TLDR: Kelly Dale has successfully transformed her American Restoration fame into a thriving dual-career in 2026. She’s a licensed real estate agent operating in both Nevada and Arizona with over $14 million in sales, and co-owns My Best Font Forward, a laser-cut metal art and custom embroidery business with her husband Rick. Her strategic post-TV pivot has made her a model for reality star career sustainability.
Who could forget History Channel’s popular series American Restoration? Made for the history books, the antique restorer series gave fans the front seat to vintage restoration projects, and in true reality style, served entertainment with its daily shenanigans.
Despite the popular series surrounding Rick Dale (owner of Rick’s Restorations), it was not just Rick who made the reality television series distinctive. The series was made up of his family members, including his wife Kelly, whom Rick adores.
On American Restoration, Kelly gained attention from fans for being the woman behind the success of “Rick Restorations” and, ultimately, her husband’s $4.5 million net worth.
After being fired from the show in 2016, Kelly’s achievements were not as accessible to fans.
However, the reality star has been doing big things. Here is a comprehensive look at what Kelly Dale has been up to these days and how she’s built an empire beyond reality television.
Who is Kelly Dale?
Born Kelly Mayer, the reality star hails from New York. Kelly and her parents moved to Las Vegas when she was a child and have lived there ever since. A strong pillar in Kelly’s life is her marriage to Rick Dale.
Kelly first met Rick at a gym that they both conveniently went to at 3 in the morning. One night she invited Rick to a party, which he mistook for a date, Rick told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Once he eventually got his shot to pursue the reality star, the two became attracted to one another, and the rest is history. Rick married Kelly in the show’s 3rd season, and over the years, all they have shown fans are happy marriage moments.
The couple has three children: Brettly and Tyler, from their previous marriages, and daughter Ally, whom they share.
Kelly is not just a warm person to her family; Kelly extends that love to the community, being involved with charities such as the American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, Helping Hands of Vegas Valley, and Veterans Village of Las Vegas.
Apart from being a loving mom and wife, she is known to be the woman behind spearheading the success of Rick’s once battered restoration business.
In 2008, the couple became co-owners of Rick Restorations, and Kelly helped Rick control the business operations of the antique restoration shop, including handling payroll, ordering parts, maintaining the budget, and customer relations.
The End of an Era: American Restoration and Rick’s Restorations
For six years, Kelly Dale featured on History’s American Restoration, and no signs showed that her stay on the show would quickly come to an end.
Fans were shocked when the entire cast was fired after the sixth season of the show.
The show was renewed for a seventh season with a completely new cast and format, but American Restoration without the Dale family did not cut it for fans, and the show was finally scrapped in 2016.
As of 2025, the physical location of Rick’s Restorations at 1112 S. Commerce Street in downtown Las Vegas is confirmed closed to the public. The facility, which once operated as a bustling tour stop where fans could pay for guided walkthroughs, no longer functions as a walk-in restoration shop.
While persistent internet rumors suggested that a tragic accident caused the shop’s closure, these claims are unfounded. The closure was a strategic downsizing driven by the show’s cancellation and the economic realities of running a high-end restoration business without the subsidization of a television production budget.
Rick Dale has not completely abandoned the craft. He reportedly continues to undertake select restoration projects on a smaller scale and has transitioned his expertise into intellectual property, authoring books such as “Classic Soda Machines.” However, the industrial-scale operation seen on TV is no more.
Kelly’s role in this wind-down phase was critical, as the individual responsible for the business side, she likely oversaw the difficult process of managing the transition, liquidating assets, and launching their new ventures.
Kelly Dale’s Thriving Real Estate Career
Although fans know Kelly for her operational and marketing expertise and for being Rick’s Restoration wife, Kelly has more skill up her sleeves. According to Kelly Dale’s professional profiles, before joining American Restoration, the American reality television star and mother of three was a licensed realtor specializing in marketing.
Her real estate license dates back to 2001, giving her over 24 years of experience in the field, making real estate her foundational career rather than a post-TV pivot.
