Melissa grew up in Nashville, TN and graduated from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. She has been a Navy Submariner's wife, a teacher, a missionary, a nursing student,  a project manager, a children's book author, and is the mother of 3 college age young adults- Jackson, Vusumzi, and Grace. She has lived in Hawaii, Connecticut, Virginia, Georgia, and South Africa with her family and loves swapping stories with people. 

In her free time, Melissa runs ultramarathons, bakes muffins, hikes 14ers, reads anything by John Mark Comer, and has lengthy discussions with her dogs.