A native of Washington DC, Coley grew up acting professionally including productions at Ford's Theatre, a national tour, and a stint on Broadway. She graduated from the University of Vermont magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an English major and Theater and Film minors. Heading to LA, she landed a few tv roles, then turned to improv and studied with the Groundlings. That led to writing and soon she realized she was wired to direct. Her award-winning short film "Boutonniere" premiered at Sundance and went on to inspire the feature version, "Sassy Pants", starring Anna Gunn and Haley Joel Osment. Coley is now in the process of setting up her second feature, "Dodie and Cheryl Get Hitched", a darkly ironic comedy about gay marriage. She mentored on two short films for Outset, Outfest and the LA LGBT Center's Young Filmmakers Program and volunteered multiple seasons with Los Angeles Repertory Theater in inner city highschools. In her spare time Coley flips houses and she's also known for making a pretty mean margarita.