EP #82- Isaac Boots on Happiness, Overcoming Hardship, and Building a Fitness Empire, Celebrity Fitness Trainer & Founder of Torch'd

(gentle music) - When tragedy happens in my life, throughout my life, my instant reaction is, how do we flip it? How do we flip it? How do we make this positive? And I think being happy, I think that's about gratitude. - Welcome back to another episode of Everyday Endorphins. I'm Stella, I'm the host of this podcast, which is a show that discusses mental health, happiness, and finding things in life that bring you joy. This week I have a very special guest on the show, Isaac Boots, who is the founder of Torched and a celebrity fitness trainer. Little did I know how fascinating Isaac's story is. And this week I had him on to the show to talk all about how he finds happiness in his life, how he overcame hardship growing up, and what brings him joy in Endorphins. We also talk about the relationship between exercise and Endorphins and his journey to creating Torched, building a massive fitness empire, and aside from exercise being a strong predictor to boosting your Endorphins, other practices, and activities that Isaac incorporates in his day-to-day life that are non-negotiables that really boost his own well-being and happiness. I feel like it's perfect timing to release this episode, given that yesterday was world gratitude day, and something that you heard at the beginning of this intro, is Isaac sharing the importance of gratitude towards being happy. I'll let you all dive into his incredibly fascinating story. Isaac's energy is just so positive and uplifting, and his energy is just absolutely infectious. You can hear it shine through in this episode, so very excited for you all to give it a listen. Before we get into this episode, I have a brief message from my sponsor, Inker, and make sure to like, rate, and review this podcast on which every listing platform you prefer. (gentle music) Hi, Isaac. Thank you so much for coming on to Everyday Endorphins. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Let me just start off by saying how honored I am to be in the same virtual room as you. I've been following your content for so long, and as someone who is a fitness enthusiast, and obviously we know that exercise brings lots of endorphins. I'm just so thrilled to get to talk to you today, so thank you again for coming on to the show. - That's so sweet. I love that. I love that. I love meeting people who get torched with me, so thank you. - Torched is also such a fun, catchy name. I'd love to talk a little bit more about how that all came together, and I know this is probably a very long story, but let's start off with developing torched. Where did the name come from? How did that evolve? - The name sort of, I have a sardinic tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and it was called something else that I'm not gonna tell you what it was, but the bigger it got, it felt that it couldn't be so tongue-in-cheek. So, but I'm bummed. But it's a mixture of torture and fire. So the idea that whenever people do it, the first thing they say is, oh my God, that was torture. Slash, I felt like my body was like burning from the inside out. Like I was creating it on my own. It wasn't just put on me just by being in a heated room, or some sort of artificial stimulation. So I like to the idea of getting torched. I don't know, I liked how it looked. I liked how it sounded, and I've worked in Hollywood and Broadway for nearly 22 years now. So I instantly thought of the billboard, and I was like, okay, the, oh, I want it to be a flame. Like, it needs to look like this. I love that because you can think of it, I think, in two ways. One, biologically, our bodies produce lactic acid when we're exercising, or when you're doing really high intensity workouts. And so that feeling, like, for example, I used to do crew in high school, and my legs were always on fire. Like they were torched all the time. They were torched, yeah. And so it was the lactic acid that was burning in my body. So I was physically feeling torched, but then I also felt pretty snatched. So I was like, I feel like I'm on fire right now. - Exactly, exactly. And look, the idea of, you know, torched ultimately was born on the Broadway stage. You know, I don't know if you know this, but I created it with no intention of it being this sort of like worldwide thing, which I'm very thankful for. I created it for me. I was in West Side Story on Broadway, which is arguably the hardest dance show ever, most challenging, because it's, you know, it's drum robins, you know, it's like, it's real ballet, real jazz technique, and very sort of like visceral, and we're like jumping off of walls and fight choreography and things like that. But so I didn't have time to work out in a conventional sense of the word. I loved running in the park. I loved, you know, going to equinox and all of that. I didn't have time. I was dancing at the Palace Theater nearly 20 hours a day. And so I was like, look, I have to create something where I feel like I'm warming my body up, where I'm staying snatched, where I'm, you know, chiseling, but still able to do this two and a half hour in ten show. Whenever I've, for me, as a dancer, whenever I, I either lifted heavy weight or did other types of working out, which are amazing for a lot of people, I would either get hurt or I would, I wouldn't be able to do my show, you know, I was on Broadway for 12 years, so it was, I and I, with no