'So Many Amazing Paths in Aviation': AOPA President Offers Life, Career Advice to Embry‑Riddle Students

Darren Pleasance, president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), urged Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students to say yes to opportunity and “get in touch with what lights you up.”

“It's easier, I believe, to carve a path in life if you become good at something. And there's no better way to become good at something than to actually enjoy doing it,” Pleasance said when asked about his advice for young people who are embarking on their careers and nervous about choosing the right path.

“You'll do something a bit more than the average person would do because you inherently like it. And if you do those things over time, you become inherently better at those things,” he added.

Pleasance addressed an engaged crowd of Embry-Riddle students, faculty and staff during a Presidential Speaker Series event on Oct. 8 at the Daytona Beach Campus.

Questions for the event were posed by student-moderator Amy Martin, a senior pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Uncrewed Aircraft Systems. Martin is a student ambassador with the Center for Career and Professional Development and has also served on the College of Aviation Dean’s Student Advisory Board for the past three years.

Their conversation, as well as a Q&A session, touched on Pleasance’s multifaceted career in aviation and business, his approach to success and AOPA’s role in safeguarding and advancing aviation. AOPA is the world’s largest community of general aviation pilots and aircraft owners.

“That’s one thing, hopefully as part of this conversation, you’ll all take away — there are so many amazing paths in aviation,” he said.

Pleasance said that an early, serendipitous experience with model airplanes prompted him to start looking to the skies, and his interest in aviation grew.

“I don't know how many of you came from aviation families, but I did not. I came from a family that had no connection to aviation,” Pleasance said of his career in flight.

Amy Martin, a senior pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, poses questions to Pleasance during the Presidential Speaker Series event. By 17, he had earned his private pilot certificate. By 18, he had gotten his commercial, instrument and flight instructor qualifications.

“I desperately wanted to be an airline pilot,” Pleasance said. But challenges with color vision and, by association, night flight prevented him from pursuing a career with the airlines. Instead, he flew as a corporate pilot, including for celebrities such as John Travolta. Later, he flew charters in the Alaskan bush.

While flying for a private equity firm, he was invited to “come into the office and learn about business.”

“I went from 100 percent pilot, 0 percent anything else, to probably 20 percent pilot, 80 percent associate… I was always this anomaly that was a pilot who could build a cash flow model,” Pleasance said.

His experience prompted him to attend business school, where he earned an MBA and developed an interest in management consulting. He went on to work for major companies and firms, including Cisco's Acceleration Center, Google and McKinsey & Co.

In his current role with AOPA, Pleasance leads an organization that provides resources to hundreds of thousands of members, while also working with the government and community. This has included providing guidance on the safe integration of uncrewed aircraft, the adoption of unleaded fuel and aviation mental health.

As a pilot, he has accrued over 8,000 flight hours in more than 80 different types of aircraft.

Pleasance encouraged students to seize the opportunities that will present themselves in the future.

“When faced with opportunity, most people choose to say no and take a more certain path, or just to keep doing the same thing… someone, years ago, had given me a saying that is shocking how much of an impact it's had on me… when faced with a difficult decision, choose the one that makes for a better story,” he said.

Embry‑Riddle’s Presidential Speaker Series welcomes industry leaders, prominent alumni and trailblazers in aviation, aerospace and related fields to the Daytona Beach Campus. Video from past Speaker Series events can be found online.