KATE SULLIVAN: The sun is shining down on the island of Manhattan.

And I'm about to have lunch with a true force of nature.

Alex, what's up?

ALEX TOUSSAINT: It's an honor.

It's an honor.

KATE: Today, Peloton instructor and motivational expert, Alex Toussaint, is taking me to his favorite restaurant in New York to eat what he loves and find out why he loves it.

ALEX: I'm gonna let you do the first bite on this one.

KATE: Okay.

Okay.

That's my favorite thing.

[Laughs] ALEX: A lot of restaurants in the city try to duplicate.

They cannot.

KATE: We're learning about his inspiring journey from attending military school to mopping floors, to becoming an author and one of America's top fitness coaches.

ALEX: You're seeing setback.

You're seeing growth.

KATE: Yes.

ALEX: You're seeing the breakdowns, and you're seeing the breakthrough.

KATE: Yes.

ALEX: You're playing a somewhat pivotal role in that person's life.

It's transformation for me.

KATE: And, finding out how fitness has changed Alex's life; not just in terms of strength and endurance, but in mindset and character.

ALEX: Is your belief stronger than somebody else's doubt?

Is your mind clear?

Is your heart pure?

Are you moving with integrity?

Are you disciplined?

Are you doing it with purpose?

Nothing will happen by accident.

KATE: What's better in life than a bottle of wine, great food, and an amazing conversation?

My name is Kate Sullivan, and I am the host of To Dine For .

I'm a journalist, a foodie, a traveler with an appetite for the stories of people who are hungry for more: dreamers, visionaries, artists: those who hustle hard in the direction they love.

I travel with them to their favorite restaurant to hear how they did it.

This show is a toast to them and their American Dream.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... ♪♪ FEMALE ANNOUNCER: We support the doers and dreamers.

Those working today toward a more secure tomorrow.

At American National, we're proud to help you make that future possible.

[Wine dribbling into glass] KATE: Hello everyone!

Today I'm in Manhattan on my way into an iconic sushi spot called BONDST.

I'm meeting a founder, an entrepreneur, and a dynamic force in the world of fitness.

I can't wait for you to meet Alex Toussaint.

KATE: Alex, what's up?

ALEX: It's an honor.

It's an honor.

KATE: How are you?

ALEX: I'm blessed.

KATE: It is so wonderful to meet you.

ALEX: Thank you for having me today, how's your spirits?

KATE: My spirits are great.

ALEX: I've gotta check, now, [Kate laughs] I've gotta check now.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes ma'am.

KATE: How are your spirits?

ALEX: I'm blessed, I'm blessed.

Even the things I'm stressed about, I'm thankful for it.

KATE: It is easy to be in high spirits when you're about to eat an incredible meal.

And Alex picked the perfect place to do so: BONDST is an institution in Manhattan's NoHo neighborhood, located in an historic brownstone.

The restaurant has been serving Japanese inspired cuisine for nearly 30 years.

BONDST is elegant, stylish, and a go-to spot for those who wish to see and be seen, ever since Donatella Versace hosted its launch party in 1998.

JONATHAN MORR: And the party was two weeks before we were meant to be open.

And I called the contractor and I said, "Listen, we've got 14 days less, what now?"

And we made it happen.

And from that moment, the restaurant was cool.

KATE: But it's not just ties to the fashion industry that keeps the restaurant full, BONDST features three levels of chic dining areas, multiple sushi bars, and a menu full of guest favorites.

JONATHAN: The food I think is really what surprised people.

It's quite addictive.

We have certain dishes that people, can't live without.

KATE: And we're having several of those dishes today: starting with fresh oysters with lemon, BONDST's signature big-eyed tuna tarts, red snapper tacos, and short rib foie gras gyoza.

For our main course, we're having sushi: the soft-shell crab roll and salmon nigiri.

A feast for us is a fraction of BONDST's menu, showing why the restaurant has stood the test of time.

JONATHAN: We probably have at least 25 employees that have been here over 20 years.

Uh it's really just attention to the guests, I mean that's the most important thing.

I truly believe it and that's what we do.