break, I went from, went from the show. It's not just exhausting, it's 'cause I love it. Like I have energy, energy, but it's eight shows a week, so that means I gotta be on, girl. Like there's no calling out, there's no, I'm tired. So that was really the priority, was looking a certain way and being able to perform at an optimum level. And so I created it for me and I would do it on the Palace Theatre stage before the show, with my little boom box playing Madonna. This is pre-empty three, so I had my like, disc man, okay? And slowly but surely the rest of the cast started joining in before the show. So I would have like the jets and the sharks and Bernardo and Maria getting torched with me and I was like calling out orders and people were screaming and laughing. And I think I got the bug that, you know, and then went to West Side Clothes, I started choreographing for pop stars and I would start rehearsals with torches 'cause to me, that was my warm up. So but surely these people started firing their trainers and then my days were, you know, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vanessa Huggins, Kelly Ripa, Fade, Fade, Dunnoway, back to back to back to back to back. Priyanka Chopra, Lucy, and so I was like, oh shit. Oh, here we go, here we go. And this was like 10 years ago, really. And so it sort of morphed in a really organic way and, you know, torched sort of grew in a word by mouth, word of mouth, real way in Hollywood, in New York, the Hamptons. When I started working with Gwyneth, you know, she had me go to Austin Texas for their first in-goop health, which was right, was 2019, so it was right before COVID. And, you know, I'd be flown off for art Basel or Coach Coachella, that's where I met Lisa Rina and we like instantly fell in love. Paris Fashion Week. And so I was always in it in a very specific way, you know, and I was known in the circles in these I verified circles. But once COVID happened, I started offering it on my Instagram live for free. And my clients were on it along with a lot of, you know, along with people who are not in the industry at all. And it just kept growing every day. I had 80 people on the first live. The next day was 500, the next day was a thousand, the next it was 10,000. And, you know, you would have Jessica Chastain, Kristie Charlton, Naomi Watts, all my girls on. And to me, it wasn't like, oh my God, you know, because they're my, that's what I worked, that's my work. But then, you know, I think people who are not in the industry were on and they were like, they're like, what is happening? Like, who is, what, like is Keith Richards on? Like what's, what's happening? And I saw, felt like it was an opportunity as fun as it was fun meaning it was you know it was it was an unprecedented time and when tragedy happens in my my life throughout my life my instant reaction is how do we flip it how do we flip it I don't even make this positive and so people were urging me to charge you know I mean you know look if everybody gave five five dollars that's you know that's every day you're gonna make bank I felt uncomfortable I felt vulgar with what was going on in the world with people losing jobs with with the uncertainty of it all with schools shutting down with people getting sick it felt gross to me to monopolize on that however I was like okay I'll do this every day for free every day I'll do it anyway for for me and instead of paying me go to this link and let's raise some money for no kid hungry I charity that's always been really important to me I like you know I think feeding a child is not a luxury I don't see it as it's basic but I don't understand how it is a a pandemic in our countries so I find that very odd and we ended up my initial goal was a thousand dollars we raised over 10,000 in the first half day and we ended up raising over over a million dollars in six months and we continue to you know and now you know I feel I raised over 1.5 for no good hungry and now I have a new new goal with World Childhood Foundation to fight child sex exploitation now that the world is open that's another issue that has you know tripled and so that's the most important thing to me is is doing what I do feeling productive with what I do but having a purpose bit behind it that is deeper that is more important you know so and then it's a perk that your ass looks so good exactly I think that's incredible that there's this really strong social impact perspective that you're offering and something that you really value is especially like in COVID I remember when everyone started offering workouts for free online and we were all forced to be indoors and I think that it was such a beautiful way to create a lot of content that was accessible for people and also in a time of stress and uncertainty and anxiety when you get your body to be active and invite movement into your day that can kind of help to combat some of the stressors that we're facing especially in such a dark scary and stressful time and you mentioned something a bit earlier about when tragedy strikes you kind of want to flip that switch and I know you have a really really interesting life story so can you talk a little bit more about you know your experience growing up in Hawaii and kind of having a lot of struggles in your life and how that informed your perspective and your mindset and ultimately kind of you know how does that still carry through in your day-to-day life you know the ways that you overcame those struggles I think it was Virginia