Born in Berkeley California, and raised in Sri Lanka and Rome, Italy, McGee began her career in theater, leaving a full scholarship at Barnard College to tour with a Shakespearean repertory company. For the next decade she was active on both coasts, performing in classics and writing and producing new work Off-Off Broadway and the Bay Area, portraying twins on As The World Turns and directing and developing plays in Chicago and St Paul. An invitation to teach acting and television writing for at a California university led to Los Angeles. She worked as a story analyst for Creative Artists Agency, studied acting under Milton Katselas, and freelanced as a script consultant and editor. In late 2006 she was recruited as a literary agent for the Bicoastal Talent & Literary Agency, leaving two years later to continue representing clients as a manager.