After The Tones Drop

Finding Magic in the Mayhem: A Fire Wife's Story of Death, Addiction and Finding her way to peace.

Send a textWhat 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 where silence and explosive conflict were the only communication styles she knew. Those patterns followed her into adulthood and into her marriage to a firefighter, where she eventually found herself confronting betrayal, addiction, and the painful realization that she had never learned how to use her own voice.Instead of walking away from the chaos, Kelly chose to rebuild herself. She went back to school, learned to set boundaries, and began the slow work of changing how she communicated, not only with her husband but with herself.Then life delivered an unimaginable blow. Kelly and Rick lost their son Michael to murder.In this episode, Kelly speaks openly about the devastating grief that followed, including months of overwhelming sorrow and the difficult process of learning how to keep living after such profound loss. She shares how crisis can strip life down to its essentials and how choosing honesty, authenticity, and courage helped her rediscover peace on the other side of unimaginable pain.This conversation explores the reality many first responder families quietly live with: the emotional toll of the job, the strain it can place on relationships, and the resilience it takes to navigate addiction, loss, and healing together.Kelly’s story is not one of perfection. It is a story of perseverance, growth, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving forward.Sometimes peace is not found by avoiding the mayhem, but by learning how to walk through it.DISCLAIMER: After the Tones Drop has been presented and sponsored by Whole House Counseling. After the Tones Drop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute for medical or psychological advice. It is not a substitute for professional health care advice diagnosis or treatment. Please contact a local mental health professional in your area if you are in need of assistance. You can also visit our shows resources page for an abundance of helpful information. ATTD Music Credits (Music from #Uppbeat): https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/adventure-is-calling License code: ANJCYVHRMULSNKQR https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/rise-of-the-hero License code: H4WTAGJZIXZCM8DM https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/homewardLicense code: KO7FZAIJBAEAJLKE https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/the-heart-grows License code: KAID0ITO96GJZAPS https://uppbeat.io/t/philip-anderson/achievement License code: XZ4PMCKHW94GUR74 https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/nexusLicense code: MVMDRGHKHTJRABVR https://uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/breakthroughLicense code: FYPM3OJF0NQ4OGTE

START Where You Stand: Commitment, Forgiveness, and the Courage to Rebuild

Send a textThis 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 away would be easier.Rick shares the long road from sexual addiction and self-destruction to purpose and service. Kelly shares what it costs to stay, to set boundaries, and to become emotionally safe without abandoning herself. Together, they break down Rick’s “S.T.A.R.T. Where You Stand” framework, a fire-ground approach to rebuilding a life and a marriage from the exact place it’s burning.This episode is about choosing responsibility over resentment, courage over avoidance, and forgiveness as a form of survival. It’s about rebuilding from reality, not fantasy.If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t even know where to begin,” this conversation is for you.DISCLAIMER: After the Tones Drop has been presented and sponsored by Whole House Counseling. After the Tones Drop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute for medical or psychological advice. It is not a substitute for professional health care advice diagnosis or treatment. Please contact a local mental health professional in your area if you are in need of assistance. You can also visit our shows resources page for an abundance of helpful information. ATTD Music Credits (Music from #Uppbeat): https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/adventure-is-calling License code: ANJCYVHRMULSNKQR https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/rise-of-the-hero License code: H4WTAGJZIXZCM8DM https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/homewardLicense code: KO7FZAIJBAEAJLKE https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/the-heart-grows License code: KAID0ITO96GJZAPS https://uppbeat.io/t/philip-anderson/achievement License code: XZ4PMCKHW94GUR74 https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/nexusLicense code: MVMDRGHKHTJRABVR https://uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/breakthroughLicense code: FYPM3OJF0NQ4OGTE

The Cost of A False Narrative: Separating Fact from Fiction of the Breonna Taylor Case