Woolf who said that a day in someone's life is their entire life and I always found that so profound and it's interesting to see to look back on my life to think of of my childhood which in many ways was quite de-cension you know I grew up really poor I grew up on food stamps my mother my parents were 16 and 18 maybe 17 18 and you know kind of dimly educated and I grew up in a really abusive oh I just did and physically and mentally and emotionally and it didn't break me it made me really there was I there were certain moments in my life like I remember being like seven years years old I'm not gonna get it into this specific stuff but I was in a situation that a seven year was should not be and I looked at I looked around and I was like this ain't right this is not my life and I told I I two things I there was a part of me that I think looking back my protection device was escaping into fantasy and that fantasy was Madonna she really saved me in my childhood I'm 42 so I was born in 80 so you know Madonna was MTV you know and as a little gay gay boy in a very conservative community and very religious and very machismo my father was a boxer like my grandpa was a boxer I'm the third Isaac like it I was the first kid so like it was there was a lot of pressure and I was like doing paddle turns to cherish on the beach and that was not but I never I could never hide who I was like I I I I can never so this day I cannot pretend to be someone else and and and I've gotten in trouble throughout my life by like not by not trying to be someone else I want to ask a question about that because I think a lot of people struggle with staying true to who they are so how do you you're lucky you're so lucky how do you know I how do you do that I just I don't know I really want to give you a great answer I feel I was I feel like I was born a little jaded I was born a little bit like I'm a Scorpio so I like I was always like sort of like smoking to say you're I what when I was like for you know you know I mean like you know like a level of sophistication a little bit you know I mean look another layer is thankfully I my my grandmother my mother's mom was like my was was I was very lucky to have her because she was a constant source of unconditional love and and laughter and wit and never made me feel like I had to be someone else I may have been a mixture actually may have been because I had someone like my grandma to to encourage me to be myself and you know someone you know looking at Madonna back in the day who was who was really the only one who was vocal and supportive of of gaze you know and said it and even saying that word and in the 80s was was like a disease literally and mixed with the really tough aspects of my mom you know what I mean so discipline mixed with love is such a good recipe right I don't I think it's both I think I just maybe I know I'm I I am at my best when I'm me and I feel I think I also felt feel like pretending to be someone else's ally and I absolutely load liars I really I've dated a lot of them so now it's easy to sniff one out well honey real quick I think that's really good advice a mixture of tough love but also recognizing that it's easier to just just stay true to who you are than put in all that effort all that work if someone wants you to be someone who you are not they're not gonna like you anyway they don't like you then period so why try I guess one tries to be someone else or the people like them is that a thing I don't really care if you like me I really don't I don't because I I just feel that there are you know there's someone for everyone and and people who are on my frequency are gonna be attracted to me and people who aren't I don't want you around anyway Rose I'm good you know what I mean like if we don't have the same values if we don't have have I don't know if if if you're just if you're a big it if you're if you you know if you're an IS hole you're you're I it's it's fine go away it's like the law of attraction you know the energy that you're putting out there is the energy that you're you're gonna attract and bring into your life. So if you kind of can stay true to what you value in, what you believe in, who you believe you are, and kind of work towards that, you have to trust that the right people will kind of gravitate towards you. - Yes. And another thing was when I was seven and I had that realization, I got very clear. I wasn't just like, oh boohoo, boohoo, my life is hard. Oh my God, this isn't right. No, I got very clear and looked at my life and said, okay, so I graduated high school in, this is 1987, I graduated in 1998. It's actually not that long. So I would count down days and I'd be like, okay, the morning after I was so graduation, I'm gonna go to New York City. I had no idea what that even meant, but I saw Madonna in desperately seeking Susan and it looked like Oz. It was like, Judy Garland and Wizard of Oz to me. I was like, I'm gonna dance with Madonna and she's gonna love me and my life is gonna be amazing. (laughing) And I'm gonna wear boots and I'm gonna live in a cool apartment and a little lot. But I did. I mean, I saved up money and the morning after high school graduation, I bought a one-way ticket, Continental 8 AM from Honolulu to New York. I had nowhere to live. I had like 35 bucks in my pocket and I lived illegally on my friend Matthew Tinker's dormitory floor, I think was seventh in Avenue B. And the next, my first morning there, I auditioned every damn, damn day. I had no