Fausto's Room | Michael Chernow

Michael Chernow built The Meatball Shop and the wellness brand Kreatures of Habit — but before any of that, he was a kid surviving an abusive father, a childhood no one should have to live through, and years lost to drugs and alcohol. In this deeply honest conversation, the 22-years-sober founder opens up about the trauma he carried, the plant medicine journey he recently took to finally face it, and what it taught him about his father, his mother, and himself.

Michael doesn't hold back: the abuse he lived through as a boy, the deep resentment he carried toward his mom for not protecting him, and the moment he realized that forgiving her — loving the person hardest to love — was the last chain he needed to break. He shares how fathering his own two sons rescued the scared kid still inside him, and why "father" is the greatest title he'll ever hold.

From there it opens into what every relationship needs: why healthy conflict actually deepens intimacy, how to show up for your partner instead of trying to "fix" them, and what real masculinity looks like. Then Michael flips into founder mode — how a bowl of oatmeal became Kreatures of Habit, why brand and story beat product every time, and his advice for anyone too scared to take the swing.

What you'll take away:

For anyone carrying old wounds, learning to be the parent or partner they never had, or trying to build something real out of what they survived.

Chapters:

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If this episode brings up something heavy for you, you're not alone — call or text 1-877-587-1558.

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"Be All Things To All People"

Fausto's Room | Ruben Palomares

Ruben Palomares has a story most people wouldn't believe if it weren't true. In his early twenties he was one of the LAPD's best — recruited straight out of the academy into the undercover "21 Jump Street" program, posing as a high schooler to buy drugs and weapons. Then he got shot at a payphone, survived, and shot back — and something in him changed. The adrenaline of the violence became a high he chased into the Rampart CRASH gang unit, where he became a feared "gunslinger" in the middle of the 90s gang wars.

When the Rampart corruption scandal blew the unit apart, Ruben turned all the way. He recruited a crew, used his badge and his training to rob drug dealers, and spiraled into paranoia, addiction, and a darkness he now calls being a "monster." It ended in a federal sting and 16 years behind bars.

But prison is where the real story begins. Three months in, a stranger preached to him — and Ruben was saved. He spent years in solitary preaching through the bars to lifers from every rival set, bringing light into one of the darkest places on earth. Today he's out, married, a father again, and a pastor, using everything he survived to reach the people no one else can.

What you'll take away:

For anyone who's been written off, done things they can't take back, or needs to believe that no one is too far gone to change.

(His full 16-year prison story is coming in a future episode.)

Chapters:

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Get Ruben's book:

https://www.amazon.com/-/he/Redemption-Rogue-Rayford-Lorenz-Johnson/dp/1548249599

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"Be All Things To All People"

Fausto's Room | Michael Ketterer

Michael Ketterer's voice has reached tens of millions — his song "Spirit Lead Me" alone has passed 45 million streams — but the story underneath the music is one of repression, rock bottom, and slow, hard-won healing. Raised a minister's son, he learned to bury every feeling after his parents' divorce got the family cast out of their own church. Music became his escape, his identity, and the only place he felt seen.

He turned down a record deal after a dream told him he was "already famous in heaven," helped build United Pursuit into a worship movement that blew up on Facebook, and then said yes to fostering and adopting five kids from deeply traumatic beginnings. That yes cracked him wide open. The wounds he'd hidden for decades surfaced, he leaned on alcohol to cope, and it nearly cost him everything — his marriage, his freedom, a very public high and a very private low.

This episode is the comeback: getting sober, years of therapy, learning to feel again, and finally being able to sing the songs he wrote long before he had the freedom to mean them. It's about faith, fatherhood, creativity, and why doing the inner work is the most important thing any artist can do.

What you'll take away:

For anyone carrying wounds they've learned to hide, chasing a calling through the long quiet years, or trying to believe their pain might one day become purpose.

(His full America's Got Talent story is coming in a future episode.)

Chapters:

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"Be All Things To All People"

Fausto's Room | Skinny Vinny

Skinny Vinny has lit himself on fire, jumped off cliffs, and put his body through hell for the shot — but the real stunt was surviving long enough to do any of it. He grew up worshipping Jackass, copying every bit in his backyard, until drugs took over and swallowed fifteen years of his life. Fifteen overdoses. Homelessness. An acceptance that he'd die alone as a heroin addict.

Then a free flight to LA — one he only took for the weather — cracked the door open. He got sober, moved into a sober living, and picked up a camera he hadn't touched in fifteen years. One viral video later, he was standing in Bam Margera's castle hearing people call him by name, realizing the attention was better than any drug he'd ever chased.

This is the full arc: addiction and accountability, working for free for years to build a career, learning to create for the love and not the numbers, and turning it all into something bigger — The Comeback Sober Living, a community he built so others could get the shot he got.

What you'll take away:

For anyone who's ever felt too far gone, too far behind, or too broken to come back — and anyone chasing a dream everyone told them was impossible.

Chapters:

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"Be All Things To All People"

Fausto's Room | Gremlin

Gremlin grew up feeling like he wasn't the smart kid or the strong kid — so he chased the one thing that made him feel seen: creativity. Gaming, art, skateboarding, and finally music. He started writing raps young and was too nervous to share them with anyone for years, wrestling the same anxiety that can still make a trip to the grocery store feel like a mountain. Then he bet everything on it. A hundred-dollar camera from Best Buy.

A first music video he was almost too embarrassed to post. Online rap battles. A talent show where he was shaking in front of the whole school. He kept going — through years where nothing hit — until his Uber Raps took off, and one morning he woke up to a million subscribers and a plaque on the wall. But the real story is what happened after: when the thing that worked stopped working, and he had to pivot, fight imposter syndrome, stay financially disciplined, and prove he was more than one viral idea.

This one's about identity, anxiety, mentorship, and building a real career out of pure creativity.

What you'll take away:

✅ How to build a following and a career from your creativity — with no blueprint

✅ Why the people around you can make or break your dream ("get new voices")

✅ How to keep going when what once worked suddenly stops

✅ Real talk on anxiety, imposter syndrome, and betting on yourself anyway

For anyone who's ever felt unseen, too anxious, or not "good enough" at the normal stuff — and anyone ready to turn a creative gift into a life.

🎥 Watch on YouTube

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Follow Gremlin

https://www.instagram.com/gremlinraps/

https://www.youtube.com/@Gremlinmusic24/featured

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🎧 Create. Belong. Heal.

"Be All Things To All People"

Fausto's Room | Dane Carter

Dane Carter started using as a kid — and lost over 13 years to prison, addiction, and the streets. Weed turned to coke, meth, heroin, and finally fentanyl. Multiple prison terms. A case where he was staring down 70 years. He'll tell you straight — he never got high to die. He liked the feeling. Then the feeling ran his life.

At the end, he was using around the clock in a motel room he hadn't left in three weeks. Then a blocked number rang at 9:30 at night — a detox center offering to scholarship his way in if he showed up in 24 hours. He still doesn't know how they got his number. He left everything and went.

Today Dane is sober and built Dane Carter Fit — a thriving online fitness coaching brand and community — from the last money he had and no blueprint, just a story he knew could change lives.

What you'll take away:

This one's for anyone who's ever felt too young, too far gone, or too deep to come back — and anyone ready to turn pain into purpose and a real career.

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"Be All Things To All People"