Everyday, we get a little bit better.

KATE: It's easy to see why BONDST is the favorite restaurant of Alex Toussaint: a man whose motto is "feel good, look good, do better."

ALEX: I love that you shut the whole restaurant down for us.

They've never done this for me, I tell you that.

[Alex laughs] KATE: No, you shut the restaurant down.

You did it.

ALEX: I love it.

KATE: You could have chosen anywhere in New York.

Why did you choose here?

ALEX: I've been coming to this restaurant 15, uh ten years now, ten years now.

I almost gave myself a little extra five.

I forgot where I was at.

Uh since I started my Peloton career, I've been coming here.

And it was one of those places where it was like one of my first experiences in New York City with fine dining.

KATE: Yes.

ALEX: And as I came into an elevated space at Peloton, I just was like, comfortable in this environment.

There's a lounge downstairs.

They play great hip-hop music while you eat.

The service is amazing.

The team here is amazing.

So year by year I just started to come a lot more and I'm probably coming now like, like four times a month, on average.

KATE: I always say that where someone chooses as their favorite restaurant, says a little bit about them.

ALEX: Ok.

KATE: And your world is about creating ambiance.

It's about creating an environment, a vibe.

And it's so interesting, you would pick a restaurant that is a vibe.

ALEX: 100 percent.

It literally matches the off the bike and off the tread mindset and collaboration of what I do.

So, the music, the food, the culture here, the drinks, everything feels very well here.

KATE: Yeah, it's not just the delicious food and the delicious sushi, but it is how you feel... ALEX: Sure.

KATE: ...When you walk in, to how you feel when you leave.

And it's it's an energy.

ALEX: I always say this to people that your energy introduces you before you even speak.

And right when you walk in from the hostess stand, so there's a lot of love and appreciation.

So, I'm definitely gonna be coming back for another ten years.

[Chuckles] KATE: I love that.

Where did you learn that?

Where did you learn that your energy enters a room before you did?

ALEX: My father.

My father used to say when I was a kid, to my older brothers and myself "Wipe that smirk look off your face.

Don't walk into a room without your head high, your chest out."

And not in a sense of overconfident, but more so in a sense of you're supposed to be there.

Don't move by accident.

Don't wait- You didn't wake up by accident, so don't move by accident.

Don't introduce yourself by accident.

And your first level of introduction is your energy before you speak.

Second, is your smile as well.

So... KATE: Okay.

That's great.

Yeah, it is true.

It is true.

Okay tell me a little bit about your childhood.

ALEX: The first chapter of my childhood was me existing in my life, and I feel like where I am now in life is me fully living to my best of my abilities.

And the reason I say that is because my family, my mother being a PhD doctorate, my dad working in the oil business, designing oil tanks, my brother being a graduate of Brown University; there was a level of excellence and a standard established in my household that I personally never lived up to.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: And even to this day, there's a little bit of feeling where like, the way that I do things is my way of repaying my parents and my brothers for their sacrifice.

So, mother and father, very, um regimented, strict, loving, caring Haitians, uh came to the country in the early 80s not knowing the English language, but figuring out a way to not only just survive in America, but thrive.

SERVER: These are our pink moon oysters from Seattle.

KATE: Oh, they're beautiful.

SERVER: Cheers.

KATE: Thank you so much.

ALEX: Thank you.

KATE: Okay, starting with some protein.

ALEX: Starting with some protein.

KATE: Yes, I love it.

A little bit of lemon and we will try these.

Wow, they look beautiful.

Abs- ALEX: I need your full-on opinion.

KATE: Okay.

All right, I'm ready.

Here we go.

ALEX: Talk to me.

KATE: Mmmmm!

Okay.

Now we're talking.

Those are delicious.

ALEX: You know what it tastes like?

Home.

[Laughs] It tastes like home.

KATE: It tastes like home and why do you say that?

ALEX: Because being from Long Island, it's, the East Coast oysters.

And just that familiarity with that water, it just tastes like home.

No way around it.

So, growing up as a kid, mother and father were extremely strict, very well regimented and disciplined.