idea how to audition. I didn't realize you needed a headshot resume when I found that out and found out like, it was like, $1,200 to get it done. I was like, well, that's not happening. So I would just like sneak into, but I was relentless. I would sneak into auditions. I would just like knock on casting directors doors and I would steal equity. Like, you have to be union to get an even know what that was. And so, but I never let anything stand in my way. And I knew I didn't suck. So I was like, well, if I just, I don't get all these rules. Like, if you're good, you're good. Like, what the fuck? I know I'm better than him. So it just let me in the goddamn room. And I think they got a kick out of me and something they really just let him stay. And I did it. I mean, I booked my first show and I was in, you know, Footloose and Greece and Mama Mia at the Winter Garden. And it just went from there. And when I even went when I booked my first show, I never, I've never went to rest on my laurels, you know? I knew that I had a lot of charisma. I knew I had a lot of grit. I knew I had, I was a hard worker. But I also knew that I wasn't in ballet class and julie art like these other boys from when they were two. I taught myself how to dance in my living room by watching like the express yourself video. So truly, so I was like, okay, you're in New York and you have like four hours in the day to like either take a nap or go to Ailey and go to steps and take some ballet classes and get your, get your technique up. And that's what I would do, you know? And so that's another, right? Like turning, I was like, oh, you guys are better than me because you guys were born rich. I was like, oh shit, get your act together, let's go. Like, and I think that's a part of my personality that will always be there. I like being productive. I like having a goal. I like, I'm curious. And I never think I'm good. I, yeah, sure. I never think I'm good enough. And that made me fruity and, but I don't lack confidence, but I never think, I don't think I never think I'm quite good enough. - So would you say you're a perfectionist in that sense? - Hello, I think that's, I think that's a little simplistic. I think I'm, I'm not interested in perfection. I'm interested in being better. - Like elevating yourself, continuously elevating. - Continuously elevating, continuously learning, continuously, you know, maybe it is perfection. I don't know. - Well, I think that a lot of these terms, more or less, can mean the same thing, but they're expressed in different ways. So however it resonates to you and however it works for you. But I think, you know, the comment that you made around that pivotal moment when you were seven and you decided you made that decision for yourself, I'm not gonna let this determine the outcome of my life. I'm not gonna let this determine what happens next. A lot of people tend to adopt the victim mindset. Oh, whoa, it was me, oh, I pity myself. And it's when that type of mentality becomes persistent. That's where it gets to be a pretty slippery slope because there's a difference between feeling the emotions that you're feeling, allowing yourself to like recognize how you're immediately feeling or what emotions are passing through your mind and your body versus being sucked into that and taking a very passive route. So I love that you had that ability within you. It wasn't external, it was within you to make that conscious decision, to say, I'm going to choose a better life for myself. I know I have something to offer and I'm going to achieve this. - I grew up around a lot of victim mind mindset. I grew up a lot of hearing adults around me saying, oh, but we can't afford this. Oh, but we can't this. Oh, but, and it's such a pet peeve of mine. I actually don't allow my friends, my husband, anyone around around me to ever say, but I can't. But we can't, that is not a thing. You turn it, I've always turned it into aspirational language, or I'm going to get that. Or this is going to be me, this is happening. I find it repulsive. I find words like that repulsive. And so it's always been natural for me to do the opposite. Of course there are moments in my life where things happen or I feel insecure or I'm hurt, but it's fleeting. And I like snap, I'm like, look in the mirror. I'm like, pull it together, girl. You've been through words. - Well, it's a great, great point. It's fleeting. And I feel like we often feel emotions and we're so tied to them that we don't see them as fleeting. We see them as permanent. And that's where it gets to be really difficult. But it's a superpower to be able to say, you know, I recognize that I'm feeling this way, but it's not forever. - Yeah. - And that's everything that you just said. I didn't have to say it, you already said it. - I love notes, I'm laughing just because it's true. It's very, know that Peggy Lee song is that all there is. If you don't, you need to download it immediately. - I'll put it on my Spotify. - Really special. And it's, you know, I grew up watching like 1930s and 1940s movies and listening to like, Edith P. Hoff and Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee because of my grandma. So she was a real, she wasn't conventionally educated. I don't know if you think she got past the seventh grade. But she was a well of knowledge of art and she loved music and film. She smoked Brown cigarettes and she was so fabulous and I was obsessed. She played me this song and I was like six and it's Peggy Lee basically