Melanie Underwood Karmazin's passion for pastry and baking started early: when she was eight, already having been baking for four years, she made pâte à choux on her own, and took an éclair out to her father, who was working in the fields of the family's Virginia farm. She had followed a recipe, but by then was already able to make pie dough without one. Her grandmother, and teacher, made dessert every day, using the ample supply of fresh cream, milk, and eggs the farm provided. While in high school, she started working at a local bakery, and for a neighbor who made brownies and cookies to sell at the farmers' market. With no professional aspiration to bake, Underwood Karmazin went to college to realize her lifelong dream of being a lawyer. She soon realized realize that her true love was what she had been doing her whole life, and she followed her mother's advice to try and get a baking job. A hotel was opening nearby, outside of Washington D.C., but when Underwood Karmazin applied she was told she needed a culinary degree. She persisted, saying she'd work for free, and after many weeks, the hotel agreed to set up a type of apprenticeship for her. One of the chefs she worked for took part in a lot of pastry competitions, so Underwood Karmazin learned high-end pastry techniques from the get-go. She moved to New York to open the Four Seasons Hotel in New York in 1993, followed by stints at the Plaza and Tore de Pisa. She then became a consultant for Heartland Brewery, before it became a national chain. Underwood Karmazin enjoyed working in hotels, she said, because the variety of services they offer gives the staff much excitement and diversity.

In 1996, Underwood Karmazin had an emergency appendectomy, and was told that she could not lift anything heavy. Looking for a temporary desk job, she called ICE. Once there, however, Director of Baking Nick Malgieri took one look at her resume and that she should teach. She instantly fell in love with teaching, working with both professional and recreational students. "I don't want to do anything else," she said. "I love teaching. It gives me the opportunity to show students that cooking is not intimidating. I pride myself, especially in my [recreational] classes, that the dishes taste good but are also simple, so that people can go home and make them." A few years after her son's Christian's birth, she reduced her teaching load to focus on recreational classes, and now also develops recipes for food and public relations companies. Along with reading and pottery, cooking is her favorite hobby, and she frequently entertains.