For about a decade, Aaron Dante was one of the hosts of an annual party called No Pix After Dark. So in 2018, when he was planning to start a podcast to tell positive stories, he used the same name. Back then, the people who came to his parties—which had grown to about 1,000 attendees, including his college friends and their friends—naturally became his audience.
Today, the No Pix After Dark podcast has nearly 200 episodes, and Aaron has several corporate partners and sponsors and just celebrated his third consecutive Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Podcast” from The Baltimore Sun.
(Photo cred: Schaun Champion)
In this episode, Aaron talks about:
- How No Pix After Dark’s focus shifted to Baltimore, and how he’ll be expanding to include areas outside of the city in episodes to come;
- Boundaries and how Aaron balances working full-time and being a dad to two young kids with his regular podcast schedule;
- How Aaron managed the time when he wasn’t sure he should continue his show—a common feeling after doing a project like podcasting for a while—and the experience that made him want to keep pushing forward;
- How he got his first sponsors and developed relationships that led to corporate partnerships;
- What’s next for the No Pix After Dark podcast, including the new season in the fall and some hints into a Patreon page that Aaron plans to launch; and more.
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Mentioned in This Episode:
- No Pix After Dark podcast
- Episode 35, “Mrs. Robinson, We Need to Talk” – Aaron interviews his mom, a breast cancer survivor
- Episode 37, “Family and Fatherhood Part I” – Aaron and his cousin Demetrius talk about being fathers and how this role has changed them.
- Episode 57 “Aaron, I Have COVID” – Aaron interviews Karen, who at the time was recently diagnosed with COVID-19. This episode dropped on March 20, 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic.
- Episode 76 NoPixAfterDark Round Table Part I and Episode 77 Part II – Four guests talk about race, Black history, and the police.
- Episode 79: “The Camera Always Eats First” – Aaron interviews Simone, a Baltimore-based food blogger with CharmCityTable
- Episode 84: Florida COVID-19 Whistleblower Story Featuring Rebekah Jones
- Episode 90: New Era of Black Podcasters
- Episode 105: CAnE Collective
- Episode 108: The Notorious Stoop Storytelling Series Featuring Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler
- Episode 178: Ashish Alfred, Owner of No Way Rosé and Duck Duck Goose
- Episode 185: Baltimore Pride Week Featuring Unique Robinson and Kenneth Morrison
- Baltimore Beat – A Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper and online outlet
- Charm City Media Collective
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or listen on my website, follow and get in touch on Instagram (where I am most active), like on Facebook, or email webuiltthislifepodcast@gmail.com (but getting in touch through IG DM is better!)!