The Unknown Path

Jem Fuller

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The Unknown Path is about the quiet grit behind “overnight” success. Each week I sit down with founders, entrepreneurs, artists and change-makers to mine the moments that shaped them—doubts, detours, decisions, and the choice that changed everything. Come for the wins; stay for the wisdom. Build a fulfilled life that actually feels like you.

Aug 9

Breaking Limiting Beliefs with Jack Canfield

"Stop being who you're not." In this episode of The Unknown Path, Jem Fuller sits down with Jack Canfield — Entrepreneur, co-creator of the billion-dollar ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’® series and author of the international bestseller ‘The Success Principles’. Jack’s conducted more than 2,500 workshops and trainings worldwide, sold over 500 million books in 43 languages, and spent five decades helping people close the gap between where they are and their highest vision of themselves. For decades, Jack's work has centred around the idea that most of what holds people back isn't a lack of ability, but a belief formed in childhood about who they are and what they deserve that holds the drivers seat of their life. He’s stood in boardrooms to stadiums filled with thousands of people transforming the lives of millions of people, but his impact started many years ago in a small classroom teaching self-esteem to teenagers who needed someone to believe in them. In this conversation, we go beyond the success into the journey in a way you haven’t heard before. Jack shares his story, as a scholarship kid at a West Virginia military school to the man behind one of publishing's most improbable success stories, and the mentors, chance encounters, and discipline that shaped the way there. We go through the early years, starting as a teacher earning $8,000 a year, to becoming a best selling author and deeply impactful entrepreneur by discovering and embodying the work that has changed the lives of so many people. If you know of Jacks work, you’ll know his impact on the world is big, but chances are you haven’t heard the man underneath the success in this way and I can’t wait for you to sit and listen and soak up all the wisdom. This weeks episode covers an incredible journey of self discovery, the mechanics of building something successful that lasts and the work of unbecoming what no longer serves you. It's a conversation about permission, persistence, and the difference between striving for significance and simply being who you are. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — Cold email to Harvard scholarship, and the private school that changed everything — A mentor's challenge to set a goal twelve times his salary, and the visualization ritual he kept every morning for three years — Fourteen months of daily outreach before Chicken Soup for the Soul hit a single bestseller list — The ayahuasca journey that forced him to forgive Vladimir Putin — and what it revealed about his own need for significance — Why "discover" is the word he'd choose over "become" — His take on AI, job displacement, and why human connection becomes more valuable, not less — The free belief-change call he still runs twice a year for thousands of people, decades after he stopped needing to About Jack: For over 40 years, he has been teaching entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders, and people from all walks of life how to create the life they desire. As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the SoulⓇ series, he’s taught millions of individuals his modernised formulas for success, and has trained and certified over 2,700 students to teach his content and methodology in 107 countries around the world. Follow Jack: 🌐 https://jackcanfield.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackcanfield_official ⸻ About The Unknown Path: The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller. ⸻ Follow the show: 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/jemfuller 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemfuller/ 🌱 More from Jem: https://jemfuller.com #TheUnknownPath #JackCanfield #ChickenSoupForTheSoul
Aug 6

Finding your Purpose, Curiosity & Building an Extraordinary Life with Brandon Fong

"I didn't give myself permission to be a visionary." In this episode of The Unknown Path, Jem Fuller sits down with Brandon Fong — founder of Curiosity Island, creator of the Find Your Four framework, and host of the podcast Beyond Curious. In this conversation, Brandon shares how a childhood shaped by financial insecurity, in one of the wealthiest school districts in his state, built the identity of someone who had to earn everything the hard way. Years later, that same drive led him into the business of building other people's visions, until a mentor ended their partnership without warning and left him with nowhere to go but inward. Brandon's story is one of reinvention, and one that will make you question what permission you're still waiting for to chase the things you desire. In this episode, we talk across a number of themes including the difference between learning and channeling, the cost of walking away from a version of success that isn't yours, and how the period of building for others became the foundation for Curiosity Island, and framework for finding the small percentage of actions that create the majority of impact. This conversation explores what it takes to stop chasing someone else's definition of success, and a real look at what it means to build a life, and a community, from complete alignment. You wont want to miss this one. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — Cold calling at twelve, and the free lunch program in the wealthiest school district in the state — The single cold email that turned into running a mentor's marketing, adding 250,000 students to his courses, and a year spent living in Israel, Italy, and Thailand — The business partner who left without warning, and the question it forced: what do I actually want? — Why he still cringes at the old name of his own podcast, and why he wouldn't undo any of it — What changed when he stopped calling it effort and started calling it channeling — Dunbar's number, soul family, and why Curiosity Island will never grow past 54 people — The plan to send a piece of it into outer space About Brandon: Brandon is a husband to his high school sweetheart, Leah, father to their daughter Kaiya, and head world builder of Curiosity Island™, the invite-only community he founded to help visionary leaders solve their hardest problems and accelerate their biggest projects. He also hosts the top 1% globally ranked Beyond Curious® podcast, where he's interviewed everyone from Olympians and NYT bestselling authors to an FBI hostage negotiator and the man who invented the cell phone. His life purpose is to create a more deeply connected world. Follow Brandon: 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsfong/ ▶️ YouTube: https://gobeyondcurious.com/podcast/ ⸻ About The Unknown Path: The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller. ⸻ Follow the show: 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/jemfuller 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemfuller/ 🌱 More from Jem: https://jemfuller.com #TheUnknownPath #BrandonFong #CuriosityIsland
Aug 3

