We’re back. Here’s what the dark taught us.
An honest return to the mic: why the show paused, what changed, and what rebuilding looks like without a perfect comeback story.
Preview this episode →The tape archive
Every chapter. Every unfinished conversation.
Listen to the original recordings, then explore all 24 future conversations. The eight-episode relaunch starts January 5, 2027, with new audio every other Tuesday and planned breaks between chapters.
Original Run
Finding Our Footing
The first recordings stay here—imperfect beginnings, honest returns, and the progress between them. Original episode titles are preserved.
02
After Hours Office · December 31, 2025 · Video on Spotify
21 min · Notes →01We’re Back… Again.
A quick, honest return to the mic—and proof that a comeback does not have to be perfectly timed to count.
After Hours Office · February 7, 2025
10 min · Notes →00Perfectionism & Getting on Track
The lies perfectionism tells us, why Jess stepped back, and the mindset that gets you to hit publish anyway.
Start Here · January 2, 2025
1 min · Notes →Welcome to After Dark
The stories you will not hear during the day come alive. Pull up a chair—the curtain is coming down.
Chapter 1 · 8 planned episodes
The 2027 Relaunch Season: Back in the Dark
January 5–April 13, 2027 · Every other Tuesday
Eight conversations to begin again. Audio-first, hosted by Jessica Combs, with creative entrepreneurs at the heart of the room.
Planned titles and topics may evolve. Guests are announced only after confirmation. These episodes have not aired yet.
2027 trends worth ignoring.
What is useful, what is recycled, and what is just engagement bait. A fresh look at wedding and creative-business trends as the year begins.
Preview this episode →Nobody posts their prices. We do.
Pricing transparency, clear expectations, and the difference between sharing a starting price and explaining the work behind it.
Preview this episode →Someone else shoots under your name.
The associate model without the glossy brochure: matching people, quality control, client communication, and honest disclosure.
Preview this episode →Film is not dead. It’s just expensive.
Super 8, analog texture, mixed media, real production costs, and helping clients choose a format for the story—not just the trend.
Preview this episode →Planners are your best marketing.
Creative entrepreneurs and planners on trust, thoughtful referrals, vendor relationships, and showing up well when nobody is posting about it.
Preview this episode →Burnout, boundaries, and the business.
Motherhood, partnership, creative identity, and building multiple brands without making constant availability the price of ambition.
Preview this episode →Ask us anything.
Jessica closes the chapter with community questions, lessons from the relaunch, and the conversations listeners want to take into the next chapter.
Preview this episode →Chapter 2 · 8 planned episodes
The Work Behind the Work
After a planned break · Dates to be announced
Eight more conversations about clients, boundaries, business, and the things a finished portfolio cannot show.
Planned titles and topics may evolve. Guests are announced only after confirmation. These episodes have not aired yet.
The Reset No One Posts About
Burnout, grief, parenthood, changing markets, and rebuilding a creative life without pretending the pause never happened.
Preview this episode →Ghosted, Booked & Boundaried
What client silence really means, when to follow up, and the boundaries that protect your energy and your business.
Preview this episode →The Copycat in the Group Chat
Imitation, inspiration, competition, and the uncomfortable work of keeping your creative identity intact.
Preview this episode →A Wedding Day Went Sideways
An anonymous industry story—details changed, permission granted, lessons absolutely intact.
Preview this episode →Pricing Without the Apology Tour
How to talk about money, build offers people understand, and stop making your value sound like a confession.
Preview this episode →Behind the Gallery: What Clients Never See
A client-facing look at the preparation, judgment calls, and invisible care behind a finished wedding gallery.
Preview this episode →Too Many Brands—or a Bigger Vision?
The honest mechanics of running a creative network without becoming the bottleneck in every business.
Preview this episode →Dear After Dark: The Boundary Edition
Listener questions about revisions, discounts, scope creep, late payments, and saying no without burning the room down.
Preview this episode →Chapter 3 · 8 planned episodes
Community, Chaos & Coming Home
After the next chapter break · Dates to be announced
Eight conversations about relationships, travel, ambition, and making room for a life beyond the work.
Planned titles and topics may evolve. Guests are announced only after confirmation. These episodes have not aired yet.
The Vendor Feud We Should Actually Talk About
What conflict reveals about communication, ego, power, and the culture we create behind the scenes.
Preview this episode →Booking Season Is Not a Personality Test
Marketing, lead quality, slow seasons, and why your worth cannot be measured by this month’s inquiry count.
Preview this episode →The Destination Dream vs. the Travel Reality
What destination work really asks of your body, family, systems, pricing, and creative stamina.
Preview this episode →Anonymous at Midnight: Client Nightmare Files
A permission-first collection of listener stories with names removed and hard-earned lessons preserved.
Preview this episode →Can You Be Ambitious and Still Have a Life?
Parenthood, partnership, rest, grief, and the radical idea that success should make room for being human.
Preview this episode →Dear After Dark: Pricing, Posting & Panic
Fast, candid answers to the questions creative founders are tired of pretending they do not have.
Preview this episode →When Community Starts Feeling Like Competition
How to spot misalignment, protect your peace, and build creative relationships that can survive honesty.
Preview this episode →What We’re Taking Into the Light
The truths, listener stories, business lessons, and unfinished conversations that defined the season.
Preview this episode →Be part of what comes next.
Stories and questions are open before the relaunch. Follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, share a favorite episode, and leave an honest rating or review.
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