Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Topaz Navarro. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Topaz, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Escape Velocity’s mission is to put young adults on the fast track to high demand career opportunities in science and technology. Our mentoring and education program is designed to use recreational drone flight and competitive gameplay as an introduction to robotics, aviation, aerospace, and the commercial drone industry. We believe in taking experiential, hands-on learning “upstream” to students and communities in order to mitigate exclusion from STEM career opportunities. I firmly believe that learning should be an exhilarating journey, and through the lens of drones, students are introduced to the awe-inspiring world of technology in an engaging and interactive manner.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Topaz Navarro and I am a retired US Army Sergeant Major, FAA Certified Drone Pilot, and STEM Educator. After a twenty-six-year career in the military, twenty years of which were spent in Special Operations with deployments to the Middle East and Africa, I founded Escape Velocity Academy with a resolute mission: to propel young adults onto the express lane to coveted careers in science and technology.

Our approach is to bring our program to the community. We offer custom designed programs ranging anywhere from single day workshops to multi-day or multi-week programs. Central to Escape Velocity Academy’s transformative approach is our utilization of experiential hands-on learning. Our custom programs include manual drone flight (racing), block code-based programming challenges, and competitive gameplay. Because we travel with a constantly evolving inventory of aerial drones our participants are exposed to the most up to date, cutting edge technology which oftentimes is too expensive for many school systems to invest in or provide.

Another key aspect of our program is that it is conducted entirely indoors with educational drones predominantly weighing less than 250 grams. We are free from airspace restrictions and limitations which is another common reason most youth do not have access to drone technology. We come fully equipped with drone cages and drone safety equipment such as propeller guards.

We are most proud of being a major contributor to dispelling the myth that drones are only used to invade privacy, for military operations, or for social media photos / videos. We are actively introducing students and parents to the use of drones for good and the numerous drone career opportunities that currently exist. Agriculture, Wildlife Preservation, Search and Rescue, Critical Infrastructure Inspection, Advanced Air Mobility etc. the list is pretty much endless.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Immediately after retiring from the military, I took a job with a small cybersecurity company as a business development manager. Unfortunately, after my first year on the job over 80% of the company’s employees were let go. As I reflect on my experience, I was not fired, I was launched towards my next opportunity. “Once we reach Escape Velocity all that we need is patience”. Escape Velocity Academy became my full time focus and I had numerous lessons learned from my first civilian job to reflect upon, to improve upon, and hazards to watch out for.

This was a major pivot. This was the first time in 27 years that my income was not a guarantee. Fortunately, I had already been building the foundation for the business, the firing from cybersecurity job was my “burn the ships” moment.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Community outreach events have been our best source of new clients. Because we focus on experiential, hands-on learning it really requires people to see our programs in action. We always travel and set up drone cages to allow people to feel what our program is like. When we place the drone remote in a child’s hand, the pure enjoyment of STEM based learning takes over. We win the potential students over first, then work with the administrators to bring the program to their location.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.escapevelocityacademy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_velocity_academy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapeVelocityAcademy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/escape-velocity-academy/