Canvas with Novo Collective

S1E15 TORCH’D - Reinvention, Resilience & The Movement That Changed Everything

Monica Novo Season 1 Episode 16

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From adversity and uncertainty to becoming one of the most recognizable wellness voices in the world during COVID, Isaac Boots transformed movement into a global phenomenon.

But this conversation goes far beyond fitness.

On this episode of Canvas, Monica sits down with Isaac to talk about discipline, identity, love, creativity, philanthropy, surviving difficult chapters, and how purpose became the driving force behind his success. From TORCH’D classes and celebrity culture to Food Bank For NYC, the arts, and life with husband Jeffrey — this is Isaac like you’ve never heard him before.

Raw, inspiring, high-energy, and deeply human.

🎧 Full episode now streaming on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, IHeart, and Canvas with Novo Collective.

SPEAKER_03

Hi, I'm Monica Novo. Welcome to Canvas, podcast where every episode is a fresh canvas. We dive into stories that make you pause, conversations that open your perspective, and the ideas influencing art, lifestyle, entertainment, architecture, and the way we connect as humans. Together, we look beyond the surface into the moments, the places, and the people quietly shaping how the world moves and why we keep evolving. Before we knew him as Isaac Boots, before the celebrity clients and the viral torch classes, and becoming one of the defining wellness voices during COVID, there was adversity, survival, discipline, and the relentless belief in transforming pain into purpose. But what makes Isaac truly compelling isn't just the success story, it's the humanity behind it. In this episode of Canvas, I sit down with Isaac for a conversation that goes far beyond fitness, from growing up with very little to becoming a global force through movement, connection. Isaac opens up about resilience, reinvention, pressure, purpose, and what it truly means to build a life rooted in passion and authenticity. Isaac, sweetheart, thank you so much for joining me and welcome to Canvas.

SPEAKER_07

I'm so glad I'm here. I love you so much. I love you, sweetheart. That was such a beautiful introduction, thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Aw, sweetheart, but it's true. You are truly a force. And I've had the honor and pleasure of knowing you since COVID. Because my wife found you online. And I remember us, we would be upstairs. And for everyone knowing, we're in my home in the Hamptons. Isaac is our guest for the Memorial Day weekend, him and his amazing husband, Jeffrey, and his two beautiful little babies, Davis and Romeo. And she would be upstairs and she's like, Oh my God, I found this guy online, and he is sensational. He's handsome, he's got a great body, but his energy is magnetic. He is amazing. And I'm like, who is he? His name is Isaac Boots. I'm like, Boots, what's the boots for? Then I realized why the boots. But it was truly inspirational, and she never missed a class every day. I mean, while I was out running around like a crazy person jogging, she was doing her. It was her tour class.

SPEAKER_07

It was a crazy time, it was a special time. It was an interesting time, you know. It wasn't premeditated at all. When when the world shut down, I think it was March 13th.

SPEAKER_03

The 16th, every 16th, everything shut down.

SPEAKER_07

I came out, I came out here maybe on the 12th. Because there are rumblings. About what was happening, I know in New York. And on the 13th, I believe was the first time I did my live stream. And it was really just out of my restlessness, me just sort of wanting to do what I do. And I think I had like maybe had like 40 people on the live. And at the end of that first live, it was intended to be a one-off. At the end of that first live, I saw a comment that said, Thank you from Guatemala. Oh my goodness. And I thought that was just interesting.

SPEAKER_04

I thought that was that was cool. I was like, oh, that's dope. Do it again tomorrow.

SPEAKER_07

At the same time, it was 11 8 a.m.

SPEAKER_03

And you weren't doing this from your apartment.

SPEAKER_07

Well, at this point I was in East Hampton.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_07

And with my bestie DJ Steph.

SPEAKER_02

Oh.

SPEAKER_07

And I did it the next day, and then it was like a hundred people. And then I did the next day, and it was 200 people. And every day I kept growing. After a week, we had well over a few thousand. And then after two weeks, we were over ten, ten thousand for the rest of summer. And you know, of course I would have my my friends and clients that I had built over the years. And so, you know, you would have Lisa Renna on there and Kelly Rippa and Vanessa Hudgens and Naomi Watts and Chrissy Charlington and I think people outside of the industry were like fascinated. Fascinated because so many people that that they they either watch their work or they enjoy their their work were joining in on this.

SPEAKER_01

You were inspirational. I mean, I have to tell you. I mean, my wife is, as you know, she stays pretty fit.

SPEAKER_03

She she needs someone to motivate her to work out. She always has. I'm self-motivated, she needs someone to motivate her. And you motivated her. It was really amazing. She started telling everybody, like, oh my God, you have to try told her sister, Robin, who you know. Yeah. And thank you, because it really was. It made, I think, everyone's life slightly a little bit normal because it was such a confusing and abnormal time that I don't think any of us ever thought we would see this in our lifetime. And people were scared. There was a lot of like, what do I do? How do I navigate this? This has been an indelible mark in our history. And I think you have a big part of doing that with what you gave back.

SPEAKER_07

I think the fear and the unknown part of it is what motivated me. I'm a very disciplined person. I'm a ritualistic person. I know that. It's just ingrained in me. I don't know. I don't know if it's from my staunch Catholic upbringing or just me being a Scorpio with a Leo Moon, but I'm very, very rigidly disciplined, but I also would love to have fun. And I want to start my day feeling good with great music and having a laugh. And I think part of the going back to the sort of fear part of COVID was it made me uncomfortable. After about a week of doing this live stream, I was getting a lot of DMs saying, okay, thank you so much. This is fat fabulous. I feel so great. How do we pay you? What's your event venmo? I felt uncomfortable. Because you were doing this because you it was just At first I did it because I just I'm a restless per person. And this is what I love to do. And then as it got bigger and I was out reading the news, my first thought was imagine if this had happened in 1986 when I was six years old. I don't know what my family would have done. Like literally. And I was like, well, there are a lot of families that are in the state that I was when I was a kid. And I know I know for a fact that a lot of kids in America rely on school lunch. As their one meal of the day.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07

And the schools shut shut down.

