Melody Shari Rodgers, widely known as Melody Holt, was born on November 11, 1985, in Brundidge, Alabama. She is an American entrepreneur, television personality, and author.
Melody built a media and beauty empire after starting out as a middle school English teacher, and she spent nine seasons as one of the central stars of OWN’s Love & Marriage: Huntsville.
Who is Melody Holt?
Melody Holt, who now goes by Melody Shari following her divorce, is an American entrepreneur, public speaker, and media personality.
She first reached national attention as a cast member and co-creator of Love & Marriage: Huntsville, the OWN Network reality series she pitched alongside her then-husband, Martell Holt.
Beyond television, Melody built Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship, a real estate and property management company. She later launched the skincare brand Seventh Avenue Beauty and became co-owner of the media network Nubian TV.
Melody left Love & Marriage: Huntsville in January 2025 after nine seasons on the show. Since then, she has focused her time on her beauty brand, her television network, and her production company, Tilted Crowns Productions.
Early Life of Melody Holt
Melody was born and raised in Brundidge, a small town in Alabama. Her mother, Vanessa Rodgers Tracy, worked as a writer and remains a frequent presence in Melody’s public life.
She grew up singing in her church choir and taking part in school plays and competitions. Melody has said she learned about skincare and self-care as a young girl on Seventh Avenue, an experience that later inspired the name of her beauty brand.
As a teenager, she also began dealing with rosacea, a skin condition that would eventually shape her entrepreneurial path. That early struggle became the foundation for a beauty company she would launch nearly two decades later.
Melody attended Alabama A&M University, where she pursued a degree in English Language Arts. Following graduation, she worked as a middle school English teacher, a job that led directly to meeting her future husband.
Melody Holt Age
Melody Holt is 40 years old as of 2026, born on November 11, 1985. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio.
She has been running her own businesses since she was 25 years old. That makes 2026 her fifteenth year as a full-time entrepreneur.
Melody Holt Ethnicity and Nationality
Melody Holt is American. She is African American and was raised by her mother in Brundidge, Alabama.
Her mother, Vanessa Rodgers Tracy, authored the book “Ushered Yet Abandoned: The Mask Of A First Lady.” Melody has often credited her mother’s example as a driving force behind her own writing and business career.
Melody Holt Education
Melody enrolled at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Alabama A&M University. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Arts Teacher Education.
While in college, she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She was also involved in the school’s gospel choir and other student organizations.
After graduating, Melody put her degree to direct use. She took a job teaching English at a middle school, where she met Martell Holt, the man who would become her husband.
Melody Holt Career
Melody’s career has moved through education, reality television, real estate, music, and beauty. Each chapter built directly on the one before it.
Early Career
Melody began working as a middle school English teacher after finishing college. She and Martell Holt started dating in early 2007 and married on July 20, 2008.
The couple eventually left their teaching jobs behind. They started a lawn care business together, which they grew into a much larger operation over the following years.
That lawn care venture evolved into Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship, a real estate and property preservation company founded in October 2010.
Melody has served as an operating leader of the business since its founding, which the couple also expanded into Holt Custom Homes, an interior design venture.
Founding Love & Marriage: Huntsville and Building a Brand
Melody and Martell pitched a reality show built around their real estate collective, The Comeback Group. Love & Marriage: Huntsville premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2018, produced by Carlos King’s Kingdom Reign Productions.
The series followed Melody, Martell, and several other Black couples as they worked together in Huntsville, Alabama real estate. It quickly became one of OWN’s top-rated shows.
Melody and Martell divorced in 2021 after their marriage became a central storyline on the series. The show documented the fallout, including allegations of infidelity that played out publicly across multiple seasons.
In March 2021, Melody released her debut single, “Tell Tale Signs,” which reached number four on the R&B charts. She has said the song reflected what she went through during her divorce.
Current Ventures
Melody founded the skincare and beauty brand Seventh Avenue Beauty, which she began developing in 2017 before its full launch in 2022. The brand includes skincare, body care, haircare, and cosmetics, and it grew out of her own struggles with rosacea.