talked about different parts of different experiences in her life where there's tragedy, a house burns down or a boy breaks her heart or she realizes that the circus is a fraud or whatever. And she thinks she's, it's over or she thinks she's gonna die or she thinks it's like the worst thing in the world and then she realizes it's really not that bad and life goes on and nothing really matters ultimately except being a good person and having fun. She's like, so have a drink and have it to have a dance. You know what I mean? I think the ability to have that sense of light-heartedness with yourself is so important, especially because we are our own worst critic and people who have similar values as yourself or personality traits, for example, who are always striving to achieve and be the best version of themselves. It's so easy to really be hard on yourself, like you're not doing enough or you're not achieving enough. And so I think those are also pretty, that's also negative self-tabbed. - A balance of it. - Yeah. - A balance of it is important. You know, I think having that discipline, and having that grit and having that ambition is just essential to make it in any way. And make it means everyone wants to be productive, everyone wants to produce something that is of importance, right? That helps someone else that furthers society. I just saw something on Instagram, a woman saying something like, "A great society is when old men plant trees they know they'll never sit under the shade of." So doing something productive that is beneficial for someone else, for society, for your kids, for their friends. I don't know, I think that everyone has to have that that sort of want and I think balancing that out with compassion for yourself, you know, Jouette Vive enjoying life, just being happy, as cliche as it sounds, you know, and I think being happy, I think that's about gratitude, right? Being thankful. And finding those endorphins in life, earlier you were talking a little bit about still like the power of cognitive reframing. So instead of speaking negatively to yourself, you immediately shut that out and you try to turn it into something more positive. So I now also see why you're such an amazing fitness instructor because you need those words of encouragement when you're exercising. I remember when I was on a rowing team in high school and I was in so much physical discomfort from the rowing machine or the workouts on the water, it was like so hard to keep pushing. You had to believe that it was for like a greater purpose and something that really helped me would be when like our coxen had those specific calls on the water or our coaches would continuously, well, I didn't love when I was being yelled at, but like when our coach, we're trying to encourage us and I think that it's so important what you're doing. As long as we have to be yelled at. Well, yeah, that's true too. And I think maybe I definitely need it. I don't like it, but I guess I needed it. You know, you put starch in your sponge. Exactly. And so, you know, as you've evolved into a celebrity fitness trainer and building this massive fitness and wellness empire, how has your personality and like the lessons you've learned growing up helped to inform how you deliver the work that you do, like the way that you coach your clients, the way that you train people. The most important thing to me is connection. I want to connect with whomever I'm working with. And I think that was one of the reasons torched on Instagram blew up. Was because while I was doing it, I was reading comments and shouting people out and actually shouting people out, like finding, literally like having conversations like where are you from? Like what's going on? Like, you know, people in Kentucky and Guatemala and Canada and Morocco, you know. And so and then the same people came back. So you sort of, you know, they become a part of your daily life. If I'm training someone in person, I get to know them. And so I train everyone differently. You know, and even in live events, you know, when I'm teaching, whether it's Beverly Hills or the Hamptons or Tuscany, depends who I'm with, who I'm looking at and who's there. And I do feel because I love connecting with people. I can read pretty quickly. What the vibe is, what they will connect with, react to in a positive way. I think there is an art to that, but that I think that has to do with experience. You know, whether it's, you know, I mean, performing on Broadway for all those those years in a in a dirty theater, because they might they may not tell you this, but those those Broadway theaters are like, haven't been cleaned since 1902. Okay, just like as best as everywhere. I'm like, that's why everyone's sick. But you sort of learn how to behave, how to connect, how to have a bit of a how to make the show even even better, right? So there is there is there are little intricacies of psychology, you know, so I think that's something I've really worked on and learned. Yeah, as you were sharing that, something that came to mind for me around this point of connection is that when I was younger, I actually used to perform in the Metropolitan Opera. So I also have what do you mean? I was in the Children's Corps. So the Met has a Children's Corps that you can be involved in and certain operas have at Children's Park written in. So for example, Labo M or Carmen. So I was performing at the age of like eight, nine, 10, I was I was young. I started when I was six years old. And