SPEAKER_03

So they weren't where's the meal now? Where's that that meal? That one at least healthy meal. Maybe very healthy. Because back then the meals were very healthy at schools.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Like you've got your little chocolate milk lunch pot, your little square. It was definitely far better.

SPEAKER_07

Well it was Yeah, it was it was real food, at least in my experience. I reached out to No No Kid Hungry and asked them to create a direct link that I knew would be going directly to the crisis areas and immediately to kids who who needed it. My first goal was like literally just a thousand bucks, you know, let's just uh see what you you can, if you can, you know, in lieu of paying me to join join in, take care of your your body, and then donate a little bit. And we raised over 10,000 that first morning. And it became this sort of fervor of a community, and we raised over a million dollars in six months. And continue to. Which which to me was the most gratifying.

SPEAKER_03

That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_07

That's truly so we had a sense of per purpose in a time of uncertainty.

SPEAKER_03

Well, yeah. Yeah. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_07

But people all over the world. And and it was, of course, my celebrity clients, my celebrity friends. Lisa Rinna. Was the first one. She, but she because she walks the walk. She walks the walk. She's no BS. She's no bull trap. She's the real deal. Yes. She is there. She's a real friend. And she was the first one that I I did a they had just started this sort of they had just started Instagram live, eh? But then they tested on me the meta tested on me the split screen. So sharing the Instagram live. It was the first, first time.

SPEAKER_04

Really?

SPEAKER_07

And and Lisa Renna from L LA and I did an hour-long tour stream. We raised, I think we raised like 50K on that first live stream in less than an hour, which is a good thing.

SPEAKER_01

Less than both of you. Lisa.

SPEAKER_07

Amazing. And then and then the guru, and then Kelly Rippa joined in and Lizzie Tisch and Zara Tish, who's who is one of our best friends. Just people all over the world. So it was very, very special.

SPEAKER_03

That's amazing. Yeah. I I mean, you I've always, for as long as I've known you, it really has been an honor and a pleasure because you inspire not just me, but you inspire so many people. And really, I just, it's the one thing about this episode and having you on is the inspiration and the things that you bring to people who don't have need, have insecurities. We'll touch about the honoring that at the Food Bank of New York. That thank you. We went to the show.

SPEAKER_07

I'm so glad you guys were there.

SPEAKER_03

That was such an honor and such a special event, and they did an amazing job. And I know you mentioned they just they raised over over definitely over 1.2 million.

SPEAKER_07

That's amazing. That night, which is the most they've ever raised. So I'm really happy about that. That's beautiful. For Food Bank for New York. But on top of that, thank you so much for saying that you know, you're inspired by me. But really, the first thing I thought is it's because I'm inspired. I'm inspired by people. I'm curious about people. I want to talk to people, I want to learn their stories. That's what fuels me. And so when people say that I'm inspirational, it's my first thought is really it's because I look around.

SPEAKER_03

If you had to go back and really think the one person who made a truly indelible mark in your, not just your mind and heart, but like in your soul that really resonated with you, that you were like, this person is the reason or the inspiration or the purpose of who I am today.

SPEAKER_07

Well, my grandmother, definitely.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_07

Definitely. Tell us a little about you. She had barely had two nickels to rub together. She was, you know, 300 plus pounds. Hawaiian grandma, mama of the earth. And the funniest, wittiest, most joyful person you've ever met.

SPEAKER_04

And I always say my mother taught me drive and my grandmother taught me. My mother was really tough.

SPEAKER_07

Very, very and the the the way she raised me, I'm not sure she'd be able to raise it out at all. However, I thank her for it because it did give me work ethic. It gave me, you know, a sense of a sense of knowing that I have to take care of myself. But because my grandmother gave me unconditional love, I think that mixture, that that alchemy, is is what carries me through. And I think both were n necessary.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I think everybody needs a little tough love.

SPEAKER_07

Maybe not being thrown against walls and stuff, but it prepared me for Hollywood. Honey, it prepared me for Hollywood. For dad or something like that because I can walk into any room and I am never intimidated. I am never scared. Well.

SPEAKER_03

Because and listen, at all. As you know, and I know because we have a lot of mutual friends, Hollywood is a very Hollywood, music, fashion, any of those industries are extremely treacherous.

SPEAKER_07

But it's still better than my childhood home. So it's just like, oh, this is great. This is a case.

SPEAKER_03

Well, you had so like they say, your mother was like, God bless the ha the one that has their own and gave you that very stern love. And your grandmother event eventually gave you that openness, that kindness to be able to love and know that not everything is hard in life, though it is. But it allows you to gave you the, I guess. It gave you the ability to balance the strength, the love, the determination with with that tough skin. Because you have to have. Today it doesn't matter. It's not like, I mean, kids today or you know, people today, they're I always say, and I joke about it, that they're soft. It's like they, you know, you ever see on social media like they show like when you back in the day, like 70s and you bump into a wall and you're just like, ugh, whatever. And then they show like, ah. And then it's like bump it to the walls 90s, and they fall in 2000s, they're like on the ground calling.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's that's what our generation has, I feel, has become. I I mean, my parents were tough. My dad was very tough. A lot tougher on my brothers. Same scenario. Walls. Yeah. I get it. But it my brothers are tough. I was tough. I was the I'm the youngest of three older boys. And my father used to tell my brothers, let her defend herself. Let do not step in. Because brothers want to protect their little sister. And my father was like, Don't you dare get involved. Let her defend for herself, whether I got my ass kicked or not.

SPEAKER_07

I think another benefit from it looking at you and knowing you and admiring you and your gorgeous wife, is that it not only makes you tough, but it makes you a doer. And you're a doer. You both are doers. And that's the frequency that that I exist on. That's the frequency that I respect, that I understand. And that's that's uh to me the most admirable trait.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The feeling is very mutual. Yeah. So through all this time, you've created such an amazing movement, like you said, discipline, energy, your restlessness, and the transformation underneath the Isaac Boots brand. Because for for a while I was like, is his last name Boots? It is now, baby.