I never was able to live up to the family excellence, and not because I wasn't smart.

I just never applied myself.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: I had a very strong problem with authority.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: To the point that my father was like, you need to get up out of this house in 6th grade.

Uh so I went to military school.

KATE: In 6th grade, you went to military school?

ALEX: Prior to that, I got kicked out of every school I've ever been to.

KATE: Really?

ALEX: Elementary, preschool, kindergarten.

I wasn't a bad kid, I just did a lot of dumb things.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: But with a good heart.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: Teachers always gave me a second chance.

My parents even gave me a second chance.

But when military school came about, uh, I think it was the intersection of, me becoming a young adult and society starting to change, and my dad understanding I'm one mistake away from being a statistic.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: Whether that's me ending up in jail or potentially the worst outcome.

So instead of me staying in my environment, which was a healthy environment, East Hampton to this day is like, I'm so thankful for the community.

My dad shipped me off to military school, uh in the middle of Missouri.

KATE: [Chuckles] So you go from East Hampton, New York, to military school in Missouri?

ALEX: In Missouri.

KATE: Oh, first of all, that must have been really hard.

ALEX: It was- absolutely.

It was a culture shock.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: It was a culture shock.

For the first year, it was definitely like crying myself to sleep every single night.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: But I look back now, and without that, I don't know where I would be in my life.

KATE: Really?

ALEX: It is the biggest blessing, the biggest lesson and blessing for me.

It gave me a whole level of structure, discipline, accountability and understanding of individuals who see society and life in a different light than I see it in.

But also giving people grace in the same process.

KATE: What did military school teach you?

ALEX: How you do anything is how you do everything.

So, the first task in the day, give yourself a milestone.

Give yourself an automatic win.

The simple thing of making your bed.

Don't wait for somebody to tell you what to do, when you know you have to do it anyway.

Hold yourself accountable to a higher standard.

Put yourself in a position to win and give yourself less excuses and more adjustments in the process.

That's like the personal foundation factor, but then also the grace and the ability to show love to people.

I think that really stems from, my understanding of, different communities.

KATE: How you do one thing is how you do everything.

ALEX: Yes ma'am.

KATE: That is- that is a signature quote.

ALEX: Yes, ma'am.

KATE: When, you know, people hear that, what is their reaction to it?

When they hear- When they hear that?

Is that- it's certainly new to them.

ALEX: I think that sometimes I got to remind people that you didn't wake up by accident.

Let's just get the first thing out the gate: gratitude.

Like I teach with such level of love and passion and discipline.

But the first thing that catapults all that, the platform; is the gratitude.

And I'm- I'm a firm believer your gratitude cancels out your negativity and fear.

And if I can remind the members before they even turn the knob, before they even push the pedals, you woke up.

Your eyes opened up, your feet touched the ground.

You can breathe.

You can move your body.

There's somebody today that didn't have that same blessing that you do.

If you move, if you wake up and you have that first level of, appreciation for life and gratitude for life, you think about the things that you're thankful for versus the things that you don't have.

It's a flip of a switch of the mindset.

Flip of a switch of the mindset.

SERVER: Our signature dish, the big-eyed tuna tarts.

KATE: All right.

ALEX: This is probably my favorite thing on the menu.

KATE: This is your favorite thing?

ALEX: This is probably my favorite thing on the menu.

KATE: Okay.

ALEX: I'm going to let you do the first bite on this one.

I need to see your reaction.

KATE: It's got, like, a very thin cracker crust..... ALEX: Yes, ma'am.

KATE: With this tuna.

Oh, it looks incredible.

Mmmmm.

Okay.

That's my favorite thing.

[Kate laughs] ALEX: A lot of restaurants in the city try to duplicate.

They cannot.

KATE: That's incredible.

We love.

We're having a great time.

SERVER: Ok, that's our signature dish right there.

KATE: Yeah, I can tell.

SERVER: This one is our red snapper tacos.

ALEX: Mm.

KATE: And avocado spoon on the side.

KATE: Thank you.

ALEX: Made with love, right?

SERVER: It is.

