James Yesberger received his Bachelor of Design from The Cleveland Institute of Art.  Upon graduation, he worked at Potter & Mellen, a fine jewelry store in Cleveland, and later as a designer at Gorham Silversmiths in Providence, R.I.
Then he visited the Rhinebeck Craft Fair and began selling his own line of jewelry to the trade, acquiring accounts as far away as Austria.
In 1983, unable to resist her uniform, he married his mail carrier.  "We built a house on a lake in Connecticut, raised three children, then moved to Maine to enjoy the rugged coastline."