Rios admires aviation’s future from one of the company’s customers. Career Takeoff
Some of those garage profits went to Florida International University, where Rios earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. To launch his career, he went to interview for an entry-level tech job at a small avionics firm, Avionica, that was then just outside the fence of Tamiami (pronounced ‘tâmmy-âmi’) Airport. Rios recalls, “When I walked in that Tuesday, the owner/CEO, Raul Segredo, was there wearing an Old Navy T-shirt and jean shorts. I thought, ‘This is the place for me!’” They had a short interview in which Segredo asked the applicant before him three software engineering questions that Rios whiffed on, but something about the young job seeker impressed the owner. “As I was leaving, he shook my hand and told me I had a position with his company for as long as I wanted,” Rios remembers.
Beginning his career, Rios thought he’d probably be there just a few years, gain some knowledge, and move on to his next opportunity. Like his interview engineering answers, that thought was wrong too: he stayed 20 years and rose through the ranks in engineering and sales to become Avionica’s chief operating officer. During those two decades, the company tripled in size from 22 to 60 employees. “It was an entrepreneurial place with exciting opportunities and challenges every day,” Rios recalls. An example of that spirit: Segredo purchased an airplane on eBay and confided to Rios he didn’t know what to do with it, but he then put the aircraft in a club and offered to pay half the training costs for any employee who wanted to earn their pilot license. Rios enthusiastically signed up for the offer. “I got my shirttail cut (earned his solo license) 21 years ago. I tell people that I didn’t go looking for a job in aviation, but now I don’t see myself doing anything else.”
People are People
Not only is Rios in aviation as an avionics executive at FreeFlight Systems and Flight Data Systems, but he is also an enthusiastic pilot. “I love to take anyone who will sit in the right seat flying; I just love being in the air.” Other pursuits include traveling with his wife, Violi, and mountain biking. He especially likes to expose his two teen children, Ana-Maria and Pedro Antonio, to other cultures through travel. He says, “You learn that people are basically the same everywhere. People may go about work and life differently, but at the end of the day, people exist for their family and friends in every culture. We are all just looking for connection and to belong.”
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