ALEX: Appreciate you, buddy.

You gotta check.

KATE: In the middle of his 10th grade year, Alex left his military school and moved back in with his parents.

After finishing high school, Alex attended college for less than two years before dropping out, leading to a difficult conversation with his father that would change his path forever.

KATE: Okay.

So you come back from military school and what happens?

What kind of job do you get?

Take me through it.

ALEX: Dropped out of college.

Mom calls me and says, "I know you dropped out.

I'm not going to tell your father.

You have to tell him yourself.

I'm not telling him nothing.

I'm not making that phone call."

Sure enough, one day he just pulls up and finds out; he had me move out of my apartment back in school, and within 24 hours of pulling back into my driveway at home, we had a conversation that was probably one of the most life changing conversations ever.

He's like, "you're a piece of [pauses].

You're not going to be [pauses].

Get the 'f' out of the house."

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: And I remember that feeling of my brother watching and people being like, "Yo, don't leave, don't leave, don't leave."

But my pride and my ego was so, it's there.

It's a branch.

I can't even get my head through the door.

KATE: Right.

ALEX: I said, "Dad, I'm out of here.

You're going to bite those words.

I promise you, on my life, you are going to bite those words."

So, I got kicked out of my house.

I sleep on my best friend's floor for about a year and a half, and at the time, I was running to work, jogging to work, to go work for a company called Flywheel Sports.

Now, Flywheel Sports was an indoor cycling company, and I'd never been around that level of fitness.

I played basketball, I played football, I ran track.

So I was I was like like a athletic individual, but I didn't have it to that capacity.

And one day I'm in a studio and I'm seeing instructors, I'm hearing instructors teach with such a level of passion.

I'm seeing people walk into the room with their head down and coming out with their head high.

I've seen people not have light in themselves walking through the room, coming back out, lighting up the entire room.

And I'm like, I want in on that.

KATE: So, I understand that you had a conversation with someone who works at Flywheel Sports.

ALEX: Yes, ma'am.

KATE: And you said to them, I really want to do this.

I really want to work.

What did they say to you?

ALEX: That was the owner of the company, Ruth Zukerman, who till this day is one of my life mentors and one of my favorite people on this planet.

I asked her one day, 7:00 in the morning.

"Hey, Ruth, can I become an instructor?"

And I don't know what she saw in me to give me that chance.

She looked at me dead in my face and said, "I'll give you two weeks of my time.

If you lock in, you'll become an instructor."

SERVER: So the foie gras gyoza.

ALEX: Yeah, this is it.

SERVER: There's the shiso sauce and wine glaze on top.

Cheers.

KATE: Wow.

Cheers.

Thank you.

ALEX: So one of the things that- that goes back to how you do anything is how you do everything.

Because you saw me, with the level of passion, wanting to prove my father wrong, I had a mop on my hands.

She understood what would happen if I got onto a bike to inspire people.

KATE: Yes.

ALEX: So she gave me two weeks of her time.

She trained me day in and day out and she said you are now ready.

So I go from mopping floors to instructing, in a heartbeat.

KATE: Isn't it funny how people find their way sometimes?

Even when the world is chaotic, their life is chaotic?

Everything that you went through and were going through and trying to find your way, right?

You realized college wasn't going to be for you.

Academics weren't going to be for you.

You somehow found yourself in a fitness studio, as you said, mopping floors, right?

ALEX: Yeah.

Yeah.

You were getting closer to your dream without really probably fully knowing it.

ALEX: Without even seeing it or feeling it.

KATE: Yes.

ALEX: I had no understanding what that was going to be.

I'm going to go hard every single opportunity I have.

This industry standard was 15 classes.

I told Ruth "I need 25."

She goes, "Why?"

I go "I have to prove my dad wrong, I gotta outwork."

So the concept of what I do now, I think people hear these statements of like, yo, everybody works out everybody outworks.

These come from things- truly motivated me in a dark space to catapult me to where I am today in a positive light.

KATE: These aren't just mantras.

ALEX: These aren't just mantras.

KATE: These are these are things that have literally transformed your life.