SPEAKER_07

Norma Jean is dead.

SPEAKER_03

But when the music stops and everything just gets kind of quiet, what actually drives you behind performance, wellness, positivity?

SPEAKER_04

Great question. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07

Well, the music never stops. It doesn't stop, but the music changes. And I always I love, you know, I'm a show boy. I was on I was a dancer for, you know, 13 years on Broadway. I'm a creative person.

SPEAKER_04

What did you do?

SPEAKER_07

I did Mama Mia, West Side Story, hair, grease. Okay, you ran a lot. Okay. Many shows. Okay. Um I was a show hopper. And I was very lucky, actually. I I I worked. There was not a week or a day that went by from when I was 18 to 31 that I wasn't on a show. Wow. Which is rare. So I'm I it was a mixture of luck and hard hard work. But I love classical music. I love I love reading. I'm a I'm a voracious reader.

SPEAKER_03

That I am aware of.

SPEAKER_07

I I I'm curious. I love learning about history and I love my babies clear clear clearly, and my home and my my husband. That that's that to me has its own sort of soundtrack. You know, there's always music ha happening, whether whether it's, you know, bo Bach or Mozart or Edith Piaff and Josephine Baker, Miles Davis.

SPEAKER_03

Do you ever feel and I understand completely the music aspect because I wake up listening to music, I go to go to sleep listening to music if I'm in the car, if I'm not listening to an audiobook because it's hard for me because I'm constantly on the go, to really be able to sit down and open and go through the pages. And I love reading as well. But what I mean, like for me, like I always feel like sometimes it's just meditation, or if it's just watching some silly show on TV, which I never get to really watch TV, but to really just kind of zone out, just be someone because we're always on. We're always on. And you know, there's always something that we have to do. There's some place that we have to go. And I feel that you have that constant. Is there anything that you feel like, oh my God, uh whether it's travel or something, what what makes you want to just stop and just like stop the noise?

SPEAKER_07

One of my favorite things to do, well, you know, my my husband and I spend a lot of time in Milan. Yes. And we we go to Lake Como, and that is when it everything just sort of like gets quiet and and meditative, and we, you know, go to these old Catholic churches or just sit on the terrace and it's the it's the most m magical thing in the world. They they love it, you know. I love that. I love walking in Central Park.

SPEAKER_06

That to me, you know, that's um that's one of the blessings of living where where we live in the city, you know.

SPEAKER_07

And also just being home in my bathrobe and having a face mask on and I'm reading this biography on Captain the Great now, which I'm like. It's it's fun to me. That that to me is like the ultimate luxury. That's no but Yeah, but that that that is like that to me is is a dream. Yeah. I read every day.

unknown

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_07

I read I read at least 50 pages a day. And people always say, how do you find find time? There's always time.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. There's always time. There is always time.

SPEAKER_07

Instead of scrolling through Instagram. When I'm in an Uber Uber, I love my Uber rides because I like the I uh, you know, in New York it takes at least 35 minutes to get anywhere. Yes. I bring bring my book, and that's 30, that's you know, over an hour of reading back back and forth.

SPEAKER_03

It's interesting because I I mean I do transcendental meditation, so I do it when I get up in the morning, and then through the course of the day, you want to do it in the afternoon again. And sometimes it's tough because I'm if I'm driving, and then I was like, you know what? No, I I le I cannot miss my afternoon meditation. So I would literally pull the car over, park it somewhere, and do my 20 minutes. If I wasn't driving, and if I was in an Uber, getting from Flatiron to the Upper West Side can be an hour. You can sit in an Uber, you close your eyes, and you do your meditation. You literally zone everything out. So I get what you're saying.

SPEAKER_07

That is interesting though. I'm never silent. I've never, I never have silent. I never have silence. Now that I think about it. Because I love or to me, the silence is like I'll play like, you know, a fill of glass.

SPEAKER_03

But it's but it's But that to me is meditative.

SPEAKER_07

You know, and I'll be reading one. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

Everybody has their form of serenity. I will never forget I was in Aspen, uh, it was a work trip. And this girl I met, she broke her in real estate agent in Connecticut, Jennifer Lahay. She sits on the board of the David Lynch Foundation. So I remember her coming up to me saying, Oh, hi, you know, I'm Jen Lahey, blah, blah, blah. We're all gonna get together in my room and we're gonna meditate. She's like, You should join us. And I'm like thinking to myself, divine meditate. Yeah, so this was a while ago. This was like pre-pandemic. And I'm like, what kind of meditation? Like I'm thinking someone's talking or whatever. She's like, No, it's transcendental meditation, it's complete silence, it's 20 minutes. And I'm like, You want me to shut up for 20 minutes? Like, girl, that's hard. Yeah, but she's like, come try it. She's like, please. Is it all right? It just matters. So like, sure, why not? A bunch of people that I knew in the company. And I sit there, I'm like, you know, you just kind of get comfortable and like breathe. And she's like, just think of nothing. And you know, usually with TM, there are certain mantras. I didn't have one. So she's like, think of something that gives you peace and joy. And in my mind, I thought about just there's a very small private beach on the western side of Tuscany. It's a town in Orbetelo, that I just absolutely the sunsets are magical. So I thought about that. Really? It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. Like you can go all the way out to the water, like really far and it's still up to you. Yes. It's amazing. So that is my like that gives me that peace. So I close my eyes and I'm trying not to fidget, not to think of anything else. And and I felt really good. I mean, my mind wanders because it does, and you just have to try to bring it back. But from that day on, she was like, let's try it again, this and that. I did it twice. We were there for like four days, twice a day. We did it. And I really felt something that I had never felt before that gave me an internal rest. I'd never felt it before in my life. Because being a Sagittarius, being the youngest of four boys, always constantly go, go, go and doing, and same thing. My father was my inspiration, even though he was a tough dad, he was a he could be a bit of an asshole, and I can say that. Good training, though. But my father had a very, very harsh upbringing. But he thought that's another story.

