From Federal Time to Full Circle: flipSide podcast episode 15

From destruction to construction: FlipSide podcast Episode 18

What happens when a man walks out of prison with nothing but a work ethic and a vision? He builds something. Literally. This week on FlipSide Podcast 513, we sit down with Matthew Tallon — a Cincinnati native, ex-con, and founder of Eagle Roofing & Siding, a family-owned construction company that's been protecting homes across the 513 and surrounding areas for over 20 years. Matthew didn't let his past define his future. He came home, picked up a trade, and turned it into a legacy. From the inside of a cell to the top of a roof — Matthew's story is a masterclass in redemption, resilience, and rebuilding. He went from doing time to doing business, offering Cincinnati homeowners top-quality roofing, siding, and gutter solutions with the kind of integrity and craftsmanship that only comes from a man who knows what's at stake. In this episode, Matthew opens up about the road back, what it really takes to start a business with a record, how he earned the trust of his community one roof at a time, and why he believes your worst chapter doesn't have to be your last. If you've ever felt like your past has you blocked — this one's for you. 🔨 Eagle Roofing & Siding | Cincinnati, OH 📞 513-316-6073 📧 eaglecincy@gmail.com 🎙️ FlipSide Podcast 513 — Real Stories. Real Redemption. Real 513. #FlipSidePodcast513 #Cincinnati #513 #RedemptionStory #ExConEntrepreneur #EagleRoofingAndSiding #BlackOwnedBusiness #CincinnatiContractor #FromTheCellToTheCEO #RoofingCincinnati #SecondChances #MessyEnt #LoyalGlobalMedia

They Shot at His Community for 76 Years… Until He Fought Back: FlipSide Podcast episode 17

What happens when the "protectors" become the source of terror? When the very agency sworn to keep you safe is the one traumatizing your children, your elders, your entire community — for 76 straight years? Carlton Robert Collins grew up in Lincoln Heights, Ohio — the first Black-incorporated city in America — where gunfire wasn't coming from the streets. It was coming from the Cincinnati Police Department's open-air gun range that had been dumping 38,000 hours of gunfire into the village since before he was born. Voyage Ohio Magazine For decades, residents said the same thing: "Gunfire is the soundtrack to our lives." Medium Every day. Every week. Every year. The sound of police training echoing through a historically Black community, normalizing violence, embedding fear, and creating a psychological war zone that nobody asked for. Carlton wasn't just mad — he went to battle. A Morehouse College graduate who became a teen father, was abused and abandoned by his mother, and was raised in a single-father household Voyage Ohio Magazine — he knew what it meant to fight through impossible circumstances. In 2011, he founded EDUC8theWORLD, a culture and social impact firm that has served dozens of clients nationally, designing educational models and innovating recruitment pipelines while building a network of thousands of educators across the world. Voyage Ohio Magazine But Lincoln Heights kept calling him back home. As Director of Programs & Special Projects at The Heights Movement, Carlton led the charge to get that gun range moved. LinkedIn For five years, they organized. They researched. They exposed the connection between that constant gunfire and the culture of violence it created in Lincoln Heights. As Carlton says: "We are living through one of the worst modern-day illustrations of callous disregard to the economic, educational, emotional, mental, and psychological health of a Black community in America." Medium And they won. Carlton's activism secured $31.6 million in funding to relocate the gun range through city, county, state, and federal sources. The fight got national coverage in The Washington Post, Slate Magazine, CNN, and beyond. Voyage Ohio Magazine Through The Heights Movement, Carlton and his team launched My Brother's Keeper Lincoln Heights — the first official chapter of the MBK Alliance in partnership with the Obama Foundation in the Cincinnati area. Medium He published his first book in 2017, Resist Every Bias on Every Level (REBEL), which focuses on achievement, critical thinking, identity development, and outcome management for Men of Color. His patented DNI goal-setting framework has led to millions in scholarships, hundreds of job placements, and dozens of college graduates. Voyage Ohio Magazine Now he's focused on two people-powered initiatives: Healing 15 and 15 Strong. The former creates a continuum of care for all harmed communities, backed by research and structural support systems that heal all Lincoln Heights residents, past and present. The latter rebuilds the economic foundation of Lincoln Heights through financial literacy, history excavation, and global storytelling. Voyage Ohio Magazine This episode isn't just about a gun range. It's about what systemic oppression looks like when it's loud, constant, and ignored. It's about a man who refused to accept the status quo and built an entire ecosystem of change around his people. It's about Lincoln Heights — a village that's been written off, overlooked, and left for dead, but still has people willing to fight for it. This is what it looks like when you refuse to let your community die. This is what it looks like when you turn pain into power. This is a FlipSide story. 🎙️ FlipSide Podcast 513 — Real Stories. Real Redemption. Real Cincinnati.

