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Send us Fan Mail In this episode of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with Ron Clark of Protecting the Guardian for a conversation that feels like a history lesson, a warning, and a call to action all at once. Ron has spent decades in and around law enforcement, nursing, peer support, employ…
Send us Fan Mail Retired Las Vegas Police Captain Josh Bitsko spent 24 years in law enforcement and was one of the responding officers who breached the suspected shooter’s door during the 2017 Mandalay Bay mass shooting. In this episode of After the Tones Drop, Josh sits down with Cinnamon to talk …
Send us Fan Mail In this solocast, Cinnamon responds to a listener who asked a question a lot of people are quietly carrying: if I’m doing all the right things, why did depression come back? Cinnamon takes that question seriously and goes straight at the lie sitting underneath so many depressive ep…
Send us Fan Mail What do you do when resentment makes perfect sense, but it is also slowly poisoning your life? In this episode, I sit down with Rick Cheatham for a raw conversation about forgiveness, bitterness, grief, and what it takes to heal when life has taken a blowtorch to everything you tho…
Send us Fan Mail What if the worst day of your life became the thing that clarified your purpose? In this episode of After the Tones Drop, Cinnamon sits down with Michael Chase for a conversation about trauma, service, and the kind of perspective that only comes from living through the unthinkable.…
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I sit down with retired law enforcement officer and Protecting The Guardian founder Mark DiBona for a conversation about what really pushes first responders to the edge. We talk about accumulated trauma, bullying, alcohol, isolation, and the dangerous myth that sui…
Send us Fan Mail 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 firefighter wellness as an operational issu…
Send a text 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, suicide ideation, and the moment that changed everything. …
Send a text 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 sits down with Dr. Leah Kaylor, licensed clinical and prescribin…
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I sit down with Dena Ali for a conversation that goes way beyond “one bad call.” We talk about firefighter suicide, peer support, belonging, bullying, leadership, and the culture inside first responder organizations that either helps people heal or quietly pushes t…
Send a text 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. Kelly shares what it was like to grow up in a household w…
Send a text 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 what it actually means to commit when walking awa…
Send a text 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 serving a warrant that was part of a larger drug …
Send a text 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 conversation is for the people who do not have the luxury of slowin…
Send us a text Episode 143: Healing Language That Hurts Some 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 someone is hurting. Let it go. Move on. Put it behind you.…
Send us a text Episode 142: Frontline Strong Together – When Support Actually Shows Up In this episode, I sit down with Mike Mattern and Scott Taylor from Frontline Strong Together, a Michigan-based mental health program built by first responders for first responders. Here’s why this matters. It’s …
Send us a text 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 internal affairs investigation and the identit…
Send us a text Episode 140: It Takes 15 Years to Get 15 Years – Cinnamon’s Sobriety Anniversary Solocast Fifteen years ago, my life split into a before and an after. In this deeply personal solocast, I’m marking 15 years of sobriety and reflecting on what time alone does not teach you, and what sta…
Send us a text Episode 139 | Doug White on Accountability, Leadership, and the Cost of Avoidance In this episode of After the Tones Drop, I sit down with Doug White for a conversation that isn’t comfortable, polished, or performative and that’s exactly why it matters. We talk about accountability i…
Send us a text 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. January was never meant to be a season of blooming. …
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, …