And you've lived them.

ALEX: I've lived them.

It feels like my call to action.

KATE: Or a calling?

ALEX: Or a calling.

Yes.

I really tell people all the time, "I don't have a job, I have a passion.

I just- I'm thankful to get paid for."

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: I've been teaching now for 14 years.

There has never been a time where I got bored with this.

KATE: Wow.

ALEX: Not one time.

KATE: I'm curious as to when you felt like you developed your style.

I'm sure it took a little while.

ALEX: Pretty early on, in all honesty.

KATE: Really?

ALEX: Pretty early on, yes.

Because when I look at the individuals who are teaching, I didn't see too many young, straight Black men in that space.

So everything down to um, how we orchestrated a playlist was a systematic approach.

How can I put, a Michael Jackson song, a Rihanna song, a Bon Jovi song right into a DMX?

What I always hear, and this is why I think it's extremely powerful, is, "Hey, I normally don't like hip-hop, but I come for the movement and the message every single week."

KATE: They're willing to be uncomfortable in music that maybe isn't their jam, but they're willing to do it because they see the value in you and all you bring, and that hip-hop is part of your energy.

ALEX: Yes ma'am, Yes, ma'am.

KATE: So they're, like, willing to ride along with you.

ALEX: I think that is the biggest thing right there.

I get a lot of love, but I think that right there, I walk away and I go home and I put my head down on the pillow and I'm like wow, that person has no idea.

They'll say,"Hey, I don't mean to offend you."

And I'm like, they have no idea.

That's the biggest compliment in my eyes.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: You're not offending me whatsoever.

KATE: Right.

ALEX: I love you have a difference of opinion than me.

But the fact that you're willing to show up and be receptive to it.

I'm like, if we did that as a society across the board?

KATE: Oh my God.

Think about it.

ALEX: Come on.

So that's why I think it's a lot more important than just moving a bike.

It's the- it's the purpose of the community and making sure that you move with people who don't look like you.

So you can see life in a different light than you see it.

KATE: Alex worked for Ruth Zukerman and Flywheel Sports for nearly three years, improving his classes and coaching style every day.

His work caught the eye of Peloton, who decided to recruit Alex to become one of their instructors.

Ruth knew this was exactly where Alex needed to be.

KATE: What has Ruth said to you, through all your success, the woman who gave you a chance.

So what has she said to you about all of your success?

ALEX: We talk pretty often.

Um, I was truly depressed when I met Ruth, and I didn't know that.

And she coached me all along the way.

And even when Peloton tried to recruit me, they went to Ruth.

They didn't go to me.

She was a CEO of the company, and they said, "Hey, we want to recruit him".

And she literally called me and said, "Hey, you need to go here."

And I was like, "What?

You just changed my life.

I'm not going anywhere."

And the first thing she said, she goes, "This is gonna be the next chapter of fitness.

You're going to revolutionize fitness.

You're going to be one of the first Black people in many people's homes.

This is your responsibility."

So, it was deeper than just me joining Peloton and having fun.

She was like, "You always have a place to come back home to.

But I need you to go actually out and live out this next chapter."

KATE: It wasn't just you were talented, it was a mission and purpose.

ALEX: It was a mission, it was a mission and a purpose.

SERVER: Our salmon nigiri.

ALEX: Mm.

SERVER: Our soft-shell crab roll... KATE: Soft shell crab roll.

SERVER: With wasabi yogurt and cilantro pesto.

KATE: Delicious.

That looks incredible.

Thank you.

Let's talk about the pandemic.

ALEX: Ooh!

KATE: And, I mean, because the pandemic wasn't bad for everyone, right?

ALEX: Yeah.

Yeah.

KATE: Because what it did for your work with Peloton and how it brought you into people's homes, everywhere.

Everywhere.

What was that like for you personally to go through the pandemic and really help people?

ALEX: Yeah.

KATE: Mentally get through it?

ALEX: When people meet us for the first time, you have no idea how much you helped me get through the pandemic.

That's one of the first things I hear actually a lot.

And I always respond back, like, "I hope you know that I'm a human being as well.