🎙️ ”Still Standing” — Featuring Juan Dollar: FlipSide podcast episode 16

Some people fold under pressure. Juan Dollar was built different. Growing up in Cincinnati, the streets called early and Juan answered. For years he ran the game — a product of an environment where the hustle was survival and the corner was the classroom. But the streets always collect, and Juan paid the price multiple times over, cycling in and out of incarceration in a system designed to keep men like him down and forgotten. Most people would have broken. Most people would have given up. Juan Dolla is not most people. Because just when it seemed like life had already dealt him enough bad hands, the diagnosis came. Cancer. The kind of news that stops the world and makes grown men cry. The kind of news that could have been the end of the story for somebody with less will to live. But for Juan, it became the beginning of the most important chapter of his life. Today, Juan Dolla isn't running from anything. He's running toward everything — sobriety, entrepreneurship, purpose, and a future he's choosing to fight for with every single day he's got. His mindset is locked in, his spirit is unbreakable, and his story is one that Cincinnati needs to hear. This is a man who has looked the streets in the eye, looked the prison system in the eye, and now looks cancer in the eye — and refuses to blink. In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Juan opens up about the life he lived in the streets, what it feels like to keep coming home from prison and choosing the same path, the moment everything shifted inside him, and what it truly means to rebuild from zero when the whole world has counted you out. He talks about his battle with cancer not as a victim, but as a warrior — someone who has decided that his best days are still ahead no matter what the doctors say, no matter what his past looks like, and no matter what anybody thinks about where he came from. This episode is for every person who has ever felt like it was too late. It's for the ones still in the game who can't see the exit. It's for the families watching someone they love lose themselves to the streets. And it's for the fighters — the ones facing something bigger than themselves who refuse to let it win. Juan Dolla is still standing. And his story is just getting started. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a FlipSide story. 👍 Like this video if Juan's story moved you. 💬 Comment below — What does resilience mean to you? 📲 Connect with Juan Dollar: ▶ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ExemplifyingPossibilities

Shot by love FlipSide Podcast - Episode 2: Breaking the Cycle

In this powerful episode of FlipSide Podcast, we sit down with a remarkable guest who has transformed his past into a lifeline for others. Having walked the difficult path from the streets to redemption, our guest now dedicates his life to helping drug dealers find their way out of the life that once consumed him. Through candid conversation and unflinching honesty, this episode explores the harsh realities of street life and incarceration—not just for those directly involved, but for the families, children, and communities left behind in their wake. Our guest shares his personal journey from the criminal justice system to founding a nonprofit organization specifically designed to provide support, resources, and genuine exit strategies for individuals trapped in the drug trade. This isn't just another crime story. It's a roadmap for change, a testament to redemption, and a sobering reminder that every choice creates ripples far beyond the individual making it. Whether you're someone seeking a way out, a family member trying to understand, or a community member looking for solutions, this conversation offers hope, practical insight, and the truth about what it really takes to leave the streets behind. Topics Discussed: The hidden costs of incarceration on families and communities Real-world challenges facing individuals trying to exit street life How nonprofit intervention can create sustainable change Personal testimony and lessons learned from lived experience Breaking generational cycles of crime and incarceration Join us for an honest, unfiltered conversation about second chances, systemic challenges, and the power of community-based solutions. #FlipSidePodcast #SecondChances #CommunityHealing #ExFelon #RedemptionStory #BreakingTheCycle #StreetLife #NonprofitWork #RealTalk #PodcastInterview

From Federal Time to Full Circle: flipSide podcast episode 15

What does it take to build multiple businesses from the ground up with nothing but sheer will, street smarts, and an unstoppable hunger for the next opportunity? Terry Johnson knows. Born and raised in the Cincinnati area, Terry wasn't the type to sit still. While most people were punching a clock, he was building empires — plural. Terry Johnson was the force behind Celebrity's Nightclub, one of Cincinnati's most talked-about entertainment venues, a place where the city came alive on weekends and where Terry established himself as a major player in the local nightlife scene. But a nightclub was never going to be enough for a man wired the way Terry is. He pivoted into the medical transportation space, launching Community Angels Ambulance Service and Starlite Transportation, companies that served dialysis patients across the region and generated millions in revenue. And on top of all of that — the man was out here building a brand in the food space too. A true serial entrepreneur in every sense of the word. But ambition without guardrails has a cost. Over the course of seven years, federal investigators uncovered a scheme involving fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing across his ambulance companies — totaling over $1.4 million in fraudulent claims. In 2016, Terry pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. He was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett, and ordered to file amended tax returns covering multiple years. He did his time. And now he's talking. In this raw, unfiltered, and deeply honest conversation, Terry Johnson sits down to walk us through every chapter — the nightclub grind, the business moves, the moment things went sideways, what federal prison is actually like, and what life looks like when you come out the other side with your mind still intact and your entrepreneurial spirit still burning. This isn't a story about excuses. It's a story about a man who moved fast, fell hard, and is now figuring out what the next chapter looks like. If you've ever chased a dream, made a mistake, or wondered what it takes to rebuild after losing everything — this episode is for you. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. 👍 Like if this conversation moved you. 💬 Drop a comment — where do you think Terry goes from here?