SPEAKER_07

Where did your dad grow up?

SPEAKER_03

So my father was born in Colombia. So my grandmother was half Catalan. Spanish Colombian. So my mother's from Spain. I love it. My mother's Spanish. My father was par Catalan Colombian. So my grandmother was the Catalan and very strong and rough. And like when I say she was extremely abusive to my father and my uncles. Extremely abusive. And we're talking Openly and I could be very public. I'm not it's it's not a secret or anything, but my grandmother was extremely abusive. My father was the middle, you know. I had my uncle Claudio and my dad, and then my uncle David, and then two aunts. And my mother, my grandmother used to I mean, really my dad was like her focus of like the abuse. It was horrible. And I've only heard stories. I never met my grandmother because my mother was like, We are never going to have your mother meet our kids when they got married. And she never got to meet me. I understand. But it was to the point of abuse that she took one of my father's eyes out.

SPEAKER_04

So my father has an artificial eye. Madness. Crazy.

SPEAKER_03

So I you there's always genetics, you know. Yes. So you always want to try to break that cycle. Yeah. And I did. You know, I at a young age, I finished high school early, went through college, did what I needed to do, and just kind of left the house. But I always said it for myself, I was saying for myself. But I was had a little bit of a rigid temper. This meditating made me a different person. Right. I mean, even my wife was like, she was a different you are you are a different person. So I thank Jen for immersing me into it, teaching me everything about it, you know, and I guess you go through this whole certification thing with going through the whole process and having my own mantra now, which uh yeah, you should try it. It's it really is interesting.

SPEAKER_07

It's so So I can't play Madonna substitute for love doing it.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, we're gonna talk about Madonna next. You you cannot.

SPEAKER_07

That's my idea of transcendent.

SPEAKER_01

I cannot.

SPEAKER_07

Transcendental?

SPEAKER_03

Transcendental meditation. Meditation. I'll send you some information.

SPEAKER_07

That's a rare light album for me.

SPEAKER_02

All right, well, let's go on a little lighter note. Let's talk about Madonna. You absolutely love Madonna. I love Madonna.

SPEAKER_07

I heard there was like some dance or something or like some. I don't care what anyone says. She's Madonna. Ray of Light was a little bit more than a little bit. She's the one to me. Like Ray of Light is definitely one of the like hallmark albums. Definitely. But I feel like every album she's ever done is authentic, is is pushing some type of boundary, pushing her boundary, is creative, is innovative, is out of is always sort of ahead of the curve. Always. And if you sort of look back at the reviews of even her early albums, like they were saying the same things that they're saying now. I mean, you know, it's crazy. They were calling her older erotica. And she was what 34? Yeah. You know, that's insanity. But she's an inspiration. She's an inspiration, not only because the music is amazing and the looks and the image. All of that. But the fact that I think I always related to or saw a sort of you know, stalwart guide in is that she never let any critic get her down.

SPEAKER_03

She truly she wasn't apologetic for anything she did.

SPEAKER_05

No.

SPEAKER_03

It was this is who I am, this is how I am, this is my craft. Take it or leave it. Accept it or don't. It's like she did not.

SPEAKER_07

Then you see these elite young pop stars, you know, screaming at paparazzi or or you know, being you know treacherous to to the press and f and fans. I'm like, honey, yeah, you have it easy.

SPEAKER_01

It was truly all kinds of people.

SPEAKER_07

Madonna had it run, and she was she's you can just see her screaming at a photographer. Please. Like she knows that that that's a a part of the beast.

SPEAKER_03

She's you know, she's she's authentically unapologetic.

SPEAKER_04

She's everything.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. It's funny. I saw Madonna when the first time I actually ever saw her, it was 1986. Yes. Uh at Dan Satura. At Dancevatura. Uh, she was. I remember it was first of all, we were all like wasted out of our minds. I love it. But I remember her being on stage and I'm like, who is this?

SPEAKER_07

And I was young. She wasn't. She probably ran 10 miles in Central Park.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my God, it was amazing. Ever since then, it was like, you know, Lucky Star, holiday, like all these songs. And as it just went on, she was, she's always been amazing. But she's still doing it.

SPEAKER_07

I mean, you know, Confessions 2 is cut coming out. I actually just saw her in LA. She did a like DJ appearance at the Abbey, and she looks amazing. Wow. She looks amazing. I'm like, look at her. Like, it's like 1 a.m. in the morning. It's 1 a.m. I don't know how she does it. She's she's in corset and and and gorgeous and dancing. You know, I see all these like influencers like, you know, pretending to have a good good time at a club, and and and M is just like, she's that girl.

SPEAKER_03

What did you think about the performance with her and Sabrina Carpenter with Coachella?

SPEAKER_07

Really, really magical, actually. I thought it was very special. I thought it was beautifully done. I thought it was very special. And what I mean, what a privilege for Sabrina to sing like a prayer with the Queen. I thought it was very special. Yeah. I thought it was a beautiful moment for Sabrina's fans to be introduced live in person to Madonna and vice versa for for Madonna fans.

SPEAKER_03

And if I remember correctly, your amazing husband Jeffrey did a video of you sleeping.

SPEAKER_01

That was so fit. Telling you that Madonna performed a cella with Sabrina Carpenter, and it was the cutest. And you're like, what? What? What? She did.

SPEAKER_07

I thought they don't deserve her.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god. And they didn't deserve her. Um how many times have you met Madonna?

SPEAKER_07

Numerous times. I I've been lucky to to you know dance with her when and Kelly Rippa on the show. And I've been to her Oscar party a few times, and she's always, always really, really dope to me, really lovely to me.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. And I mean I've seen her perform.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, listen, I've seen her in concert.

