Jessica Dragoiu, left, a Boardman graduate, and her husband, Glen, show off some of the fireworks available at Phantom Fireworks, where Jessica is the pyrotechnics purchasing and product development manager.

Most people work our entire lifetime to experience a little glory or fame.

But Jessica Dragoiu was destined for success at a very early age. She attributes her successes to a strong upbringing and parents, Jonathan and Paulette Moore, who always were very driven.

“My parents were such an inspiration in every facet of my life and set my siblings and me on a path to excel in every walk of life,” Dragoiu said.

Dragoiu, a native of Niles who lives in Ravenna with her husband, Glen, and 11-week-old twins, Ambrose and Reagan, is the pyrotechnics purchasing and product development manager for Phantom Fireworks. The company, which is headquartered in Warren and has corporate offices in Youngstown, is the largest fireworks company in America. Its CEO is Bruce Zoldan, who lives in Canfield.

oardman High School and Kent State University.

Her journey began while a 9-year-old student at Niles Elementary School. Her parents were missionaries and received the calling from God to uproot the family and journey to Senegal, West Africa.

Her father was pastor at the time at the Assembly of God, a local church but also a national organization, which assisted them financially from many other churches across the country. This was the move that would change their lives forever.

“My mother knew it would be a challenge since the family of six included four children from ages 3 to 12. I was 9 at the time and our ages were 3, 6, 9 and 12. We learned so much about life from Mom because she made this difficult transition look so easy. Her organization and discipline, in our new home in a different school in a different country, was an amazing feat. We were safe in Senegal. The school was a widely international American school. There were always eight or more different nationalities in our school every year. We learned so much from all of the different cultures and gained respect for what we have in our own nation back home,” Dragoiu said.

Her father’s job, on the other hand, was not so safe. He traveled and missioned in war torn Sierra Leone and Liberia, not far from Senegal, which escalated into a civil war at the time. He used the relief money he was given to assist the English speaking regions with the rebuilding of their churches and homes that were bombed out.

“My father was such a pillar of strength and a brave but kind man that was deeply respected by all. We feared and worried that he may not be coming home. We prayed each day with mother for dad’s safe return. According to my father, there were different battles and disruptions going on constantly. We feared for his life. Our family was built on faith and we all held on to the belief in a higher power,” Dragoiu said.

She and her siblings learned a lot about helping the needy from their parents there.

There were a lot of local churches in Sierra Leone that needed constant help because of the amount of orphans. Lack of food and the threat of starvation was a major problem. So her mother and siblings would set up a food pantry right in their garage to help as much as they could.

“It was a learning experience for us all, even at such an early age. Father did survive the worst of times there and we all returned safely following five long years,” Dragoiu said.

On her return back to America, she started her freshman year at the Youngstown Christian School. But her parents could not get enough of missionary work. In 2008, they started the Hope Project. Paulette Moore was on the board and instrumental in raising enough money to send Jonathan and a group of men back to Sierra Leone for several years. It was a nonprofit organization that helped to build more churches, schools, houses and drilled 21 wells to help provide safe water for their people.

Dragoiu now was driven like her parents and was determined to make a statement and succeed in high school and beyond. Even though she never played basketball before, she was introduced to Boardman High School basketball coach Ron Moschella. She not only learned how to dribble and shoot, but she learned a lot about the importance of teamwork.

She praised Moschella for believing in her and for being the great motivator and teacher that he was. In 2003, as a sophomore, she helped set a school record in track in the 4×800 meter relay and placed third at the state meet. She also was a state qualifier in the 800-meter, placing sixth at state as a junior. She also anchored the 4×400 in 2005 and set a new school record. As a senior, she captained the district and regional championship basketball team in 2005. She led the team in scoring, rebound, and blocked shots. She also was the Federal League player of the year and 1st team All-State.

She went on to KSU and excelled there also. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA with a concentration in international business. During her college years, she lettered in three sports: cross country and indoor and outdoor track. She received the Conference Presidential Award during the 2008-09 year.

While at KSU, she found time to work at a local Phantom Fireworks store each summer to earn some spending money. But after graduating in 2011, she interviewed and was hired as a teacher at Youngstown Christian School.

“After that year, I was given an opportunity of a lifetime (at Phantom Fireworks). It was the break I was looking for. An opportunity to gain employment with a, large successful, nationwide company and showcase the knowledge I gained during my MBA studies in graduate school,” she said.

She took an entry level position in 2012 and moved up the corporate ladder very quickly. She became a corporate retail store management trainer. She trained store managers on everything they needed to know about store operations. After a two-year period, in 2014, purchasing team member for over 80 brick and mortar stores was added to her responsibilities. Then, in 2016, she once again was promoted to purchasing and product development and worked directly with Alan Zoldan (Bruce’s brother) on the development of new items.

One of the perks of her position was being able to check out the new products first hand.

“It was another dream come true. Management thought it would be a good fit for me to check out the new pyrotechnic innovations in China. I loved travel so much as a child and really missed it. So I jumped at the chance. In China the purchasing team would set up our office outdoors and experience each new product, discuss it, and if the product was fascinating and entertaining enough, we ordered many for all stores. It is such a pleasurable trip to be able to bring the world’s most amazing fireworks demonstrations right here to our valley and throughout 48 other states,” Dragoiu said.

She made a buying trip to China by herself in 2019. She worked with 30 different suppliers, took notes and made suggestions.

“We also listen to our customers and work to give them exactly what they are expecting. This trip turned out to be the last trip before COVID-19 hit. This year, the suppliers came to us,” she said.

Dragoiu loves her job, but misses her 11-week-old twins.

“Children are an overwhelming blessing and corporate allowed me to spend all of this time with the newborn twins. Thank God my sister is a teacher and has the summers off, and my brother promises to nurture them every Friday. The rest of the time, they will be in day care. My family is quite a blessing,” she said.

Her husband Glen just happens to be the director of showroom store operations. He also is responsible for more than 80 brick-and mortar-stores nationwide. He oversees the regional managers and co-directors as well. There also are many Phantom pop-up tents in many locations as well as firework kiosks in “Big Box” stores, such as Menards, Giant Eagle and other. But the brick and mortars are the bulk of Phantom’s business.