Kelley Dragon entered the military at the age of 20, after graduating from Florida Southern College (Lakeland) by way of a 4-year ROTC scholarship, completed in three years. She discovered a love for flying, and became a helicopter Instructor Pilot in the Army. She retired from the service in 1996, in Virginia, and became a graphic design artist and the first webmaster for the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Kelley moved to Brevard County, Florida, in 2000. With her computer troubleshooting skills, she became a computer repair technician for the City of Palm Bay. After another stint of graphic design, she left the workforce in 2003 to pursue an engineering degree at the University of Central Florida (Orlando). In order to finish her degree in the shortest time possible, she took a full slate of classes every semester including summers. She graduated in December, 2005, with a degree in Environmental Engineering.

To keep her sanity during that time, she took up embroidery, beading and wire-wrapping. Curiosity led her to learn to weld silver and gold for more refined and intricate jewelry designs. Very often she pushed herself to design pieces that were well beyond her skill level…there were some “oops” results, but they sometimes turned into “aha!” discoveries. When the housing and land development markets declined, Kelley was laid off from an engineering firm. Knowing there would soon be a wave of younger engineers suffering the same fate, she turned her hobby of jewelry-making into her calling.