SPEAKER_07

I'm just one of my favorite moments was was at one of her Oscar parties. I I um Faye Dunaway and I went together, you know, who's who was who was our matron of honor in our wedding. Yes. We walk walk in and Madonna was in it looked like she was in panties and like like a bra and a biker hat. You know, that that's what I remember. Remember. Maybe it was a corset, but um, she looked over and she ran over and she jumped on me and said, Isaac, my it's Isaac, my workout bitch. Oh and like when I kissed her whatever, and then Faye Danaway turns to me and goes, Did she just call you a bitch? I was like, What is my life? Oh my god. No one calls me a bitch. I love it. It was it was great.

SPEAKER_03

My God, that's amazing. So we know that your life just it's an intersection of like fitness and dance and fashion and art and culture, which always feels very New York because it is. I'm a New Yorker now. Yeah, New Yorker now. At this stage in your life, do you find yourself, do you do you feel that you are that storyteller or that fitness guy or that performer, that trainer? What what how do you see yourself or how do you think the public sees you?

SPEAKER_07

That's a great question. You know what I hate really don't, I really cringe. I hate celebrity trainer. It annoys me.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. I don't know why it annoys me. No, but that's but that's fine. Because you don't, honestly, Isaac, because and I still I guess I work with I work with celebrities, but I worked with that. I was just gonna say that. Just because you work with celebrities, listen, I work with celebrities. I I'm I'm not a celebrity podcaster or or broker because my I've been doing real estate for 39 years. It's okay, no celebrity trainer. So I didn't say celebrity trainer though.

SPEAKER_07

I know, and I appreciate that. I just think it's cheesy because like everyone always says says that. I've never complained about that in public.

SPEAKER_05

Okay.

SPEAKER_07

I feel like everybody's a celebrity trainer now. It's like, you know. Yeah, that's true. Anyway, but I how do I see myself? I see myself as a creative person. I see myself as a creative person, you know. I mean, I I was a dancer. I'm a dancer forever. That's always in my DNA, that's always in my blood, and everything has gone from that, you know, from to from dancing to choreographing for pop stars to choreographing Grammy's uh Bilbert Music Awards, American Music Awards all over Japan, Europe, and and here into what I'm doing now. To me, it's an evolution, it's a circle of creativity. And I I tend to agree with you on that. That's how I see it. I I really see myself as a creative person. And that can go into even what I'm doing now is sort of it's it's sort of niche. I don't have a fitness studio in the conventional sense of a word. But I think And that is thought of, that that is calculated.

SPEAKER_03

But I think that is what makes you very different from everyone else. Everybody wants their studios, their brick and mortars.

SPEAKER_07

And great for that. But absolutely for me, it it feels not aligned with who I am. Yeah. And collaborating with with high fashion brands and luxury hotels to me is much more interesting to me and more in line with who I am.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think you're a creative artist because there are so many things that you do. Like you said, whether it's collaborating with the fashion brand, like Michael Kors Love. I love Michael. We love Michael. But luxury hotels and just like fitness brands. What? Yeah, but it it's an interesting thing. I think it's a creative. I think that is what makes sense.

SPEAKER_07

So you go with Doshi Gabbana in in Milan and and you know, having the cross-section of training the automotive clients with my clients, introducing my clients to the latest collection and vice versa. I think is like is really powerful. And and I enjoy it and it's it's it's special. Yeah. You know, going to the uh I don't know, it's it's um it's interesting to me because I do I do love fashion. I see it as I appreciate it from the point of view of a performer as and theatrical person as well. So I think of what it takes to make that garment. I think of the amount of hands and and thought that goes into it. And also I love a fashion show, like just thinking of the concepts and and the venue and the lighting and the crew guys and everything that's going on. It's more than just being in the front row and looking fabulous. It's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_03

It's what creates it.

SPEAKER_07

It's fun. Like I remember going to, of course, the Chanel show at the Grand Pap Palais and just being like what it takes to create that, dude.

SPEAKER_03

It takes. So it's interesting.

SPEAKER_07

It's so fascinating.

SPEAKER_03

It's it's and I can totally relate that. I don't I used to do, I used to go to a lot of fashion shows, you know, after a while you it's the same. It can become a groin. It can. But the last one I did was last summer collection, last year summer collection of Ralph Lauren. And it was done at Kalili Stables here in Bridgehampton.

SPEAKER_07

I yeah, I I saw the phone.

SPEAKER_06

I mean Oh, he's amazing.

SPEAKER_03

The way they put And a perfect place to do it, by the way. The stables is stunning. But the way they put it together with like the classic cars and the the part of the barn, the separate barn, was used as the walkway. And I saw Christy, who of you know I've known Christy, I mean our taken went to uh Little Red, her kids went to Little Red as well, like and just through like Orbe and relationships and everything, Naomi was there. I was just blown away on how this production is put together.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. And they recreated Obar, right? They did. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So in the back, they created the whole back room. It was it really I wasn't invited.

SPEAKER_07

But I loved watching.

SPEAKER_03

It was beautiful. It was definitely an experience, and I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_07

No, it was beautiful. But the Ralph Laurent team, I love any designer who is really clear. I love any designer, singer, artist, choreographer, whatever, who is really clear on who they are and what their message is. And yeah, Ralph Lauren never compromises on what his DNA is.

SPEAKER_03

He has been so consistent. Yeah. From when I was a kid growing up, and Ralph Florin being, you know, the brand that you wanted to have, and then Polo and RL, and then black label, purple label, everything. I still have stuff. My wife still has stuff from when I was young. I mean, thank God I actually fit back into it. I love it. But it is like things from that I bought 20, 30 years ago.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. I love double RL. I love it. It's amazing. So expensive. It's so good.

SPEAKER_03

So let's talk a little bit about your husband. My Jeffrey? Your Jeffrey. So for those who may not know, Jeffrey is Isaac's husband. And he is, I believe, to be the foundation and the root of what makes everything move so seamlessly. There's an effortlessness that Jeffrey brings to, I think, your production of just life in general.