After the show, Kelly Dale focused on working as a real estate agent in Las Vegas and boasts an impressive track record. She currently operates under the brokerage O48 Realty in Nevada, but a significant development occurred in January 2024 when she expanded her licensure to Arizona, joining Realty One Group Mountain Desert in Kingman.
The Arizona Expansion Strategy
Kelly’s expansion into Kingman, Arizona, represents a savvy business move that reflects broader demographic trends in the American Southwest. As Las Vegas housing prices have surged, many residents and retirees are migrating southeast to Arizona for affordability.
By holding licenses in both Nevada and Arizona, Kelly can manage the entire lifecycle of a client selling in Las Vegas and buying in Arizona, retaining the commission on both sides of the transaction. This cross-border capability gives her a significant competitive advantage in the market.
Impressive Real Estate Numbers
Quantitative analysis of Kelly Dale’s recent transaction history reveals she’s not a hobbyist agent but a high-volume producer. Over the past five years, Kelly has closed 26 transactions totaling approximately $14.1 million in sales volume.
Her average sale price of $543,800 positions her in the upper-middle class segment, well above the national median. Her highest listing in 2025 was a stunning $1,998,000 estate, demonstrating her capability to handle luxury properties.
Interestingly, Kelly’s business skews heavily toward buyer representation, with 18 buyer deals totaling over $10.5 million compared to 8 seller deals totaling $3.6 million. This suggests that her value proposition is heavily weighted on trust and guidance.
Fans and clients familiar with her TV persona, which was characterized by competence, organization, and advocacy, seek her out to guide them through the complex purchase process. She explicitly markets this capability, promising to “guide you to local neighborhoods” and “negotiate on your behalf.”
The Car Culture Real Estate Niche
A critical insight into Kelly’s real estate success is her specialization in properties that appeal to the automotive enthusiast demographic, the very same people who watched American Restoration. Her late 2025 listing of a $1,998,000 estate perfectly illustrates this niche.
The property features 1.5 acres, two separate workshops (1,440 sq ft and 600 sq ft), garages equipped with car lifts, and horse property considerations.
This isn’t a standard suburban tract home; it’s a compound designed for makers, collectors, and mechanics. By specializing in this inventory, Kelly leverages her specific domain knowledge, knowing exactly what a restorer or car enthusiast needs in a workshop.
She’s effectively selling the American Restoration lifestyle, but through real estate rather than restored objects.
Her transaction history shows concentrations in areas like Kyle Canyon, Boulder City (a historic preservation area perfect for antique enthusiasts), and La Madre Foothills, all offering larger lot sizes suitable for custom amenities.
My Best Font Forward: The Manufacturing Pivot
While real estate provides financial stability, the Dale family’s entrepreneurial spirit has found a new outlet in My Best Font Forward, a Limited Liability Company based in Las Vegas managed by Kelly and Rick Dale.
This venture represents a sophisticated pivot from the service economy of restoring one item for one client to the product economy of manufacturing many items for many clients.
My Best Font Forward focuses on laser-cut metal art including signage, home décor, and functional metal pieces, custom embroidery and personalized apparel, and personalized gifts targeting the “farmhouse industrial” aesthetic that’s popular in home design.
Unlike the restoration shop, which relied on vintage tools and hand-craftsmanship, this new venture is built on modern CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology.
Kelly has publicly documented her integration of Full Spectrum Laser equipment, specifically upgrading to a PS48 model. The shift to laser technology allows for rapid prototyping and production.
A design created once can be cut hundreds of times with zero marginal labor cost for the cutting process. This solves the primary bottleneck of American Restoration, where Rick had to hand-paint lettering for every project. Now the machine cuts it, making the business infinitely more scalable.
The Subscription Revenue Innovation
A key innovation in Kelly’s business strategy is the introduction of recurring revenue through the “Create from a Box” subscription service. For approximately $25 per month, subscribers receive a DIY kit containing all supplies needed to create a sign or craft project. This moves the business from a transactional model of waiting for a customer to buy one sign to a retention model with guaranteed monthly income.