You helped me get through it."

It was a level of like, I see you on the opposite side of the screen.

Trust me, it gave me life and motivation in a time that I needed it the most.

Ruth told me early on, "Anybody can teach to a sold-out class when it's filled.

Can you teach to an empty class as if it's sold out?"

KATE: Oh that's good.

ALEX: That's one of the first things she ever told me when I was becoming an instructor.

KATE: Oh that's good.

ALEX: It's easy...when 45, 50 people in the class, that's easy to bring energy.

If there is one person in your class and it was 49 bikes empty, can you make that one person feel seen?

Can you make that one person feel like there's 50 people in a room?

KATE: Whoo!

ALEX: Now while there's 50 people in the room can you make that one person feel seen with 50 people in the room?

There's a combination there, right?

KATE: Yes!

ALEX: So when...when the pandemic hit, we all got on a Zoom call.

My boss was like, "Yo, who wants to teach from home?"

So in a blink of an eye, I feel like I go from being an instructor to now being my own producer, my own talent manager, my own resources for one class.

KATE: So it took you to another level.

ALEX: It took me to a whole other level.

KATE: Professionally?

ALEX: Yes, ma'am.

KATE: It wasn't just you weren't in a room with 45 or 50 bikes.

You were, creating a set.

ALEX: A whole set.

My New York City small apartment became a production set for hundreds and thousands of millions of people during the pandemic.

KATE: Did it ever intimidate you as you saw the numbers rise and rise, especially in the pandemic, when you started seeing you're like, oh my gosh, this is way more than 50 bikes?

This is... this is thousands and thousands of people.

Yeah.

Did that ever get in your head a little bit?

ALEX: If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail, my dad always used to say to me as a kid.

And the level of preparation that I do with every single class of mine is so detailed, and it's been like that for 14, 13, 14 years that I don't want to sound too confident when I say this to you, but not once was I ever shaky.

KATE: You knew how precious it was.

ALEX: Absolutely, absolutely.

KATE: Yeah and you were like, I am not going to fail my father, and I'm not going to fail Ruth.

I'm going to really rise to this moment.

ALEX: Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I think one of the things is, instead of going out to prove somebody else wrong, which I've did in my life, set yourself up to prove yourself right.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: So when I say the first chapter of my life was existing; up until April 4th, 2016, 4:30 when my father called me and I was walking out of the 23rd Street Peloton studio, he said, "Hey, I want to let you know I'm proud of you."

I can tell you exactly the day, the time, the weather, what I was wearing, because I searched so long for that moment.

I literally say that I hung up the phone and I get on the M train and start bawling crying.

It was like I was running through life with a resistance parachute behind me.

And that simple fact of, "Hey, I'm proud of you" was like a, a clip of the parachute.

And I was able to sprint and, like, live this life and live this thing called life for myself.

And not to prove my dad wrong, more so to prove myself right.

KATE: What a moment.

ALEX: What a moment, what a moment.

KATE: What a moment and did- what precipitated it?

Was it just had something happened or what prompted the call?

ALEX: I think the the component of me joining Peloton and being there for a long enough time that my dad saw consistency and saw that I truly cared about something.

And he understood that.

Full transparency: this company took a shot at a young Black man that they- didn't give anybody else that shot first.

I think he saw that, and he saw how passionate I was about it.

And I was doing it with true joy and less to prove him wrong anymore.

He just was like, I need it.

I think my dad was proud of me, honestly, prior to that.

And that was just his space, the time he felt comfortable communicating that.

And I'm so thankful for it because if he never gave it to me, I would still be searching for it; without question, without question.

KATE: Today, Alex remains a senior instructor at Peloton and has been with the company for over ten years.

He shows no signs of slowing down, also speaking for Fortune 500 companies and businesses around the world.

Writing a book about his life called Activate Your Greatness and collaborating with Puma on his own signature collection of shoes and loungewear.

Alex is also the co-founder of The Do Better Foundation, with the mission to democratize wellness by broadening access to wellness resources.

KATE: Let's talk about your foundation.

