Passion
Listening to Gauld, one gets the sense that the man really cares about these four values and that they mean more to him than a sales pitch. Throughout our interview, he says several times that Optima Aero exists to “clean up the yard” or to reduce helicopter-industry
carbon emissions
through recycling and restoring aircraft and parts that are becoming scarce.
He has passion for what he does, and he says that’s his company’s key to success. “My leadership style can be summed up in one word: passion. As an entrepreneur, I’m passionate about innovation and about meeting and talking with people, but I also want to have fun and engage. We move and adapt in our space fast, so I want people who can do that and be leaders themselves. All that requires passion.”
Good Advice
Yet, Gauld is learning to temper this passion. “I thank the wise men and women on my advisory board who told me several times, ‘Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.’ I’m learning to accept that sometimes good is good enough, especially when you’re starting up. As an entrepreneur who pushes himself very hard, it’s unrealistic to expect perfection from others. Developing a tolerance for imperfection was good advice I needed.” (Advisors include sages such as Larry Alexandre, president of United Rotorcraft, who is Gauld’s longtime friend.)
Gauld also heeded more good advice from his board. “I was also advised to invest early in quality processes that could handle increasing sales. It was an up-front cost, but I’m now so appreciative we did it because it brought us huge credibility by being ready to deliver on time and brought us ahead of the curve not only through innovation, but
14 July/Aug 2025
also through standardization. I like to say we’re a small company who thinks like a big company.”
That saying also fits the helicopter industry, because Gauld sees it as a small aviation sector that does big things. “The rotorcraft industry is a small world where once you come in, you sort of cannot leave it. I’ve seldom seen people leave because it’s an industry that is so interconnected that once you’re in, you’re connected and have skills and knowledge that make you well suited to stay.” Make no mistake, Gauld has no intention of leaving rotorcraft. “Our company supports the EMS market probably more than any other, and our support can make a difference as to whether an EMS helicopter flies or stays on the ground. So, it’s very rewarding to play a part in an industry that’s saving someone’s life. We are there when it counts. A helicopter absolutely can make a difference between life and death for someone.”
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