world. From a stage-I…

Send us a text Episode 130: Out of the Warzone and Into the Water — Gage Hall on Stoke Therapy, Joy, and Healing in Motion What happens when the battlefield follows you home? In this powerful conversation, Cinnamon sits down with Gage Hall—Army veteran, firefighter, EMT, and founder of Stoke Therap…

Send us a text Podcast Episode Description - Episode 129Episode 129: Rick Markley on CRACKYL Magazine, Wellness, and Why Every Firefighter Should Register for the NIOSH Cancer Registry Rick Markley doesn't just talk about firefighter wellness—he's building the infrastructure to support it. As Execu…

Send us a text Episode 128: From Burnout to Breakthrough — How Kory Pearn Built CRACKYL Magazine and a New Model for Firefighter Wellness When passion becomes overdrive, the crash can be devastating. In this episode, Cinnamon sits down with firefighter, captain, and CRACKYL magazine founder Kory Pe…

Send us a text 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 spending 30 years in service and leading on the FBI …

Send us a text 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. We get honest about mental health in law en…

Send us a text Healing isn’t some mysterious thing that happens “out there”; it’s built into who you are. In this solo episode, I talk about what I call The Stitcher: the part I play and how our body is always working to repair, reset, and bring us back to balance. From my first set of stitches as …

Send us a text What if PTSD wasn’t a life sentence? In part two of my conversation with Dr. Eugene Lipov, we go deeper into what he calls PTSI—Post-Traumatic Stress Injury and the breakthrough treatment that’s changing lives around the world: the Stellate Ganglion Block, better known as the “God Sh…

Send us a text What if the thing we’ve been calling a “disorder” is actually an injury that can heal? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Eugene Lipov, the board-certified anesthesiologist who pioneered the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB)—better known by veterans and first responders as the God Shot…

Send us a text Episode 122 What happens when one deputy’s search for resources turns into a nationwide lifeline for first responders? In this episode, Cinnamon sits down with Shawn Thomas, retired King County Sheriff’s deputy and founder of First Responder Conferences, to talk about what happens wh…

Send us a text Episode 121: The Dudes Abide: First Responder Brotherhood, Resilience, and the Fight for Mental Health What happens when two firefighters decide that health, wellness, and a little bit of humor can change the fire service for good? You get Nick Magoteaux and Jim Burneka Jr.—co-founde…

Send us a text Episode 120 With Scott L. Booth What if the very thing you were taught to hide as a leader is the key to unlocking stronger teams and deeper trust? In this episode, Cinnamon sits down with Scott L. Booth, Deputy Chief of Health and Safety and Peer Support Coordinator at Gig Harbor Fi…

Send us a text Episode 119: Adam Boyd – Rethinking Situational Awareness We’re trained to protect others—sometimes so well that we forget to protect ourselves. In this conversation with Adam Boyd of Soleful Training, we talk about what it really takes to create resilient first responders—physically…

Send us a text Faith doesn’t always survive the job. For a lot of first responders, it’s not that you don’t want to believe anymore—it’s that after what you’ve seen, you can’t reconcile the idea of a loving higher power with the chaos, pain, and loss you’ve witnessed. In this solocast, I’m talking …

Send us a text Episode 117 — Vickie Speed: When Cancer Comes for One of Our Own Let’s stop pretending cancer is a retirement problem. It’s not. It’s a right-now problem—and it’s gutting the law enforcement community while too many departments still think a “pink patch” is enough. In this raw, deepl…

Send us a text Episode 116 – “Tones Dropped. So Did He.” The fall—and rise—of Matty Fiorenza We Don’t Need Awareness. We Need a Damn Roadmap. with Matty Fiorenza Let’s stop pretending awareness is the goal. First responders don’t need another campaign... they need real help, real tools, and a syste…

Send us a text What happens when a first responder doesn’t just hit rock bottom—but takes responsibility for the impact of the fall? In this powerful and deeply honest episode, Cinnamon sits down with John Kelly, a retired deputy, author, and coach who has turned his personal reckoning into a missi…

Send us a text If You’re Not First, You’re Last (And No, This Isn’t About NASCAR) We’ve all heard the line “If you’re not first, you’re last.” It was meant to be a joke in a ridiculous movie, but what if there’s real truth buried inside the absurdity? In this solo episode, Cinnamon unpacks what it …