Kelly Bryan Johnson

Leader of Optimism, Drive, & Flight

Kelly Bryan-Johnson

520-304-1099 | Kelly@KellyBryanGroup.com

Kelly Bryan-Johnson’s paternal great-grandfather, C. G. Taylor, was a self-taught aeronautical engineer and aviator, from Rochester, New York, and is lauded as The Father of Private Aviation in America. Great-grandpa Taylor, along with his brother Gordon, formed Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in Rochester, NY during the Roaring 20’s but later moved the company during the Great Depression to Bradford, PA “where the townsfolk had offered him a new factory and the local airfield” plus $50,000 from investors.  “Are you kidding me,” Kelly squeaked, “real estate, planes and cash?”

The company’s ad campaign: "Buy Your Airplane Taylor Made!” sounds like a political slogan.  However, there is nothing shallow or corny about the intent. The company and designs were purchased by C.G. Taylor’s business partner, William T. Piper after the factory fire, and Great-grandpa’s designs were built, relatively unchanged, under the now famous Piper name. Kelly’s Great-grandfather’s planes, are “the longest running production aircraft in the world, also the safest aircraft ever built with only 6 Airworthiness Directives (AD’s), no airframe failures, no spar failures, no wing failures,” for over the last 75 years. Taylorcraft, now at South Padre International Airport at Brownsville, Texas, is an American aviation icon.

With this same dogged determination and verve for life, Kelly Bryan-Johnson, was born in Oxnard, CA, the eldest of 4 siblings, to Ed and Cathie Bryan.   While raising their young family, “Ed & Cathie, both smart, conscientious, hard-working entrepreneurs, moved 2,000 miles across country, to a small town of 3,000 in Western Kentucky.  “They wanted to raise us in a small town with homegrown values and experiences”, said Kelly.

Settling in Tucson, AZ in 1985, the young and gregarious Kelly fell in love with the desert and decided to stay.  She belts out, “I LOVE AZ!” in the same tone and key as Randy Newman sings about loving LA.  “You know, if you let it, the desert will grab a hold of you and never let go.  All this sunshine, those mountains and wide-open spaces are 100% addictive.  Any memories of a sizzling summer quickly fade when you're ‘bundled-up’ in a casual cardigan or light jacket most of the winter”, Kelly adds.

In her career, Kelly learned quickly and moved into the purchasing deparment at Tucson Electric Power (TEP) before taking college courses in business at night and becoming a corporate purchasing agent for ASARCO, an international copper mining company.  Not surprisingly, though, building on her family’s creative genius and entrepreneurial flair, Kelly flew into sales with the same sense of ease as the Taylor Cub takes flight.  From large corporations such as Boise Cascade (office products) to Cardinal Heath (healthcare) to Long Realty (real estate), Kelly learned the art of quality customer service and relationship-building.  “It has always been and will always be about what’s best for my clients, regardless of the industry!” she said. 

After twelve years inside the real estate industry, Kelly is the team leader of the Kelly Bryan Group which recently moved to Realty Executives Tucson Elite (RETE) because, according to this heir to flight, “it is a long-running brand – over 50 years – run by business people focused on the agents – not some far-off corporation. RETE has managed to keep that local, home grown feel and focus with an impressive International Brand…..I LOVE THAT!” Building relationships, in and out of the office, are what motivate me and RETE has welcomed our team into their “family”.

On the home front, Kelly is married to West Point graduate, Mark S. Johnson, they have two very cool, school-age children, she is a professional singer and of course an avid fan of all things U of A.  As a domestic violence and cancer survivor, Kelly makes it a point to speak out to help other women protect themselves from both! Back to Tucson, she wrote: “Our four mountain ranges are breathtaking every day; and I can't think of a better, more beautiful and economical place to call home and “fly about”. That's why I do what I do, helping make Arizona a more ‘lived in’ place, one home at a time.”