SPEAKER_07

He's the rock.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

He definitely is my stabilizer. And I met him at a time, I think, where I I required. It was glaringly up there. Remember Liz Vieth, like six months into us dating.

SPEAKER_01

How did you guys meet?

SPEAKER_07

We met on Instagram, actually.

SPEAKER_04

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_07

I don't quite remember. We met on Instagram. And we had mutual friends. We had one. Apparently I I came up on his explore page, his like popular page. Uh-huh. And I had like three of my videos on his like main videos. He said I never happened before. Thank you, Hashem. And he followed me because he thought it was cute. And then I had just broken up with someone like a week or so prior. And I saw that he followed me. I was like, he's hot. He had this shirtless photo. Up at the lake. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_07

And I was like, you're cute. And so I DM'd him because I'm a Scorpio and I don't waste time. Well, very forward. Very forward. Very forward. Very, very clear.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah. So we have a m mutual friend. And I've just broken up with someone, treacherous person. Treacherous Frenchman. And I really just wanted to have have fun. And casual. I just wanted to have fun. Like I was in a relationship for 13 very long years with someone.

SPEAKER_03

That was the relationship you broke up with a week prior to No. I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_07

Two years prior. Two years prior. But 13 years is a long time. That's a long at that time. And that's a long time. And it was a big chunk of my youth, you know? It was like So you wanted to have fun. Well, yeah, I was like, Jesus, like spent all those years.

SPEAKER_04

My golden years, I wasted.

SPEAKER_07

And then and then I dated, and then I was with a Brit, and then this Frenchman, I needed a little European tour.

SPEAKER_01

You love those Europeans. Yeah. An international flair.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's for the memoir. And then I just sort of needed like torch was was really blowing up, and I just sort of wanted to focus on what I were.

SPEAKER_03

So he was in Canada, you were here in New York, and so you met on Instagram.

SPEAKER_07

I met on Instagram, we faced FaceTimed, we had a few FaceTime dates, and it was just different. It was different. Was it an instant connection? It was an instant connection, but in a different way than I had ever experienced. It wasn't overtly sexual, it wasn't love bombing, it wasn't you know there was no performance at all.

SPEAKER_04

Which was new. Because he was alarmingly real. Well that we didn't.

SPEAKER_07

And we just talked and we just laughed and it no article of clothing came off and it wasn't it wasn't it was just to New York or you went to Canada? Well, we we had I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03

My bad.

SPEAKER_07

Dear heart.

SPEAKER_01

I was gonna say just be came to New York. Alright, sorry.

SPEAKER_07

We had a few Face I made, and then I was like, you know what, why don't you come to New York and we'll meet properly and like have a have a weekend, you know, fly it on Friday and then leave on month Monday. And I didn't think he was gonna do it because, you know, a lot of these these gays are fickle.

SPEAKER_04

Oh fickle fickle. Some can be fickle, but some can be easy. Sure, I haven't met them. And I'm not one of them.

SPEAKER_07

But he booked a ticket, and he came down for the weekend, and we just had a blast. It was fun. You know, and he instantly saw who I was. I'm tre I'm so horrible at I'm really really bad at planning. Outside of my work, I'm very disorganized. Deeply organized in my work. Always early, always stay late, but in my personal life. I say yes to everyone because I want to see every everybody, and so I triple book. It's like a thing. And then I end up like, you know, okay, I'll go here and then oh, maybe come here, and then like there are too many people at the table. It's a lot.

SPEAKER_03

It's a lot of fault. You you you might fault. You want to make everybody happy. But I also want to see everybody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

You know, I I'm excited to be able to do it. Well, because like it brings you joy. It brings you joy to you. I love my friends, exactly. And of course, you know, I told him to to come and I forgot that that I plan not plan, but said yes to this dinner at Indosheen with Bri Latwood, Dr. Jake, and which is not an easy career to, you know, sort of be dipped into. Yes. So it's Jeffrey's first day in New York, and he was supposed to have a date, and I was like, oh my God. Then Brian texted me, he's like, See, see I go. I was like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_04

I was like, date.

SPEAKER_07

He's like, what? I was like, can I bring you? He's like, yeah, yeah, whatever, sure. And so Jeffrey was like thrown to the sharks immediately. Oh, but he I'm sure. Yeah, he was great. He held his own and it was so unintimidating to him. And because those boys, it's it's a I love them. Yes mo moment and a lot of characters and personalities and and he handled it with grace and charm and humor and and it was pretty and then we you know, Monday came and he extended his trip four more days.

SPEAKER_04

And then Friday came, he extended another week. And then another week, and then two more weeks, and then he never left. He never went back. He never went back. No, I know. I mean, I know that. For you all to know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he never went back.

SPEAKER_04

Never went back.

SPEAKER_03

And how long were you guys dating that you popped the question?

SPEAKER_07

I proposed on our year anniversary.

SPEAKER_04

Maybe like nine months in is where you knew. Yeah. Now I hear you.

SPEAKER_07

And I can tell too with my girls. I have my gaggle of girls. I have my swans. I have my I had my squirrel friend, you know, Dana Beau I've been best friends since we were seven, Candy since we were twelve. You know, it's like the it's the DNA.

SPEAKER_03

The ones that old school, the ones that know you well.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah, and I just know. Yeah. And then, of course, I the plan was to propose on our year anniversary and then get married on our second anniversary. So we have Year to Planet. I was playing this whole fabulous moment, like go to Mystique and la la la. And I had this grand thing. And I was like So much. It is a lot. And you know, I I I studied Kabbalah for 23 years. And Ruth Rosenberg was my teacher, is like my godmother. She's like part of my real spiritual guy. And as I was telling her, and I was uh I was so excited, and she's like, Why do you why do you want a big big wedding?

SPEAKER_04

Not in a judgmental way. No, I know.