Finding your Purpose, Curiosity & Building an Extraordinary Life with Brandon Fong

"I didn't give myself permission to be a visionary." In this episode of The Unknown Path, Jem Fuller sits down with Brandon Fong — founder of Curiosity Island, creator of the Find Your Four framework, and host of the podcast Beyond Curious. In this conversation, Brandon shares how a childhood shaped by financial insecurity, in one of the wealthiest school districts in his state, built the identity of someone who had to earn everything the hard way. Years later, that same drive led him into the business of building other people's visions, until a mentor ended their partnership without warning and left him with nowhere to go but inward. Brandon's story is one of reinvention, and one that will make you question what permission you're still waiting for to chase the things you desire. In this episode, we talk across a number of themes including the difference between learning and channeling, the cost of walking away from a version of success that isn't yours, and how the period of building for others became the foundation for Curiosity Island, and framework for finding the small percentage of actions that create the majority of impact. This conversation explores what it takes to stop chasing someone else's definition of success, and a real look at what it means to build a life, and a community, from complete alignment. You wont want to miss this one. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — Cold calling at twelve, and the free lunch program in the wealthiest school district in the state — The single cold email that turned into running a mentor's marketing, adding 250,000 students to his courses, and a year spent living in Israel, Italy, and Thailand — The business partner who left without warning, and the question it forced: what do I actually want? — Why he still cringes at the old name of his own podcast, and why he wouldn't undo any of it — What changed when he stopped calling it effort and started calling it channeling — Dunbar's number, soul family, and why Curiosity Island will never grow past 54 people — The plan to send a piece of it into outer space Timestamps: Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:13 Brandon's World Right Now 00:03:00 What Is Curiosity Island? 00:07:00 Learning to Slow Down and Just Be Present 00:09:29 What His 10-Year-Old Self Would Think 00:10:43 Growing Up in an Entrepreneurial Household 00:14:24 Free Lunch Programs in the Wealthiest School District 00:16:05 Meeting His Mentor Jonathan and Genius Network 00:19:25 The Business Failure That Started Everything 00:20:13 Publishing a Book at 21 00:22:07 The Power of the Cold Email 00:23:30 What's the Worst That Can Happen? 00:24:54 Rebuilding From the Ground Up 00:28:03 Why "Seven Figure Millennials" Still Makes Him Cringe 00:30:05 Would He Undo That Chapter? 00:31:27 What It Feels Like to Be Fully Aligned 00:32:52 Consciousness, Telepathy, and Holding Beliefs Loosely 00:37:45 David Hawkins and the Levels of Consciousness 00:40:52 Mirrors, Not Mentors 00:44:08 What Curiosity Island Actually Is 00:45:46 Introducing Find Your Four 00:49:09 The 4% and the Exponentially Renewable Resource 00:51:00 The 4% Files Project 00:54:19 A World Record Sent Into Outer Space 00:57:30 Shortcutting a Friend's Dream: The Roderick Adventure Day Story 01:00:20 Founding the Center of Love Alliance 01:03:21 Dunbar's Number and the Future of Curiosity Island 01:05:12 Final Thoughts About Brandon: Brandon is a husband to his high school sweetheart, Leah, father to their daughter Kaiya, and head world builder of Curiosity Island™, the invite-only community he founded to help visionary leaders solve their hardest problems and accelerate their biggest projects. He also hosts the top 1% globally ranked Beyond Curious® podcast, where he's interviewed everyone from Olympians and NYT bestselling authors to an FBI hostage negotiator and the man who invented the cell phone. His life purpose is to create a more deeply connected world. Follow Brandon: 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsfong/ ▶️ YouTube: https://gobeyondcurious.com/podcast/ ⸻ About The Unknown Path: The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller. ⸻ Follow the show: 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/jemfuller 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemfuller/ 🌱 More from Jem: https://jemfuller.com #TheUnknownPath #BrandonFong #CuriosityIsland
Jul 26

