Melody Winston, senior executive of Living Fresh Market, did not set out to become a supermarket operator. It was pure happenstance. On October 7, 2021, a door opened for Living Word Christian Center, founded and headed by her father, Dr. Bill Winston, in Forest Park, Ill., to move beyond feeding the hungry spiritually to feeding them physically. The owner of Living Fresh Market, a 71,000-square-foot supermarket that served as an anchor in the Forest Park Plaza shopping center, decided to leave the business. Living Word Christian Center jumped at the opportunity to serve a community that needed access to a full-scale grocery store. Since opening Living Fresh in June 2022, Melody has guided the nation’s largest Black-owned supermarket to the top by providing fresh and high-quality produce, seafood, meat and products that cater to customersworldwide. The supermarket has not only become a first stop for vendors of color dreaming of bringing their products to the marketplace but it hasalso significantly improved the quality of life for Forest Park residents.Melody was born to Dr. Winston and Ms. Carolyn Williams on the Seymour Johnson Air Force base in North Carolina where her father was a Top Gun fighter pilot. She also is an heir of Clarabelle Williams, who started the first black-owned medical clinic in the United States. She began her career serving as a realtor for one of Chicago’s most prestigious realty companies. Her proven success in that arena led to more than a decade of managing commercial properties as well as owning and operating Golden Eagle Construction Company as a licensed general contractor.Melody serves as the executive director of Corporate Property Assets for Living Word Christian Center, where she manages the organization’s multimillion dollar portfolio of assets. In addition to that role, she is the Director of Real Estate and Construction for Living Word Christian Center, the Forest Park Plaza and the Washington Plaza located in Tuskegee, Ala. She oversees operations, construction and economic development for these entities.In 2012, Melody co-founded the Legacy Flight Academy, a program dedicated to exposing youth from underrepresented communities to the world of aviation. Highly skilled pilots convened at the airport to teach youth how to fly and pursue careers in aviation. She formerly served as the vice president of Golden Eagle Aviation, which is a fixed base operation specializing in jet charters, jet maintenance and fuel services.