The Haleys met in 1989 as undergraduates at Clemson University. While Nikki Haley is a Clemson graduate, Michael graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Business administration. Michael Haley is a graduate of Hilton Head Preparatory School.

Michael and Nikki Haley were married in 1996 in two ceremonies, a Sikh ceremony, and a ceremony at St. Andrew's by-the-Sea, the Methodist church in Hilton Head, where Haley's parents, Carole and Bill, have lived since retiring from jobs in Cleveland, Ohio when Michael was in the ninth grade. Before retiring to Hilton Head, Bill Haley was Director of a steel Manufacturing plant and Carole Haley taught school.

Haley worked in Exotica International, the clothing store founded by his mother-in-law, Raj Randhawa, before becoming a full-time federal military technician with the South Carolina Army National Guard in 2006.

In January 2012, Haley shipped out for a year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan as a captain in the South Carolina Army National Guard. The unit served in Helmand Province as an Agribusiness Development Team helping Afghan farmers improve farming techniques and develop cash crops to replace opium poppies. Haley served as a liaison between the military and civilian authorities. He is thought to have been the first spouse of a governor to serve on active duty in a war zone.

Since Haley is the first person to become First Gentleman of South Carolina, and because there have only been 15 First Gentlemen in American history, including the five men in that role as of 2015, there was speculation about what his role would be. Haley chaired the foundation that oversees the preservation and management of the South Carolina Governor's Mansion in Columbia.