ALEX: Yeah.

KATE: Whenever someone starts something, it always starts from usually a agitation point, a place of there's got to be a better way.

And what was that for you?

ALEX: I love that you said there has to be a better way.

Exactly what it was.

At the time there was two of us, three of us on the team: Haitian American, one Nigerian American, one Korean American.

Even though we grew up in completely different households, there was a common denominator of immigrant mindset and how our families raised us as kids.

It was definitely something special there.

And I'm like, if all the kids that looked like us had that experience of resources, afterschool program, nutrition, tutoring, the things that our parents afforded to us.

I was like, these kids would be so much more, like so much well off in life, so much- put in a position to truly win.

KATE: Yeah.

ALEX: And then my friend was like, we should start a foundation.

That's literally how it started.

Those who can, must.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: And I was in a position now in my career when I was taking off, I had notoriety, I had the resources.

Those who can, I had to.

There was no in between about it.

KATE: And what does the foundation do?

ALEX: So the foundation, we democratize in providing wellness resources to underserved communities.

So, veterans who don't come back and don't have the resources, kids of the inner city who don't have afterschool programs is what we've really been focusing on.

So something as simple as like going up to Joint Base Andrews, providing equipment and working out with the cadets and, and the people of the military, or taking kids from the inner city of Brooklyn and Queens and bringing them out, busing them out from Queens and Brooklyn all the way out to Bear Mountain.

And this goes back to the movement factor.

If I could take somebody from a normal environment, put them in a different environment around individuals who look like them, would have them move in a space that they're not comfortable in.

They will see themselves in a different light.

KATE: Mm.

ALEX: So one of the things I wanted to do is help people understand that, yes, spin is my priority domain but movement is my purpose.

Whatever movement looks like: walking, jogging, hiking, swimming, therapy.

Playing like- whatever movement looks like for you.

I want to provide that to individuals.

KATE: I love that.

I love that.

You're showing gratitude.

ALEX: Yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.

KATE: You said what are you grateful for when you met me?

You know, you're showing gratitude in the- in the n'th degree.

Um, I'm just curious, how do you define the American dream?

ALEX: Oof.

I'm living it.

KATE: Are you?

ALEX: I'm living it.

Mother and father being Haitian immigrants coming to the United States, not knowing the English language and not having resources and figuring out a way to thrive.

But then me being the kid from Long Island who then gets a chance to live in East Hampton, one of the most prominent beautiful communities in the country, with an amazing school system.

The teachers that, even though I got in trouble a lot, like the teachers in the school system really took care of me and gave me extra chances, which probably wouldn't happen elsewhere.

And then me having the opportunity to go to college and not living up to that and feeling like I had a setback.

And then by God's grace, having an opportunity to work at a company called Flywheel Sports, and that evolved into a company that's now Peloton, while dropping out of school.

But then getting to motivate millions of people and doing that as a proud Haitian American?

While still like having fun with it?

And making mom and dad proud.

I'm living the American dream for sure, for sure for sure.

KATE: I've enjoyed this so much.

ALEX: I did as well, I did as well.

KATE: I could talk to you for another hour because you're full of so many gems.

ALEX: I appreciate you.

KATE: But I really, thank you.

Thank you for this conversation.

ALEX: No, thank you.

It's an honor.

KATE: And your story.

Thank you for sharing it.

ALEX: I appreciate you.

KATE: What a meal with Alex Toussaint and what a story.

I'm reminded that people of destiny often find a way to win, no matter the circumstances.

How you do one thing is how you do everything and your vibe attracts your tribe.

Alex's life could have gone a thousand different ways, but humility, gratitude, hard work, and vision led him to inspire millions.

That is the American dream.

[Upbeat pop music over credits] KATE: If you would like to know more about the guests, the restaurants, and the inspiring stories of success, please visit ToDineForTV.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ToDineForTV.

We also have a podcast.

To Dine For , The Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... FEMALE ANNOUNCER: We support the doers and dreamers.

Those working today toward a more secure tomorrow.

At American National, we're proud to help you make that future possible.

[Wine dribbling into glass]