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Coupled Up: Melissa and Jeff Hayes

This summer, Melissa and Jeff will be married for a decade. It may be their great sense of humor that has kept them together. (For instance, here the couple poses for fun like the American Gothic pitchfork painting, only with dumbell bars.) Both UGA grads, they met at Nowhere Bar in Athens when Jeff kept bumping into Melissa to try and get up to the bartender. They began talking and "I bought him a beer," she says. "I think he loved that! There's nothing like a woman buying you a beer."

The next day he called and asked her out. They've been together ever since. Melissa and Jeff got into working out and the boot camp business after gaining a few post-marriage pounds together. Now they own BTB Fitness, a cross-fit gym with locations in Buckhead, Vinings and Poncey Highlands. It's based on an innovative way of working out with no mechanized machinery. Jeff credits his physical fitness for helping him successfully beat Hodgkin's Lymphoma three times. "The doctors said that if I hadn't been in this shape, it would have made all the difference," says Jeff. "The cancer just can't knock me down."

What's it like for a couple to work together day in and day out? "We work really good together actually," says Melissa. "We're worried we're becoming co-dependent! We're around each other all the time now. And we like it." 

"We don't mind each other's company," says Jeff. "I'm just glad I could step out of corporate America and do what I really love. And we can do it together."

Melissa on Jeff: "He's hardworking and incredibly handsome. But he just won't give up. Ever. He motivates me. AND! You're a good healer honey! I love you because you heal quickly," she says with a chuckle.

Jeff on Melissa: "I appreciate that she's independent and driven. She's a beautiful woman. Absolutely beautiful. She's never met a stranger. And with all the support she's given me over the last 3 years, means more than I can put into words."

Jeff and Melissa in their BTB gym in Buckhead, hanging around.

 

Coupled Up: Melissa and Jeff Hayes
 
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