“I want to be memorable. I want to be a light to people,” said Klein College of Media and Communication alumna Shaniece Cole, KLN ’13 (she/her). From Lancaster to Philadelphia to Los Angeles, Cole uses her passion for the entertainment industry to inspire every person that has the pleasure of crossing paths with her.
According to Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Media Studies and Production Department Amy Caples, KLN ’85 (she/her), Cole always knew she would be successful. In spring 2012 Cole and her twin sister decided to pursue Temple University’s LA Study Away program, where Cole took her first steps toward creating her success story. She has recently come full circle, and has been recognized as one of Temple’s 2021-2022 30 Under 30 honorees.
While in LA, Cole interned at BET Networks. There, she freelanced for their specials and awards shows. Determined to foster strong relationships during her semester away, Cole networked within the company and other parts of the LA community in hopes of returning there after graduating from Temple in spring 2013. Cole was successful, as some of her connections from BET still reach out to her to this day with pitches that Cole then takes to the shows she is working on.
After seeing they could make it, Cole and her sister did end up moving to LA right after graduation. With no money for a plane ticket, the twins sold some of their belongings so they could afford to get back to the city where they had always dreamt of living.
Affording the plane ticket was only a small part of the struggle, however. Cole was homeless twice while she was getting on her feet in LA, and took any odd job she could find such as standing in line for people at Disneyland so they didn't have to. Learning how to manage money, Cole said, was difficult for her and her sister, as was being away from the rest of their family.
However, they were not discouraged by their rough start. “We truly believed in ourselves, and we were like, ‘if we’re meant to be out there, everything will work itself out,’” Cole said.
Eventually, Cole landed two part time jobs for the summer, one in development at ABC and one in public relations at VH1, in addition to working as a residence assistant for the LA Study Away program. Though she never planned to be in either of those spaces, Cole understood the importance of exploring all aspects of television and building her toolbox of skills.
By the end of summer 2013, Cole was made a full-time employee at ABC and discovered that she really loved development. When she initially interviewed for the position, they asked her to pitch one idea for a show or segment, and Cole pitched seven. The ideas just kept coming, she said. Though she was hired to do logistical work, Cole asked to sit in on pitch meetings, which led to her participating in the pitch meetings and some of her ideas getting used on shows!
Networking is what got Cole the job at ABC, as she had met someone at a Temple event that was able to refer her for an interview. Once she settled there, however, Cole did not stop networking. She would often do informationals with people from different departments to learn about what they do. One informational meeting with the head of comedy development at ABC led to Cole landing a job on a pilot starring Kevin Hart; and just in time, too, as Cole was let go from ABC due to budget cuts on the exact day she got that offer.
“If I wasn’t networking, I wouldn’t have had something lined up right after,” Cole said.
Cole freelanced for the Kevin Hart pilot, but it ultimately did not get picked up. Still, working on the pilot gave Cole her first taste of consistently working on a set. Since then, luckily, Cole has not had to do much in the way of looking for jobs, as opportunities usually come to her because of her excellent relationship-building skills.
“She’s putting out a certain energy, and those people felt that energy and they want it,” said Faculty Director for the fall and spring LA Study Away program Lou Pepe (he/him). That energy, he says, consists of optimism, light, grit and authenticity.
After the Hart pilot, Cole worked on FABLife with Tyra Banks before heading to E! to work on the pilot for Daily Pop. At E!, Cole often felt like she didn’t fit in, and other girls often made fun of her for liking superheroes and dressing in bright colors. Nevertheless, Cole didn’t let them dim her light, and she found a good friend and great mentors at the network. A few months ago, Cole ran into her former boss from E!, who started crying because of how proud she is of Cole.
After working at E!, Cole started working on Steve Harvey. Harvey, she said, was a mentor for her, and when the show was canceled, he told his staff not to worry.
A few days before news broke that the show was to be canceled, Cole ran into a former colleague from when she worked on FABLife. The colleague had been working at Access Hollywood, and when she found out a few days later that Cole would need a job, she asked her to come with her to Access, where that colleague has been Cole’s boss for the last two years.
Access was never on Cole’s radar, but she is very happy that she said yes to going to work there. “This job not only allows me to be creative, but I get to be my true, authentic self,” she said.
After only a month of working there, Cole asked if the show ever covers San Diego Comic Con. After being told they normally just get handout footage, Cole told them that she was planning on attending anyway and offered to bring a camera. Cole came back from that Comic Con with an interview with the cast of Black Widow that ended up becoming one of the lead stories for Access Hollywood. “You never know unless you ask,” Cole said.
Since then, Cole had become somewhat of the go-to superhero person for Access Hollywood in addition to her other roles. She has interviewed actors such as Jeremy Renner, Sebastian Stan, Margot Robbie, Gal Gadot, and just about any other actor that has played a superhero on the big screen in the last two years. Cole brings her light to these interviews, often dressing up like the person she’s interviewing. Her energy is infectious, and the interviewees' faces always light up when she starts talking.
In addition to behind the scenes and interview work, Cole also has an acting career. When she first got to LA, Cole was scared to merge her passions for acting and dancing with her production work, and would only pursue acting and dancing when the shows she worked on were on hiatus. Access Hollywood, however, is rarely on hiatus, and when Cole started working there, she worried that her acting career was over.
“If it’s meant to be, everything will work itself out,” Cole repeated her mantra. And it did. She booked her first role on a sitcom, Family Reunion, while at Access Hollywood! At work, she received many congratulations from her colleagues that made her feel at peace pursuing both sides of herself.
“To get the support from my job, it’s so beautiful, and it’s rare,” she said. She hopes to inspire other people to not limit themselves to one area. Cole also recently got a role on The Neighborhood.
“One thing that has always been there for me in any capacity of my life is the Temple community. I have made the greatest friends at Temple, I have the greatest teachers from Temple, and they all kept me grounded,” Cole said. She got her footing in the industry through her involvement with Temple Update and often reflects on how far her interview skills have come since her days as a Temple student.
Cole has made it a point to give back to the Temple community, and always says yes when Caples or Pepe ask her to speak to sections of their students. They both noted her beautiful ability to instill optimism in their students and how she always leaves the class feeling inspired.
“Shaniece is a shining example of somebody who uses everything that they’ve learned at Temple, who at Temple took advantage of as much as possible, and is the embodiment of the grit and enthusiasm that you need to make it,” Caples said. Pepe also feels pride in Cole and said she is one of the LA Study Away programs’ crowning jewels.
“[Shaniece] has a way that she moves through life which we should all be so lucky to find,” Pepe said. He noted that despite facing hard times, Cole always bounced back and did so with a smile on her face.
Cole got choked up when talking about her focus on making sure she is living out her dreams while encouraging others to live out theirs, too. She noted that success isn’t about your résumé, but rather your presence. “What has kept me alive and going, and still going in this industry, is how I’ve made people feel around me,” she said.
Caples and Pepe know that Cole is perfectly situated to do anything she sets her mind to, and they do not doubt for a moment that she will continue to be a light to others along the way.