Shalena graduated from UC Berkeley in 1998 with a BA in African-American Studies and a Minor in Film. She then worked in non-profit performing arts, at Theater Artaud in San Francisco, as a box office manager and a community outreach coordinator. She left the theater community for three years, working in both investment banking and mutual funds. In 2003, Shalena returned to film and theater while working on her first feature film, Bloodshed, as a 2nd AD, grip, and gaffer. She continued in this vein by working as a camera assistant on commercial shoots, producing the short film The Legend of Wine in 2004, and shooting footage and stills of various "soft-culture" trends for a British research consortium.