Meet Charlie and Julie Melton

Charlie came to Waco in 2005 to work with the Baylor basketball team. His passion for the exercise industry led him to being a strength and conditioning coach, where he has a dual focus on winning championships and spreading the gospel.

“Any victory or success we achieve is by the grace of God,” Charlie said. “We compete at a high level to represent our team and families in a way that honors their support and sacrifices.”

The bulk of his responsibility includes physical preparation in the summer, and, during the season, his focus shifts to warm-up, weight workouts and injury rehabilitation. Because of the talented student athletes that are recruited to Baylor,

Charlie has had the opportunity to train 46 student athletes who have gone on to play basketball professionally. 

Julie found a niche passion in pediatric physical therapy. In her leadership role at Hope and Believe Pediatric Therapy, she chose to take the title of chief stewardship officer to remind herself that she is a steward of what God provided.

Hope and Believe Pediatric Therapy serves children with special needs, delays and injuries through physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and applied behavior analysis. They also offer equine therapy, aquatic therapy, therapeutic tricycles and voice output device training.

“Making things magical for the kids is what really motivates me,” Julie said. “The kids and the therapists both come for hard work, but if we can make the environment and experience magical, then the hard part of the work is replaced by laughter.”

Thanks to the orchestration of their mutual friends, Charlie and Julie Melton met in 2012. Later that year, Charlie reintroduced himself when Julie’s sons attended Baylor’s basketball camp, and they went on their first date a few months later.

In 2014, they got married, creating their blended family — Norah, Robbie, Sammie, Aidan and Tristan. Charlie and Julie enjoy opportunities to collaborate professionally, but they find the most joy in collaborating at home with their family and farm, where Charlie is the chef. Balancing time between their professions and family can be difficult, but embracing their passions — performing equestrian therapy on their own farm and participating in Baylor’s basketball program — has brought them nothing but joy and gratitude.