SPEAKER_07

And I couldn't quite give her a straight answer. And I had some offers from different publications to do like a story on our lives and all that, and like, why? Who are you doing this for? And it shifted my whole perspective. And she said this is something sacred. She said, This is not your work. Like you want to be in people's. Magazine for your work. That's amazing. That's a that's a great business. Why do you want to be in people magazine for your love? Love.

SPEAKER_04

What does it have to do with anyone else? Unless you're doing it for something else.

SPEAKER_07

And it just like I was like, honey, we're getting married next week. It was literally we I know because it was planted in four days. It was like So I proposed November and we got married in December. December. And we booked the the central part suite at the Carlisle. Crazy. Got married in the suite. So literally just us. It was Calgary Ruth and married us. And it was 13 of us, including us.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

Everyone wore were white. And we ordered pizza in and and cases of dumb.

SPEAKER_03

That's what makes it special.

SPEAKER_07

Sat on the floor, played board games until 5 a.m., all of us, and it was the best.

SPEAKER_03

But that's what truly makes a marriage a union of two partners, two people that love each other authentically, unconditionally. So I could totally relate to that. Stacy and I, when we got married, not saying that if you have a book, to each his own, to each is on.

SPEAKER_07

But to each is on.

SPEAKER_03

I'm not saying it, but to each his own, I don't need the superficial hoo-ha of like, let me have a million people come. And it's not about the cost. That's irrelevant. For some people it's a part, but at the end of the day, do I really need to throw a party for exactly for the intention for everybody to like just have fun and this and that? And maybe some people love that. But 6 and I, when we both looked at each other and we were like, let's get married. And it wasn't like she proposed or I propose. We just like, we were already together. I mean, our anniversary was yesterday, so it was 14 years we've been married. Yes. Thank you. And then Monday is going to be 22 years we've actually been together. And we were already like, I mean, we didn't live with each other for two and a half years. I flew back and forth to Miami because she had a cafeteria in Miami and I was working in New York. And so, but it was two and a half years before that. But I literally said to her, we were like, let's just get married. And we did. We told no one. Yeah. My partner, my business partner at the time, I said, Hey Paul, can you do me a favor? Can you be our witness? We went, we got a marriage license. We went to City Hall in Brooklyn. I love it. And we he was our witness. We that is so she we got married and we went to cafeteria afterwards for lunch, and then we all went to work. I love it. And that was it. We didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell my parents, I didn't tell my kids. I didn't tell the friends. She didn't tell anybody. We her mother didn't know. I think of one friend who knew, because we ended up going to Bocheria, because uh Jan The Rockfurt is a good friend of ours who owns uh Bocheria. We wanted to go somewhere where nobody would really see us. And we had dinner there, and that was it. A year later, I don't even know how it came up. Stacy's mom says something, whatever, and Stacy goes, My wife. And she goes, No, your girlfriend, no. And Stacy was like, Oops, no, my wife. And her mother was so upset. My parents were like, Congratulations, we're so happy for you. It wasn't like, where's the party? Why didn't you tell us? Her mom was definitely not happy. Rosie was not happy. But she understood. And at the end of the day, it's like, why? We did do, I think you were traveling. We did do what was our 10th wedding anniversary four years ago. We did in the backyard here. And it was like 50, 45 fifths. It was Brian Thatwood was there, Dr. Jake, Lena, DJ Lena Spin. There was a lot of people here, and just like friends that have been. That to me is that to me. So that was our big celebration. That's later.

SPEAKER_07

That's that's interesting, though. That's a different thing. Yeah. You know, that's it's you've done it. You've created a life. You have a beautiful home, you have beautiful kids, you have a beau beautiful wife. This is a celebration of even your friends. So it's a celebration of life. And I think that is No, I agree.

SPEAKER_03

So I think it's beautiful. So we talked about you being honored at the Gotham Ball, which was amazing. I mean, the work that you do for the food bank and every other charity that you are involved with.

SPEAKER_07

It was so nice of them.

SPEAKER_03

It was, it was honestly, I have to say, such a beautiful thing. And I I also, I mean, Charlemagne the God was honored as well. And Missy, I have to say that it was such a beautiful group. And I had just seen Charlemagne, I think like the week before, we have a mutual friend, Marvet Burrito, who was PR publicist. She did for Mariah and Denzel Washington and a bunch of other people. So Marvette's a good friend of mine, her mom had passed away. So we were at the celebration of life. So I saw Charlemagne and a few other people, but and I said to her, I said, Oh my God, you're being honored.

SPEAKER_07

Charlemagne's friend friends with Bobby Brown. Yeah. Oh, okay. Make makeup. Yeah, yeah. Jones Brown. Yeah. She uh texted me. She was like, My my two boys.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And no, it was amazing. It really was. But you give back so much. You really do. How has giving back changed your relationship with the successes that you've had? What what do you where do you see yourself maybe in the next five years? Like what is the next chapter? What what kind of impact does Isaac, Isaac Boots, want to leave behind in the and I don't want to just say beyond the wellness world, but in the world.

SPEAKER_07

Well, I think giving back is thread of what I do. That that is the pulse of what I do. And it's a non-negotiable. And it feels like not even something I have to think about. You know, I earlier in the interview you uh you asked me uh who was my guiding force or inspiration, and it goes back to my grandmother because I wish I was able to impart to her all of my enthusiasm and knowledge now on wellness that I didn't have when I was a kid. And if she was here now, you know, like I could help her in so many ways and have fun with her in so many ways in in a different way now too. You know, to keep her mobile and keep her moving. And I think a lot of people know that my ethos is really doing something a little bit every day. Yes, torched is challenging, you know, but do a little bit of it. Do ten minutes of it, a little bit every day every day, it adds up. And just those little little things change the whole fabric of your life.

SPEAKER_03

It's true, because when people say, I I don't have time to work out, I don't have time to do this.

SPEAKER_07

You do. We all have time. You do. A little bit. But honestly, even if it's five minutes, if you turn on my instagram and do five minutes of my plank series, baby.

