Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Doreen is the youngest of three girls, daughter to a marble setter and medical technologist. She attended an all girls Catholic college prep (formerly a Lithuanian convent), sang in a cover band after graduation, and then attended a top theater conservatory. She left the conservatory to study at The Second City Training center, where she was later hired to perform with the Touring Company. While in Chicago, she got her Equity card performing in The Steppenwolf Theater Company's production, "El Salvador", opposite Ted Levine. She received her BA in Theatre from Columbia College, then performed at ImprovOlympic under the guidance of Del Close. Before leaving for Los Angeles, she rode her bicycle from St. Paul, MN to Chicago for AIDs awareness, and shared the stage with James Denton in Strawdog Theatre's "Mariposa" by Jeffrey Leiber. During her first few years in L.A., she performed stand-up comedy, taught improvisation, did more theater, and booked several TV gigs & national commercials. After some time, she returned to college for an AA in Graphic Design, and served as Class Valedictorian. She directed for the stage, and created her business, The Recognized Actor. In 2017, she became a core performing member in the nation's longest running Asian-American improv-comedy troupe, "Cold Tofu", and in 2022, played "Raquel Torres" in the Oscar Nominated Live Action Short, "Please Hold".