She received her B.S. from Cornell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. Prior to becoming a professor, Melissa worked as a manager for Brio Bravo Restaurant Group. She teaches courses in Foodservice Management and Service Experience Management. Her research focuses on service failure and recovery, customer complaining, and appearance and impression formation. She is also the advisor to the only hospitality honor society on campus, Eta Sigma Delta. In addition, her research has been published in the top tier hospitality and marketing journals.