Melody grew up in Birmingham, graduated from Shades Valley HS in 1988, and in 1992 graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in elementary education. She taught in Birmingham for 10 years. Two of those years were in the Jefferson County school system, and the other eight years were in the Vestavia Hills City Schools. In 2002, she accepted a position with The University of Alabama’s National Alumni Association to be the manager of chapter development. She held this position until 2004 when she married her husband, Joe, and moved to Houston. Joe is also a 1980 graduate of The University of Alabama.
Upon marriage and her move to Houston, she became one of the first two regional recruiters hired by Dr. Witt and Roger Thompson, the director of admissions. Her role in Houston was to recruit high school students. She held this position until 2009 when she stopped working to raise their daughters.