Desire Paths is a newsletter about the insightful lives of fascinating people. It’s written by me, Danny Giacopelli.

I’ve spent more than a decade interviewing the world’s most impressive business founders—as Editorial Director of Courier, a magazine about living and working on your own terms, and at Monocle, where for six years I built, produced & hosted one of the industry’s earliest business podcasts, The Entrepreneurs.

What’s this about?

After years of grilling thousands of ambitious people, I’ve realized that the most interesting and fulfilled among them are always those who do things differently. Who take the road less travelled. Whose lives and careers zig, zag, bend and sometimes go wildly off-course. Who follow their curiosity and passion and gut to the ends of the earth. They remind me of desire paths—DIY dirt trails that veer away from safe and predictable roads.

With this newsletter, I go deep with these fascinating people—small business owners, designers, shopkeepers, farmers, billionaires, hermits, maybe even you—and share everything I learn.

Here’s what subscribers receive…

1. PATHS: A few times per month, you’ll receive a big, insightful interview with a fascinating business owner or creative person who’s following their passion. People like…

   … A hardware-obsessed brand strategist

   … An upstate New York shopkeeper

   … An east London running crew leader

   … The infinitely creative illustrator

   … A Tunisian olive oil ambassador

   … A Japanese furniture maker

   … The owners of America’s first Black-owned outdoor store

   … The taro-farming Hawaiian teacher

   … Hotel visionaries in California and France

2. DIVERSIONS: And every other weekend or so you’ll receive a roundup of good stuff—personal essays, brands on my radar, photos, links, recommendations & more.

NOTE: When you subscribe to Desire Paths, you’ll receive both Paths and Diversions. If you’d like to receive just one or the other, click here (your Account Settings for Desire Paths) and scroll down to Notifications. Keep everything ticked to get everything I publish. Or untick whatever you don’t want. No hard feelings. It’s that simple.

Have a question or comment? Just give me a shout!

daniel.giacopelli@gmail.com

—DG