so I think you you and I can both relate to that feeling of being on stage, connecting with an audience, connecting with people that you're performing with. And that really being such a special experience. But I think also kind of the lifeline and the connecting thread between what you do and also like your background and your experience. So the experience of performing and being on stage and creating that community directly influences how you've built this brand, how you built this empire, how you train people because especially when you're working one on one with your clients, it is personal training. You are working with a person along their fitness journey. So you need to have that skill to connect with them. And so something that I've also experienced is yes, like being in the metropolitan opera was the like the arts in a creative space. And rowing was wildly different because it was a sport. But when you're still in athletics and fitness, there's still that element of connection. And so I think that's a really unique perspective that you also are you're sharing right now that I hadn't previously thought about. So thank you for broadening my perspective there. You know, I love that. I mean, you know, I think I think it all comes down to that to to the desire to connect the desire to learn, you know, you learn from from everyone that you you come into contact with, right? Ultimately, or you learn what you don't want to be. And that's a great lesson too. Equally as valuable. Yeah. Yeah. So, I know, I think that that's important. I love reading too. I like reading things that have nothing, quote, unquote, seemingly have nothing to do with my business or my art or my sort of like natural life, you know, just sort of expanding my horizons that that way as well. Yeah. You know, and there's a ton of amazing books out there and articles. So I feel like you could just it's an endless wealth of knowledge out there to access. I'm reading Joan Didian's the year of master. Oh my god. So I literally have it in my room somewhere. That Joan Didian is my favorite author. I've read a selection of her essays. One in particular that I love is goodbye to all that. Have you have you read that one? It's about how well, I grew up in New York and so I think I first read this essay in high school, but it's basically about when she was living in New York, why she loved it, why everyone when they're young wants to be in New York, but then why it was necessary for her to leave and go back to California. And it really provided such a unique experience for me at the time on my perspective of being in New York, but she has she's an incredible author and that's a great book. So good. So so good. Yeah. I'm like I'm like a third in. It's amazing. We can do book club. We can chat about it when you're done. I just finished a farewell to arms too because we were in Italy and I felt like I hadn't read it since high school and so I wanted to like dive into that. I was like crying on the airplane. Yeah, I recently read actually Katie Currix memoir and I was like crying every other chapter. It's incredible. So that's another really good read. Yeah, definitely. And on this point about reading, I was, you know, we were talking earlier and I was recently on vacation in Greece and I spent two weeks completely disconnected and I think I read five books over the course of two weeks, which is more than I've read in like two years. Amazing. It's so great. It is. So it's it's my favorite. Yeah, like I was telling you this earlier, but I basically I basically travel the entire year. So I have my virtual presence pretty much every day on Instagram where you can access me wherever. But I do live events all over whether it's you know all over Europe. I'm in Trans or now. know, New York Hamptons, I like Palm Beach. But I travel with at least three or four books, like proper books. I don't do Kindles. I like to turn a page. And it almost gives me like a sense of home, like in the whatever hotel room I'm in, I sort of like set up my books on my nightstand and, you know, I have a little candle and a vatka rock. And I read every day, even if it's just a little bit, but like, I don't know if it feels grounding to me. And I don't like, I don't like the look of someone just constantly on their technology. You know, it's not the most inspiring look in the world. So I try to I judge myself. Whenever I'm like, you're gross. Stop. Put the phone away, put the Kindle away, get back to the basics. You're giving yourself like 80 chins. Not good for your neck. It certainly is not. What are some other practices that you do that you consider to be really grounding? Because obviously exercise and doorphins, we know the relationship is very strong. But happiness, well-being comes from so many other practices. Well, I do torch every day. That's a thing. I'm not sponsored. So I'm not going to say, I'm not going to say, but I got this thing that counts your steps and checks your heart and like, checks yours. I'm obsessed. I love like, I love results. And I love seeing like data. Wow, I love it so much. So I, but I, you know, I can't get a little bit like obsessive about it. And so I try to get at least at least 15,000 steps today. I just feel better when I do. And I try to get it like outside. Like I try to, you know, I'm usually in a new new city. So my, my husband and I like, like, just sort of like walk everywhere and like learn where, where we are and the history of wherever we are. I study Kabala. So