The subscription capitalizes on the “maker movement” and the parasocial relationship fans have with the Dales.
Subscribers aren’t just buying a product; they’re “creating” alongside Kelly, maintaining the connection they felt watching her on American Restoration. It’s a brilliant way to monetize the goodwill built during six seasons of television.
The #VegasSignGirl Brand
Kelly Dale has cultivated a specific personal brand distinct from Rick’s through the moniker and hashtag #VegasSignGirl. This branding serves multiple strategic functions. It anchors her firmly in Las Vegas iconography (neon, signs, desert aesthetics), creates a distinct identity for her art that’s separate from Rick’s restoration fame, and positions her as a creator in her own right rather than just “Rick’s wife.”
She uses this handle to offer discounts and promo codes for laser equipment, monetizing her influence as a “maker influencer” in the crafting community. The #VegasSignGirl identity has allowed Kelly to step out of Rick’s shadow and establish herself as an independent entrepreneur and artist.
Community Leadership and Civic Engagement
When you thought the reality star could not be more impressive, well, she does even more. Apart from all the things Kelly engages in, she is an existing board member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Serving on such a board requires background checks and a reputation for integrity, acting as a credibility shield that counters any negative perceptions sometimes associated with reality TV.
Her membership in the Las Vegas Hospitality Association keeps her connected to the city’s tourism engine, ensuring she remains in the loop for major events and real estate developments. These civic engagements have transformed Kelly from a TV personality into a respected community pillar, ensuring that her status in Las Vegas is independent of her television ratings.
In her spare time, Kelly attends car shows. Kelly is quite the car show fanatic who has had the opportunity to co-host a car show with Rick in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Despite leaving the restoration business, Kelly and Rick remain fixtures in the car show circuit, making appearances at major industry events like SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas and the Megaspeed Custom Car & Truck Show in Toronto.
These appearances are strategic business development for both her real estate business (meeting car collectors who need large garages) and My Best Font Forward (selling custom garage art), while keeping the Dale name relevant in the automotive subculture.
The Dale Family Today
Following the show, the Dale family has largely retreated from the intrusive nature of 24/7 filming. Rick Dale has adopted a quieter life, focusing on his metal art and grandchildren. He’s less active on platforms like X (Twitter) and YouTube, shifting his limited social media presence to Instagram where he documents his fabrication work and family life.
The children have pursued independent paths. Brettly Otterman has established his own successful mobile sandblasting business, Clean Works Mobile Media Blasting, essentially spinning off a specific skill he learned in the shop into a standalone service.
Tyler has continued in fabrication but maintains a low profile. Recent updates indicate that Kelly and Rick are now grandparents, a life stage that reinforces their decision to step back from the grind of high-volume business operations.
It might still be a blow to fans that they don’t get to see Kelly and the original American Restoration cast on their television screens; however, the strategic wind-down of the antique restoration company made room for Kelly to focus on her dual passions of real estate and modern manufacturing.
Based on her social media posts, she enjoys more time with family and kids while running two successful businesses.
A Model Post-Reality Career
Kelly Dale stands as a model for the successful post-reality TV career. Unlike many reality stars who struggle when the cameras stop rolling, Kelly has leveraged her fame strategically. She uses her public recognition not to sell cheap merchandise, but to act as a trusted advisor in high-value real estate transactions.
She’s diversified her income streams by combining commission-based income from real estate with recurring revenue from subscription boxes and product sales from metal art.
Most importantly, she modernized the family business, shepherding the transition from an unscalable service business (restoration) to a scalable manufacturing business (My Best Font Forward).
Through board memberships and charity work, she’s ensured that her status in Las Vegas is built on substance, professional licensure, and community engagement rather than fleeting television fame.
As of 2026, Kelly Dale has successfully proven that there is indeed life and profit after the cameras stop rolling. Her story demonstrates that reality TV fame, when managed intelligently, can be a launching pad rather than a dead end.