She also became co-owner of Nubian TV, a media network, and she launched a production company called Tilted Crowns Productions. Through Tilted Crowns, she produces shows including Charnita’s World.
In January 2025, Melody announced her departure from Love & Marriage: Huntsville after nine seasons. She said in her farewell statement that the chapter needed to close, while thanking fans for their loyalty over the years.
Since leaving the show, Melody has focused on running Seventh Avenue Beauty and Nubian TV full time. She continues to teach entrepreneurship through Masterclass with Melody, a coaching program she started in June 2020.
Melody Holt Companies and Investments
Melody’s business portfolio spans several industries. Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship remains active in real estate and property services.
Seventh Avenue Beauty is her skincare and cosmetics line. She also co-owns Nubian TV and runs Tilted Crowns Productions, her television production company.
Masterclass with Melody rounds out her ventures. The program trains aspiring entrepreneurs using lessons drawn from her own business history.
Melody Holt Business Achievements
Melody helped grow Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship into a multimillion-dollar company within about a decade of its founding. She did this while also co-creating and starring in a nationally broadcast reality series.
She has built Seventh Avenue Beauty into a brand covering skincare, haircare, body care, and cosmetics. She also became the first personality from her reality franchise to own a television network, according to her own account in Ebony magazine.
Melody co-authored two books. She wrote “The 9-5 Entrepreneur: Twelve Questions to Consider Before Taking the Leap” with Martell Holt, and she released “Pretty and Prestigious: 7 Keys to Breakthrough and Inner Beauty” in 2022.
Melody Holt Awards and Recognition
Melody won the Reality Queen award at the American Reality Television Awards, also known as the ARTAS. The Reality Queen honor recognizes the year’s most popular reality television star as voted by fans.
She received the award in November 2024 for her work on Love & Marriage: Huntsville. It stands as one of the clearest industry acknowledgments of her reach as a reality television personality.
Melody Holt Ex-Husband
Melody was married to Martell Holt for roughly 13 years. The couple started dating in early 2007 and married on July 20, 2008, before Melody took his last name.
Their marriage played out publicly on Love & Marriage: Huntsville, including allegations of infidelity on Martell’s part. Melody and Martell divorced in 2021.
The pair remain connected through Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship, which they still co-own. As of 2026, Melody has not publicly confirmed a new relationship, though she has spoken about dating again since her divorce.
Melody Holt Children
Melody and Martell Holt share four children together, a son and three daughters. She has described picking her children up from school and activities as part of her daily routine, even while running multiple businesses.
Following the divorce, the couple maintained joint legal and physical custody of their children. Melody has said staying close to Huntsville, where Martell also lives, was an important factor in her post-divorce living situation.
Melody Holt Net Worth
Melody Holt’s estimated net worth is $2.5 million as of 2026. Her income comes from Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship, Seventh Avenue Beauty, Nubian TV, her production company, book sales, and public speaking engagements.
Her earnings during her run on Love & Marriage: Huntsville added to that total for nine seasons. Since leaving the show in 2025, her business ventures have become her primary source of income.
Melody Holt Social Media
Melody is active on Instagram under the handle @melodyshari, where she posts about her businesses, family, and daily life. Her bio there lists her work as a producer, host, recording artist, and the owner of Seventh Avenue Beauty.
She also runs a YouTube channel under @melodysharirodgers, where she shares content related to Nubian TV and her personal projects. Her fanbase refers to itself as the Melometers, a name she uses often across her platforms.
The Bottom Line
Melody Holt helped launch Love & Marriage: Huntsville in 2018 and spent nine seasons as one of its central stars before announcing her departure in January 2025.
She turned that platform into Holt & Holt Entrepreneurship, a multimillion-dollar real estate company she still co-owns with her ex-husband.
Melody grew up in Brundidge, Alabama, and worked as a middle school English teacher before becoming an entrepreneur. She later channeled her own struggle with rosacea into Seventh Avenue Beauty, a skincare brand she began building in 2017.
Since leaving reality television, Melody has focused on running Seventh Avenue Beauty, her Nubian TV network, and Masterclass with Melody.
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