like once a week, I check in with my teacher or our rabbi. That is extremely grounding for me. And I have a group text with my five best girlfriends, who I've, some of them I've been best friends with since I was seven. And we're all on this group chat. And it's, it is grounding. It's like, it's, it's reality for, for me. And it's, you know, sending memes or just like, you know, I have one of our best friends who lives in Hawaii. So we don't get to see her a lot. I see her like once every three years. But I, we're connected to her because she's a were on this group, group chat. That's important to me. And Davis, I mean, he's, he's the number one priority. My, my, my, my little poodle. So he's, he's extremely, he's extremely spoiled, but he, he is the light of my, my, my life. So dogs bring so much unconditional love. How could he not be? Like he goes everywhere with me. He just got his European passport. So is that possible for a dog? It's certainly as darling. And he's coming, he's coming with me and Gwyneth Paltrow on the first goop, goop cruise in the French and Italian Riviera. Oh my god. Pack me in your suitcase. I got him an, I got him an air mask scarf. Oh my god. I love it. He certainly is spoiled. What a lucky poodle. He is, he's, he's getting massaged now by deaf, jet ring. So I love that. I love that. I am also envious because I wish I had a dog. Never had one. They are, I, I'll always have have one. I had two poodles. Oliver Pickles and Ducky Wattles for 14 years. And they were angel hearts. And I wish they were still with us. They have such fleeting lives. But I'm glad. Fortunately, Davis knew Oliver for at least like two months. And so they, they looked like grandpa and grandson. It was very sweet. So I'm glad I have videos and photos of that. But another grounding practice that I do with Jeffrey, my husband is actually we, we read to each other at the end of the night as much as we can. And I know it's, it's, it's like meditative almost. And like we read like Virginia with the waves, which I don't know if you've read it, but it's not, it's not really, it's, it's really interesting. It was one of our more experimental novels. And so it's not linear. It's, it's extremely poetic. And of course, stream of consciousness, because all, all of her stuff is, but this one in particular is a bit esoteric. But, but it's kind of nice, like at the end of the night, you know, to not just like talking about, you know, yeah, totally work or life or whatever or being on your phone. I mean, I haven't even like thought about it. I just love love love there. I like to just, you know, talk about something else. Yeah, it keeps things interesting. And I haven't even thought about, like reading aloud a book or a piece of text probably since like a college writing class that I've taken. So it's kind of nice. I don't know. It totally is. It's, I feel it, it connects us on a, on a really deep level. Yeah, absolutely. Aside from connection, what are some of the consistent, like wellness practices that you do, either in your morning routine or in your workout routine? Obviously, you do torch every day. But what are some non-negotiables for you? Certain things that you like to do every day to keep your mind and your body and your spirit healthy. Hydration in glass bottles only, no plastic. Gaiosiri taught me that Madonna's manager. We love Gai. Water, water, water. Hydration is everything. Keep that skin cute. Keep the body cute. Keep it hydrated. Non-negotiable. Green juice is very important to me. So thankfully the world is getting better with that use, you used to be just LA. Just the green juices, just the Asai bowls. It was just lost Los Angeles that like got it, you know, but now like even Paris has it. So really happy about that. And I'm really, I'm really big on my vitamins. I'm like, I'm like an 80 year old at a retirement home. I literally, I have a pill, like a pill organizer. I thought you like Monday Tuesday Wednesday. There's they like the multivitamin, the magnesium, the bees, the fish oils, the male, I don't know, suffer guys, you know, who are over 40 on my doctor gives me all of these amazing things. But zinc. Well, you look so youthful. It's working. Clearly, you take care of yourself. Some something, you know what I mean? Those are non-negotiables. I'm very clean. I like cleanliness. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I am very neat and clean. So like I floss like 18 times a day and the mouth walk. Your dentist must love you. By the way, your dentist must absolutely love you. I get my manicures every day. Like I'm very like clean. Well, there's a feeling of happiness that comes with taking care of yourself. You know, I always feel better when, for example, like my bed is made, everything is organized and folded and put put away and the dishes are done and things are just spicking sack. Like that makes me have a peace of mind. So I totally relate to that. I wish I could give myself a manicure every day though. You can. I can. You can. I've discovered this thing that I'm obsessed with and you're going to be obsessed with. This is nothing to do with anything except it gives me endorphins. So it has to do with this. I'm do you see how excited I'm getting? Just thinking about this. I can't wait to see this now. Zidimers next to the Carlisle in New York. It's from Germany and it's a protective nail and skin pen. Oh, but is it for like a cuticle? Yes, girl, but your entire nail. So it has this like little thing and you you