#UpgradeMe with Dana Leong

About #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong

Welcome back to #UpgradeMePod. It’s a podcast about the never ending self improvement journey, ideas and life hacks to help you level up and the people who make it happen! Hosted by Dana Leong, a 2x Grammy Winning Musician, a US Musical Ambassador and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Publisher

Dana Leong

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jun 2024

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

30 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Facing Your Fears | 027 #UpgradeMe Halloween Special

   The fear worth talking about is not the one in the dark room. It is the one that arrives on a Tuesday afternoon when nothing is wrong at all, the quiet voice telling you that you already peaked and everything from here is downhill. Dana Leong has faced that one twice at full size. Once at nineteen with nothing to lose, living on thirty dollars a week in Harlem after walking away from a working career in San Francisco. Once with everything to lose, taking ten thousand dollars and a plane ticket to Shanghai while every advisor he had told him he was insane. Both times the people he trusted most told him not to do it. One of those times they were right, and this is the first time he has laid out exactly where he got it wrong. In this one: the professor who told him he was the most talented person in the school and that being talented was not a plan. The 60 second business card machine on Broadway and 101st. The potato sandwich. Boys' Harbor and the who's who of Latin pop. Getting in the air on a rope with a stunt company months from folding. Filling in other people's paperwork and winning a United States Musical Ambassador title with it. Two years alone in the mountains of Japan, and the review date he never set. It ends with five moves you can use on an ordinary weekday, and one assignment that takes about ninety seconds. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Mask 00:22 Dana On Luther Vandross Comedy 01:38 The Real Question 02:48 Welcome and Thank You for 100K 03:19 Nineteen Ninety Nine 05:52 The Business Cards 08:59 Commodities 11:51 The Aerial Turnaround 14:06 The Ambassador Audition 16:24 Twenty Fifteen 20:43 The Mountains 23:08 The One I Got Wrong 24:20 The Five Moves 25:54 The Next Chapter 26:48 Your One Thing This Week THE FIVE MOVES 1. Buy commodities, not snacks 2. Decide before the clock starts 3. Do the unglamorous part nobody else will do 4. If you believe in it, get in the air, do not advise from the ground 5. Set a date to review the decision Mentioned in this episode: David Taylor, Josh Cohen, Steven Oquendo, Boys' Harbor, The Roots, Wetlands, Common, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Robert Glasper, the Soulquarians, Four Seasons, Christian Howes, Lewis Howes. Hosted by Dana Leong, a 2x Grammy Winning Musician, a US Music Ambassador and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Support #UpgradeMe: https://www.patreon.com/UpgradeMePod Subscribe: https://bit.ly/upgradeytsub #UpgradeMe is sponsored by https://www.TEKTONIKmusic.org (Harmony Heals)

2. 

   4 Sept 2026

   026 How to Upgrade Your Life LIVE! #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong

   Welcome back to #UpgradeMe. It's a podcast about the never ending self improvement journey, ideas and life hacks to help you level up and the people who make it happen! Hosted by Dana Leong, a 2x Grammy Winning Musician, a US Music Ambassador and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.Episode 026 is the first #UpgradeMe live stream, recorded the day the show crossed 100,000 subscribers. What does it actually take to grow a show past that number without chasing every new feature that comes out? Dana opens with the milestone, takes a live Q&A, runs a full highlights review and walks through the prompt book of AI tools and tricks he actually uses day to day. He gets into the health side too: cutting back on alcohol, what sleep tracking apps taught him about recovery time and the mental side of an old touring injury that still shows up as tension. Going Tim Ferriss style, he shares recent reads including Georges St-Pierre's memoir The Way of the Fight, Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True, a Tupac Shakur biography by Jeff Pearlman and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Be Useful, and announces an AI prompt book of his own landing before Christmas. He reacts to creators including Lucas Popan and Claire Zou, then spends the back half on who influenced him: mentors like bass trombonist David Taylor, educator Justin DiCioccio and YouTube and Google Studios executive Dorian Stone, plus the business, creative and spiritual influences that shaped how he works. He closes with a discernment lesson: you do not need every new feature to make great work, you just need to know what you actually need. Chapters:0:00 Welcome and celebrating 100K subscribers 1:12 The "what should I ask" framework 2:03 The weekly time question that reveals everything 4:27 Dana's own health and creativity priorities 6:08 Filtering AI tools and ditching doomscrolling 7:36 Chasing consistent energy through health 8:43 Drinking less and what sleep tracking apps revealed 10:20 An old tour injury and the mind body link to stress 12:08 The Asian Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss comparisons 14:10 Podcast pace, burnout and wanting a next gear 15:02 Catching guests at the Singapore Grand Prix 15:26 Splitting life between Taiwan and Shanghai 16:23 The struggle to keep finding world class guests 17:00 Why this episode is a retrospective, not a new interview 18:03 Life in circles, not levels 18:38 Favorite sources, Tim Ferriss style 19:07 Georges St-Pierre's The Way of the Fight 22:38 Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True 25:04 Tupac, Schwarzenegger and skepticism on diet books 28:14 Announcing the upcoming AI prompt book 32:02 Livestream tech setup and learning as he goes 32:35 Three creators who inspired Dana lately 40:54 Why community and guests make the show work 42:11 Mentor spotlights: David Taylor, Justin DiChiera and Dorian Stone 56:19 Business, creatives and forgiving mistakes 59:25 Michael Jackson's legacy and the Shazam habit 1:02:24 Legal mentors, spirituality and prompting AI as Buddha 1:07:43 Closing thoughts and sign off Mentioned in this episode: @timferriss @joerogan @schwarzenegger @hubermanlab Georges St-Pierre Robert Wright Tupac Shakur Jeff Pearlman Jordan Peterson David Taylor Justin DiCioccio Dorian Stone Lucas Popan Claire Zou Support #UpgradeMe: https://www.patreon.com/UpgradeMePod Join our communities online at:https://www.Instagram.com/UpgradeMePod IG https://www.TikTok.com/@UpgradeMePod TIKTOK https://www.Facebook.com/UpgradeMePod FB https://www.Youtube.com/@UpgradeMePod YT https://www.x.com/PodUpgrade X https://www.Linkedin.com/in/DanaLeong LinkedIn Subscribe to #UpgradeMePod:https://bit.ly/upgradeytsub #UpgradeMe is sponsored by https://www.TEKTONIKmusic.org (Harmony Heals) #UpgradeMe #UpgradeMePod #100K #Podcast #LiveStream #DanaLeong #SelfImprovement #Discernment #TimFerriss #JoeRogan #GeorgesStPierre #ArnoldSchwarzenegger #AndrewHuberman #TupacShakur #RobertWright

3. 

   15 Aug 2026

   ep 025 | 100,000 Lessons from #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong

   100,000 Lessons from #UpgradeMe: 3 Seasons, 6 Truths.** #UpgradeMe just crossed 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and this episode is Dana's unboxing of the Silver Play Button and a reflection on six truths three seasons of the show have taught him, including the real story of how the show's very first guest, Cung Le, came together over a sushi bar and a 5am text. Plus a look back at ten unforgettable moments from guests including Gene Yu, Bunty Bohra, Nathan East, Justin BUA, DJ Qbert, Eric Liu, Dr. Ta-Lin Hsu, Minami, Tan Le and Cung Le.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

1,343,425

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 57 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

64

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

32

Contact #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about #UpgradeMe with Dana Leong