Melissa grew up in Orange Beach as a member of one of the founding families of Orange Beach. She is a Foley High School graduate, graduating as number 7 out of 250 graduates. She then attended the University of Montevallo, graduating with a Bachelor of Science. As Owner and Director of Discovery Island, Ms. Lissa, as the children call her, has taken eight hundred hours of training in Early Childhood Education and Pre-School Management.
She has been married for 40 years to her husband and co-owner, Mr. Eddie. They have 2 grown children. William, who is a Troy University graduate, currently lives in Eureka, CA with his wife, Nicolette. They have one child, Violet Lucia, who is 4 years old and Melissa and Eddie's only grandchild. Will works for Riot Games which is an international gaming company with League of Legions being their premier product. Eddie and Melissa also have a daughter, Tessa, who is a graduate of Lander University in South Carolina. Tessa also spent a year in Los Angeles at EI International to become a certified make-up artist. She currently works at Columbia Southern University and does freelance make up jobs in her spare time. Both children attended Discovery Island in its beginning years.
Melissa was an officer for 6 years at her church, St. Jude's Lutheran Church in Gulf Shores. She is a past member of the Children's Policy Council of Baldwin County and a current member of the Alabama Association for Early Learning. In December of 2008 Ms. Melissa became the first Director in Baldwin County certified by the State of Alabama in their, at that time, newly mandated Alabama Early Learning Guidelines. Most recently, in 2023 she received her National Director's Credential.
Ms. Melissa has always acted as Director of Discovery Island since its inception. In addition, she also taught the Pre-K class for 15 years.