like rub it on your cuticle and you sort of like pushes it back, right? And you like it cleans under your nail. And the other side is like that. And then you like push the cuticle gently back. I'm obsessed with this. Look and look and then you like re-oil it and then it's just like beautiful and moisturized and promotes like the health of your nail as well. Good luck. Okay. God bless. I'm ready to run to Zidimers and get this. Yes. This boosts my endorphins. Well, I was going to ask what brings you endorphins. Obviously, there are a lot of things that are bringing you endorphins today. So if you had to choose something that really just sparks you up, lights you up every day, something that really brings you genuine happiness, what would that be? I mean, my skincare routine, it does, I just get really happy. I love biology, I do my oxygen masks, my whole thing, the Dr. Dennis Gross, the LED masks, makes me very happy. I like the smells of it. I like, I like dousing myself in like, Science and Maria, Novela perfume. I love, I love like, my mom's favorite. It's so great. The best. It's just, it's like, again, but you know, it was, it was created in the 16th century. So it's, it's like, there's something sacred about it too. There's something really deep and not artificial about it, which I love. What else gives me indoor door fence? I feel like I dance every day, like not in a convention way, but just like around the apartment if I'm like getting ready or whatever. I need music always. So, and I, of course, I love my, my staples. You know, the Madonna songs that I've been listening to for 40 years, but, but like, you know, discovering new artists and new grooves and, you know, we were just in France for a long time. And I discovered this new artist called Clara Luciani, who's amazing. Like, so dope. And so, so, so great. And that makes me really happy. You know, and I also love doing like spontaneous things. Like, you know, meeting up with friends, randomly that haven't spoken to in years, just like reaching out and like making it happen or, you know, going on a boat ride at midnight on the, the, the, the send, which with our perusion of friends who have lived their their entire lives and have never done it ever. And we were the only boat on on there at midnight. It was just like so amazing, so special. Yeah, just doing things like like like that, I think that's having a having a sense of wonder. And then on the flip side, heavy moments like, heavy moments where, you know, you just like you take real time for yourself. And, and watch, you know, sort of, you know, binge watch and do Netflix show and, and, and, you know, do a mask and, and stay off your phone. You know, I think those, that's, it's restorative. That's what we, Jeffrey and I did yesterday, actually, actually, I, I took the day, I took the day what I rarely do, right? I didn't train anyone where I did I didn't go on on, on, on mine. And we just watched, we just watched this new series on Netflix called, called Echoes, which is really really great. Thank you, Matt, Matt Boomer. And it was great, you know, it was, it was, it was special to take those sort of like, deep, decompressing moment. Absolutely. It's really, I think, about those little things that bring you those pockets of joy and happiness. And it can look like so many different things. And it can be something that's consistent every day, or it can also change for you. So I loved that laundry list of all these things that bring you into orphans, because it's important, too, to your, to your point about gratitude. That's happiness. You have to remind yourself of what you're grateful for and evolve the good things that happen in life, because they tend to outweigh that the negative things, even though our minds hyper fixate on the negative stuff. So I love that. And now my listeners have a million other things they can try that will bring them into orphans. Flowers, too, this may sound silly, but Jeffrey knows that I love, I love white roses. I love white roses. I love gardeners. I'm very specific about the type of flowers I like. But so whichever hotel we're in, he, I think you have them in the back, wherever I am. And so he always makes, makes sure that there's, there's, you know, flowers around those little things. I think like, subliminally, even bring a sense of a sense of joy, a sense of happiness, a sense of security, you know, and I think maybe, having a childhood where I never felt secure, was actually, it's, it's, it's, it gave me the impetus, impetus to make sure that I do now. Yeah. And, and that's a really beautiful way to take the struggles in your life growing up and turn it into something that's better for you now. Yes, listen, without struggles, dynasty wouldn't have been a hit show. Sorry, we need it. And, and we need humor, too, to make life a little bit better. Do you want your story to be a hit or a snooze? I want to hit. So thanks mom for being awful. And with that, where can my listeners find you, Isaac? Where can they follow you and hear content and stay up to date with all things Isaac Boots? Go to my Instagram @isegboots and isegboots.com for information on my live torch events. Amazing. Thank you so much. It was such a pleasure having you as a guest. It was so much fun. Thank you for listening and remember to like, rate, and review this podcast on whichever listening platform you prefer. Don't forget to keep spreading endorphins and find things that bring you endorphins every day. See you next time.