Darcy Rouhani didn’t grow up with sports or music in her household — she grew up with aviation.
Her dad is an aerospace engineer, and Rouhani hoped to become a pilot one day. But because of sensory issues due to her autism, she took a slightly different route.
“I’m a nerd and read [drone] regulations for breakfast,” Rouhani said with a laugh. “The autism helps me. I’ve got some weird thing where my brain absorbs regulations and rules easily, and I find some comfort in them.”
Rouhani, who grew up in Tampa, founded her company in 2017 in the engineering manufacturing industry. But as the Covid-19 pandemic brought not just downtime but an increase in regulations in the drone industry, Rouhani pivoted to found RoC Aviation Services.
“I think Covid-19 was the catalyst; we were all working from home and had a lot of time to think and be creative,” she said. “It was a result of that and a by-product of that.”
The company launched in May, offering a three-pronged approach to drone regulations. There are liaison services between manufacturers or drone operators and the Federal Aviation Administration. The second arm focuses on military and commercial aviation, and the third ensures noise regulations are met.
“Right now, the only people who are doing what we’re doing are law firms that dedicate their practice to it,” she said. “Which is great and can help with litigation, but we pride ourselves on being aviation engineers having worked in manufacturing. We’re not reading the regulations and translating it; we understand how it applies to the real world.”
The company is bootstrapped, relying on cash flow of its subsidiary, ROC Avionics, which works with government contractors. It has three employees, who are all remote, with hopes to grow to 15 in the coming months. Rouhani is also looking for a physical headquarters for ROC Avionics.
“There’s this part everyone sees, which are people taking it up as a hobby, but most people don’t realize we’re so close to seeing drones everywhere for package delivery, medicine delivery, emergency responding,” she said. “Right now, the drone industry is in this unique place, and the FAA can’t keep up with the drone industry — that’s where we come in.”
In addition to growing her company, she hopes to bring awareness to the importance of providing autism resources in the community.
“One thing I want for people to know about my story is that it is definitely worth it to provide services that people on the spectrum need to help them thrive,” she said, adding she is working with the University of South Florida’s Center for Autism & Related Disabilities. “I’m immersed in what services are needed to help people like myself thrive, and it’s something that’s very near and dear to my heart. It’s amping up the programs that are available to education systems, to law enforcement, but it’s also changing the culture within companies to embrace people that are a little different.”