Scars to Strength - The Catalina Magee Story

"Freedom without forgiveness is just relocation" In this episode of The Unknown Path, Jem Fuller sits down with Catalina Magee — former Miss Romania, Vogue Italia model, and founder of Trend Prive magazine, now a real estate investor, podcast host, and someone who volunteers her time with Las Vegas's homeless community. Catalina shares what it was like growing up under communism in Romania, the ultimatum she gave her mother at sixteen, and the night in Germany she stood in a car park screaming for help while her husband lay fighting for his life after a house fire. We talk about the years of abuse that shaped her childhood, the choice she made to forgive the man who caused it, and why she's landed on humility — not love — as the biggest lesson life has taught her. This conversation explores what it actually costs to build a life of gratitude out of a childhood built on scarcity and pain, and why the people we overlook are so often the ones who save us. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — The ultimatum a sixteen-year-old Catalina gave her mother about her father, and the divorce it forced — A stranger's invitation to Capri, and the night Mariah Carey stood two feet away — The house fire in Germany that nearly took her husband's life, and the phone call that finally got him a hospital bed — Growing up under communism in Romania, where the family had one orange at Christmas and prayed in secret beneath the floor — Why homelessness isn't the choice people assume it is, and the questions Catalina asks instead of judging About Catalina Magee: Catalina Magee is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, actress and published author based in Las Vegas. She began her career as a model featured in Vogue Italia and the winner of Miss Romania, before founding Trend Prive magazine and going on to work across the U.S. Army, MWR, NCIS, the USDA and the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. She has since built and sold multiple businesses, and currently oversees a real estate portfolio, a wedding venture and a celebrity magazine, alongside ongoing volunteer work with Las Vegas's homeless community. Connect with Catalina: 🌐 https://catalinamagee.com 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialcatalinamagee 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catalinamagee/ ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWGKSdXcO04gZV30EIM7tQ ⸻ About The Unknown Path: The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller. ⸻ Follow the show: 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/jemfuller 💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jemfuller 🌱 More from Jem: https://jemfuller.com If something in this conversation lands for you, share it with someone who might need it today. #TheUnknownPath #CatalinaMagee #Forgiveness
Jul 19

The Ten Years in Africa that Changed Everything: The Jared Angaza Story

I couldn't sit still. I was angry, and it was time to find the stillness. In this episode of The Unknown Path we have the incredible Jared Angaza - Founder of Passage Collective, human rights worker turned indigenous wisdom keeper, and creator of the Coherence Protocol — an AI framework grounded in indigenous values. In this conversation, Jared shares how a decade of human rights work across Rwanda and Kenya led to a profound low point, on the dirt floor of a Rwandan jail forcing him to find another way to respond to rage and look inside. Jared's story is one of fierce advocacy and resilience, and one that will make you look twice at what you've mistaken for strength. We talk about the difference between resilience and anti-fragility, what surrender means when it isn't about giving up, and how that decade of hands-on community work became the foundation for the work he does today, building AI systems grounded in indigenous governance rather than fixed rules. This conversation explores what it takes to stop fighting for control and make space for something better to come through, and a beautiful exploration of the impact one driven person can have on a global community for the better. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — A decade of human rights work across Rwanda and Kenya, including informant work that led to jail time — Building a safe house in Kigali for forty-nine women and seventy-eight kids — Adopting a son off the streets and learning a language with no textbook to teach it — The night in a dirt-floor jail cell that changed how he responds to rage — Building an AI framework out of indigenous wisdom instead of fixed rules About Jared Angaza: Jared Angaza is the founder of Passage Collective, building AI systems grounded in indigenous values through the Coherence Protocol and an Indigenous Governance Council of elders and knowledge holders from around the world. Before this work, he spent a decade living and working across Rwanda and Kenya, founding Team Africa Rising and the Treasure Center safe house, and building the ethical fashion brand Kaza alongside the women he worked with. More at passagecollective.com ⸻ About The Unknown Path: The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller.
Jul 12

The Medical System is Broken with Dr Donese Warden

What happens when you know something is true, but everyone around you is telling you it isn't? In this episode of The Unknown Path, I talk with Dr Donese Worden, NMD, a physician who has spent twenty-seven years working across conventional and integrative medicine, and co-founder of a nonprofit researching metabolic approaches to cancer. In her first year of medical school, Donese watched her mother suffer a stroke caused by a medical error. Doctors told the family she wouldn't survive the night and advised them to stop treatment. Donese trusted her gut over the doctors in front of her, refused, and her mother recovered. That same instinct has shaped her whole career. She now argues cancer should be treated as a metabolic disease rather than a purely genetic one, a position most mainstream cancer research still doesn't accept. This episode is about trusting your own read on something, especially when the noise around you is telling you the opposite. Donese helps unpack the difference between conviction and stubbornness, and why waiting for permission to trust yourself usually costs more than getting it wrong. In this episode: — Why she believes cancer is a metabolic disease, not a genetic one — The questions worth asking before starting any medical treatment — Why she told the United Nations that AI still doesn't account for women properly ⸻ Dr Donese Worden, NMD: Physician, researcher, and co-founder of a nonprofit researching metabolic approaches to cancer. 🌐 drworden.com 📸 Instagram: @DrDoneseWorden ⸻ The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. theunknownpathpodcast.com │ Instagram: @jemfuller
Jul 5