SPEAKER_03

Honey, I took your class. You will be sorted.

SPEAKER_07

I was crying. You will be sorted. It's not to be immodest, but it's it's the real shit. Okay. So just a little bit. And and you and it's it's scientifically proven that when you move your body in a sort of a certain way, it it it it releases, it releases ultimately happiness, you know? It does.

SPEAKER_03

It's those endorphins that come out of it.

SPEAKER_07

It changes your whole thing. It does. It changes your molecular structure.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07

And and I think that it, you know, we learn in in Kabbalah that, you know, this the same thing is true, it's parallel with giving back, with being conscientious, with being a generous person. And you that sort of that that circular movement of giving and receiving physically and spiritually, is is that's the threat of my life.

SPEAKER_03

Do you think, because you are associated with so many charities and uh philanthropic causes, do you think you will ever start one yourself?

SPEAKER_07

I feel very strongly. I would love to. I feel very strongly about and I feel like I haven't done enough for animals. Very connected, as you know, and I love Yes. My my poodles, of course, but I love animals. They just break my heart. I just think they are the most innocent and and they're angels on our earth, and I have a real bone to pick with anyone who supports or has anything to do with the horse carriages at Central Park.

SPEAKER_01

All right.

SPEAKER_07

That's uh you know, you see the horrible videos on social media that that the tourist throwing a rock at the monk's heel at Hawaii.

SPEAKER_03

That's just at least things really.

SPEAKER_07

I would say I'd go to jail if I saw something that I feel very passionate about. And and um, you know, we we were talking earlier about your your friend who's who loves great great dance. Yes. And Jeffrey and I talk about this a lot as as well as is you know, personally we've donated to animal charities, but I would love to really sort of I have an idea for you.

SPEAKER_03

So yes, you had to get into that. You had mentioned, you know, my friend Jonathan Stein, who was on one of the episodes previously, where he wants to take a barn. He has a an estate up in Connecticut and he has a massive, beautiful barn that he is He wants to turn it into a sanctuary and rescue for Great Danes. He rescued two Great Danes with his wife, now ex-wife, Lena Hall. And he literally wants to call it Deanies Danes. Where because it's true, and not just Great Danes, but animals in general. But Great Danes, like he says, because they don't live a very long life, they don't have a long lifespan. By the time they get older, it's very expensive to care for them. And he said, oddly enough, and I didn't know this, they there's a lot of owners that end up giving away or abandoning their great Danes when they get older. It's so disgusting. It's it's disgusting. It's so when he said that to me, I could not believe that. I said, how could, first of all, people do some of the craziest, the most and pardon my language, fucked up things to animals. But the fact that he wants to, he's like, his life mission is to do this sanctuary, do being these danes, and just he goes, what it will cost to feed these giant beasts, he doesn't care. But I have a I have an idea, and maybe this is something that could work for you, because you are so rooted in fashion and entertainment, and creating, what about creating like a sanctuary for pets that has it's almost like fashion and for friends, let's say, where you take design, like Fidel has stuff for dogs, Gucci has stuff for dogs. Every designer has some kind of outfit or accessory for dogs. Yeah. Branding branding a designer or a fashion house to maybe it's someone like LVMH that has all these different brands underneath, and creating something with the dogs where there's little fashion shows to raise money for dogs, and you take dogs that don't have homes. Like take some of the dogs that are in like fostered. I would love to have a million dogs in my yard here and take care of them. But there's so many other organizations that you can then maybe either create or partner with and become a part of it. I love that. And then these dogs, it's like you see the Westminster and all these dogs do their shows on everything. Why don't we do that for like rescue dogs? Why don't we do that for rescue dogs and dress them up in beautiful little accessory clothes from all these designers that I love that.

SPEAKER_07

I love that. If done. It's gonna be good. I think that is definitely something we should do.

SPEAKER_03

That is that is I think I think that's important.

SPEAKER_07

It's on the radar now.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_07

You know these these boys won a fashion show. They did. Oh, I'm not surprised. Um where were we? We're we were in Tuscany.

SPEAKER_04

Really? We're in Tuscany.

SPEAKER_07

We're in Tuscany. I have to ask Jeffrey. Jeffrey is the one with the details, but it was near Casale di Viviano. And uh they won, they did or something. But they're so cute.

SPEAKER_03

They're so perfectly well behaved. They really are. They're adorable.

SPEAKER_07

They didn't get an award though, but but but they got cute toys, which is very cute.

SPEAKER_03

It's okay. That's what they wanted. That's what they want. And they're always so beautifully quaffed. Sweetheart, I you know, I love you. You're amazing, and so excited to just continue the weekend off camera and just enjoying. I love this. Thank you for having me. Oh my god, it's I I really truly, I mean, what what I what I want everybody to kind of know is what I love about you is that you've managed to turn movement into joy. Discipline into a community, and the success into servicing something that feels so incredibly rare in our world. And I want to thank you, and I want to thank our listeners for joining us and just bringing that honesty and energy into everyone's heart, into my heart. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07

I love you so much.

SPEAKER_03

I love you too, sweetheart.

SPEAKER_07

Listen, I feel lucky that I'm able to do what I do, but I think anyone who watches what I do can take something from it and and follow their passion.

SPEAKER_03

And listen, you know, if you don't know who Isaac is, I'll put it in the link of the podcast. And listen, you never know. But at the end of the day, if you have any questions or if you wanna, if you if there's something that you feel in your life, you know, whether it's about been about food insecurity or weight or just something that you feel the need to like talk to somebody and you're just maybe nervous about doing it, this man will open his heart and he's so easy to talk to. And I know that Isaac will open his heart and give you the best advice that anybody would want and help you. Let's go, baby. Let's get towards it. Have a good one. Thank you, everyone. Love you, man.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for spending time with us on Canvas. Don't forget to subscribe, download, and follow the podcast on all platforms so you don't miss what's coming up next. We'll be back with a new conversation and a fresh perspective.