Host Bios
Host Bios
Kurt & Melissa have been married for over ten years and reside in the beautiful city of Cape Coral, Florida.
Both had previous unhappy marriages so when they met, they were determined that their marriage
would be different and successful. Many factors go into a successful marriage, and they will discuss
those in the Marriage Is Easy/Travel Blog. But, the one thing they kept coming back to was Cooking and
Wine For Lovers Nights. They came to the idea that since Kurt liked to cook and Melissa liked to help, they
would have date night at home that involved dressing up, sometimes with Melissa in risqué clothing, but
always together at home alone enjoying time spent together. Kurt would make great meals with Melissa
helping and there would always be great wine to go with dinner. These nights brought them together
and increased their love and passion for one another. In Kurt’s words, “Waking up in the morning after a
Cooking and Wine For Lovers night always involved so much love. After ten years of doing them, it keeps
getting better!
BACKGROUND
Kurt spent the majority of his life as a pilot. He flew both commercial for US Airways
and also corporate jets for three different billionaires. At US Airways, he made it to Captain, so got to be
Captain Kurt for awhile.
Melissa spent most of her career as a Claims Operations Manager working for the State Government of
Pennsylvania. When she retired early after 25 years, she had a team of 54 people reporting to
her!
Kurt didn’t like being away any longer after marrying Melissa and Melissa grew weary of the drive to
Harrisburg, so in 2013, they opened the first of six Mosquito Joe franchises in the Baltimore/Annapolis
area. They grew their business from zero revenues in 2013 to $2.5 million in revenues in 2019. Along
the way, they were the #1 franchise in the system for all seven years and were awarded the First
Franchisee of the Year in 2017 for the system. They also were awarded the Annapolis & Anne Arundel
County Small Business of the Year award in 2018. They sold the business for a nice profit in 2019 and
moved to their dream home in Cape Coral, Florida where most of Cooking and Wine for Lovers is filmed.
They also own the local Discovery Maps of Southwest Florida franchise printing tourist information maps
for the area. Along with cooking and wine, they enjoy being together almost 24/7, boating, traveling, and
living with the sunshine and palm trees in Florida.