The Breakthrough begins with your Origin Story with Ron Carucci

What does it really mean to rewrite the story that shaped you — without losing what it gave you? In this episode of The Unknown Path, Jem Fuller sits down with Ron Carucci, co-founder of Navalent and a leadership consultant who has spent three decades advising CEOs through major organisational change. Ron shares his own honest reckoning with the origin stories we all carry, the vows we make young without realising it, and what it actually takes to unlearn a habit without losing the ability behind it. From a client whose entire career was built on protecting an old wound, to Ron's own journey through faith, depression, and the moments that quietly redirected his life, this conversation explores how facing where we come from can change how we move forward — without asking us to give up who we've become. ⸻ In this conversation we go into: — A client whose career was built on protecting a wound from childhood — The vow made in silence, and the one that finally replaced it — Ron's own years of depression and anxiety, and what shifted them — The mentor who split his life into two distinct eras — Why he almost didn't publish his article on the state of democracy Ron Carucci: Co-founder and managing partner of Navalent, and author of Rising to Power and To Be Honest. 🌐 navalent.com ⸻ The Unknown Path explores the unseen journeys behind extraordinary lives — real conversations about the failures, turning points, and unexpected moments that shaped who people became. theunknownpathpodcast.com │ Instagram: @jemfuller
Jun 28

From 14 days to live, to the summit of Everest: The story of Sean Swarner

At sixteen, Sean was given fourteen days to live. He survived — and then had to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Sean Swarner is a two-time cancer survivor and the first person with one functioning lung to summit Everest. He's gone on to complete the seven summits, ski to both Poles, and complete the Hawaii Ironman World Championship. But what moves me most about this conversation isn't the scale of what he's done, although they are incredible. It's what he came back with from being given fourteen days to live at sixteen that has platformed a meaningful and incredible life. In this conversation, Sean shares his story from being a boy in a hospital bed to the man on the other end of incredible feats. But this conversation isn't about survival, it's the story of being alive. From resilience, choice and failure and what it all means when faced with the limits of what the body can achieve and survive, Sean opens up about this amazing perspective on what we can truly grow into as individuals when we strip away our comforts and certainty. If everything you knew was pulled away, what would you be left with? Who would you be? There are so many incredible teachings in this week's conversation, and it has left me with such awe and understanding of what it means to face life, even when there's fear staring back at you. In this episode: — What's left of a person when comfort, certainty and health have all been stripped away — Why resilience has nothing to do with grit, and everything to do with loyalty to who you are — The difference between chasing something you think will complete you, and meeting your own life with eyes open — Why reaching the top can leave you hollow, and what Sean now calls a false summit A conversation about what it means to be alive, from someone who was told he wouldn't be. ⸻ Sean Swarner: 🎬 True North: The Sean Swarner Story — Sean's documentary of his North Pole expedition. Watch free https://www.amazon.com/True-North-%20Sean-Swarner-Story/dp/B07LBCSFCD 🏔️ The CancerClimber Association — Sean's organisation sponsoring cancer survivors up Kilimanjaro: https://www.seanswarner.com/philanthropy-2/cca 🌐 More from Sean: : https://www.seanswarner.com/ ⸻ The Unknown Path is a podcast about the untold stories behind success — real conversations with extraordinary people about the parts of their journey nobody asks them about. Hosted by Jem Fuller, a coach, facilitator, speaker and author who has spent two decades working with leaders on resilience, presence, and the human capabilities that shape how we live and work. Through coaching, workshops, speaking and retreats, both at home in Australia and in the Himalayas, Jem works with individuals and teams across business, government and education. You can learn more about his work, or join an upcoming retreat, by visiting https://jemfuller.com/ │ Instagram: @jemfuller

The Unknown Path is about the quiet grit behind “overnight” success. Each week I sit down with founders, entrepreneurs, artists and change-makers to mine the moments that shaped them—doubts, detours, decisions, and the choice that changed everything. Come for the wins; stay for the wisdom. Build a fulfilled life that actually feels like you.

Creator

Jem Fuller
Years Active

2026
Episodes

24
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Jem Fuller
Show Website

The Unknown Path