Upgraded with Deirdre Lorenz

Oscar and Emmy Award winning, and 2x SOVA nominated actor Danny Fehsenfeld has several noteworthy industry insights to share with our Upgraders.  From the streets of Rome to the rainbows of Kauai, join us in the studio as we deep dive into the creative world of acting, singing and creating characters in Hollywood for Netflix, HBO and more. From his recent experience performing on Hacks, to voicing...

Your favorite House party DJ is in the Upgraded House today! My buddy DJ Mano joins us to share some absolutely iconic stories on Def Poetry Jam, The Fringe Festival, MTV days!!!, big movie sets, House Party Dj sets, music favorites, and travel inspirations.  And, guess who’s serving as your favorite new sizzling voiceover announcer? Listen in here for my performance as part of his hot vibing drop...

Join me in the studio as I hang out with a longtime friend of mine who is making her own dreams come true! Carolina Vengoechea is a Miami-based entrepreneur, award-winning fashion designer, master colorist, and Team USA dragon boat athlete. After two decades in the beauty industry, she combined her love for innovation, design, and technology to build solutions that empower both beauty professional...

If you love Hollywood legends, this is for you! What a deep dive that this tremendously insightful and, at times, wildly surprising conversation turned out to be. Multiple New York Times Best Selling author and former film critic for The Oregonian and KGW (the NBC affiliate in Portland) Shawn Levy joins me to discuss his newest masterpiece, an extensive book titled CLINT, The Man and the Movies . ...

We are back in the virtual Upgraded Podcast studio with my friend, the talented and renowned still photographer and visual storyteller David Charles Lee. We share our fun memories meeting on a couple of his brother, filmmaker Spike Lee’s, sets. Then, we discuss David’s travel dreams, current projects, his more than 100 film and show credits (and missing his credits on projects including The Wire!!...

After months of living abroad in Vietnam, Viet Nguyen returns to the podcast to share his thoughtful and thought provoking reflections, adventure stories with new and old friends, as well as his hopes and dreams for beautiful Vietnam and its residents as it navigates rapid growth and change. So many good insights on expat life and traveling the country - from Saigon to a breathtaking rooftop in Da...

Radio City Rockette Nikki Carroll joins me in the Upgraded studio for an upbeat conversation sharing her journey to fulfilling dreams of becoming a Rockette, details on getting tickets for the upcoming 100th Anniversary season, the value of support from her fellow precision dance community members, finding friends who are family, and gearing up for her first trip to Greece. This episode will have...

Scottish New Yorker Jenny Balding joins me from the iconic Cutler Salon at The Arlo Hotel where she works her hair styling magic, and where she also works as a co owner of the fabulous salon with Rodney Cutler.  Jenny shares about why Rome is a dream location to travel. Then, we jump into how she manifested her dream career as not only a hair styling career with supermodels in New York, but also a...

Join Sean and I in the studio as he shares all about his early days, discovering his voice and songwriting inspirations, and how fatherhood is his most precious and wonderful reward in life. Also, he sings one of my favorite originals, and we talk about how we met. Lots of creative magic in this awesome episode! Thank you so much, Seany Boy!!!  Book Sean and The Samples at thesamples@aol.com  Read...

Join me in the studio as my long time extraordinary hair colorist of Cutler Salon, Mercedez Mueller, shares some of her wild stories about different jobs and special requests she has navigated, as well as how she got me hooked on reality tv, Bravo, and all about her fabulous new hair studio upstate, M Studios. We spill some really good tea in this episode since we’ve shared so many crazy beauty ad...

Join me as I dive into the sailing world of Captain Ted and Santorini, Greece. Find out about all the best island tours, how the Kardashians sailed and filmed, and about some of the most scenic and romantic adventures available.  You’ll be ready for a dip in the hot springs by the time we wrap the episode!

International fashion designer Alejandro Blanco joins me in the studio to share all about his new found love of vacationing and vibing in Spain, and the chic and extraordinary fashion, food and wine scene there.  Then, he shares about a recent vacation in Tulum with friends, the value of relaxing without any schedules or set plans and how going with the flow while traveling has led to his absolute...

Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award winning and nominated pop and opera songstress, N’Kenge joins me on Upgraded to share all about a massive summer 2025 scholarship opportunity (through her NKENGEFOUNDATION.ORG) in Paris for aspiring triple threats. She shares about getting discovered, singing on Broadway, meeting Aretha Franklin herself and getting invited to her birthday party!!! N’Kenge actually SINGS...

🎙️ Join me in the studio as we hear all about the value of Pilates for the body and mind, how it was originally created for rehabilitating injured soldiers, how much instructors matter, what is on the travel list, and all about where to take classes and instruction by Nwando herself. Check out more at @nwandobartley and @melissawoodhealth ✨🪄✈️

Join Deirdre in the Athens, Greece virtual studio with Maria Korinthiou as the multi award winning actress, producer, fashion company CEO and jewel of Greece shares about her love of acting, the magical connection of theatre, the importance of artists in sharing stories, educating and communicating, her love of travel, how she unwinds and then she announces some BIG international news for one of h...

Join Deirdre in the virtual studio as she dives into the world of the award winning Viennese actor Wolfgang Cerny as he shares about his early education, discovering his love for the arts, wild and adventurous filming and role development on film sets, his nude scene experience, his volunteer work and soul changing experience of helping refugee youth through theatre, and his deep love of all forms...

Join Deirdre in the virtual studio as she digs into fashion designer Dee White's wild and adventurous stories of fashion school in the 90's and making friends for life, the old club scene and velvet rope challenges, starting her sustainable fashion company, designing for a fashion show celebrating breast cancer survivors, how she survived the dirty streets of New York, dancing and partyi...

Join Deirdre and multi award winning director, editor, cinematographer, and fashion photographer Taj Francois as they dig into the lure of Japan, the Oscar eligible Latinx short film making the festivals shine, early inspirations from a teacher who was like Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society, documentaries, music videos, tv pilots, creating a legacy, and just getting started. Let's GO...

Join Deirdre in the virtual studio for an interview with former radio DJ, movie producer, and bar/restaurant/club manager Viet (aka Rikee) Nguyen.  Viet and Deirdre toast to the best things in life, Viet reveals that he's taking off on a 30 hour solo travel adventure with a one way ticket, talks about diving into life in Saigon as a local, the culinary scene he plans to explore, dating possib...