Send a textIn 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 trafficking investigation. He nearly bled out on the hallway floor. But the physical wound wasn’t the hardest part.What followed was something far worse.A national narrative formed almost overnight. One that erased facts, ignored evidence, and turned John and his family into targets. Death threats. Forced relocation. Zero support from leadership. An FBI investigation shut down for “optics.” A career stripped away. A five-year-old son afraid someone would come through his bedroom window.John shares what the public was never told.This was not a no-knock warrant. Officers knocked and announced. They had the correct address. Breonna Taylor was not asleep in her bed. John was shot first. And the investigation itself was rooted in political corruption tied to property acquisition.This conversation is not about sides. It’s about truth.It’s about what happens when media narratives replace facts. When politics override justice. And when a 21-year veteran is abandoned by the very system he served.John now travels the country telling his story so other officers don’t walk blindly into the same betrayal, and so the public learns to slow down, ask better questions, and look beyond headlines.This episode is raw. It’s uncomfortable. And it matters.Because behind every viral story is a human family paying the price.Listen with an open mind. Question what you think you know. And remember there are real people on the other side of every narrative.DISCLAIMER: After the Tones Drop has been presented and sponsored by Whole House Counseling. After the Tones Drop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute for medical or psychological advice. It is not a substitute for professional health care advice diagnosis or treatment. Please contact a local mental health professional in your area if you are in need of assistance. You can also visit our shows resources page for an abundance of helpful information. ATTD Music Credits (Music from #Uppbeat): https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/adventure-is-calling License code: ANJCYVHRMULSNKQR https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/rise-of-the-hero License code: H4WTAGJZIXZCM8DM https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/homewardLicense code: KO7FZAIJBAEAJLKE https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/the-heart-grows License code: KAID0ITO96GJZAPS https://uppbeat.io/t/philip-anderson/achievement License code: XZ4PMCKHW94GUR74 https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/nexusLicense code: MVMDRGHKHTJRABVR https://uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/breakthroughLicense code: FYPM3OJF0NQ4OGTE

The Responder Reset: 99 Ways to Regulate in Real Time with AK Dozanti

Send a textIn 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 slowing down when stress hits. The ones who need something that works in the moment, not after a weekend retreat or a six week program. AK breaks down how regulation actually works in the body, why most responders are taught to override it instead of support it, and how simple, science backed tools can help you reset without changing the facts of what you are facing.Together, Cinnamon and AK talk about burnout, skepticism, muscle memory, nervous system regulation, and why these tools are not “woo” but basic human biology. They also explore how these skills translate beyond the job into parenting, relationships, and breaking generational cycles.If you are burned out, running on fumes, or tired of being told to “just breathe” without being shown how, this episode will give you language, permission, and tools you can actually use.DISCLAIMER: After the Tones Drop has been presented and sponsored by Whole House Counseling. After the Tones Drop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute for medical or psychological advice. It is not a substitute for professional health care advice diagnosis or treatment. Please contact a local mental health professional in your area if you are in need of assistance. You can also visit our shows resources page for an abundance of helpful information. ATTD Music Credits (Music from #Uppbeat): https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/adventure-is-calling License code: ANJCYVHRMULSNKQR https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/rise-of-the-hero License code: H4WTAGJZIXZCM8DM https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/homewardLicense code: KO7FZAIJBAEAJLKE https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/the-heart-grows License code: KAID0ITO96GJZAPS https://uppbeat.io/t/philip-anderson/achievement License code: XZ4PMCKHW94GUR74 https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/nexusLicense code: MVMDRGHKHTJRABVR https://uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/breakthroughLicense code: FYPM3OJF0NQ4OGTE

Healing Language That Hurts: How Good Intentions and Bad Metaphors Undermine Recovery

Send a textEpisode 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 someone is hurting. Let it go. Move on. Put it behind you. You should be over this by now.She explains why this kind of language doesn’t heal. It shames. It implies erasure. And it quietly tells people they’re doing recovery wrong if the past still shows up.Drawing from her work as a therapist and her own lived losses, Cinnamon breaks down why healing isn’t about forgetting, cutting cords, or turning pages like nothing happened. Trauma doesn’t disappear on command. It doesn’t come with scissors. And it doesn’t stay politely behind you.Instead, she offers a reframe that actually fits how nervous systems work. Healing is when the memory drops from face level to ankle level. It’s still there. You’re aware of it. But it no longer blocks your breath, your vision, or your ability to live.This episode is for anyone who still has waves. For anyone who remembers. For anyone who’s been told they should be further along by now.You’re not broken. You’re not failing at healing. And you don’t need better metaphors that ask you to disappear parts of yourself.You need language that tells the truth.DISCLAIMER: After the Tones Drop has been presented and sponsored by Whole House Counseling. After the Tones Drop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute for medical or psychological advice. It is not a substitute for professional health care advice diagnosis or treatment. Please contact a local mental health professional in your area if you are in need of assistance. You can also visit our shows resources page for an abundance of helpful information. ATTD Music Credits (Music from #Uppbeat): https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/adventure-is-calling License code: ANJCYVHRMULSNKQR https://uppbeat.io/t/vens-adams/rise-of-the-hero License code: H4WTAGJZIXZCM8DM https://uppbeat.io/t/yeti-music/homewardLicense code: KO7FZAIJBAEAJLKE https://uppbeat.io/t/sonda/the-heart-grows License code: KAID0ITO96GJZAPS https://uppbeat.io/t/philip-anderson/achievement License code: XZ4PMCKHW94GUR74 https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/nexusLicense code: MVMDRGHKHTJRABVR https://uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/breakthroughLicense code: FYPM3OJF0NQ4OGTE