Driven to succeed: Deerfield's LimoAngel president worked hard to be self-made man

There was the time Sebastian Dragan-Dima drove Colin Powell to a White Castle at 63rd Street and Cicero Avenue in Chicago.

Owner and president of Deerfield-based corporate limousine service LimoAngel, Sebastian picked up the retired United States secretary of state and Army general at Midway Airport, bound for a downtown engagement.

While in the back of the limousine, Powell told his fellow passenger he'd "grown up" on White Castle burgers.

His friend had no clue, so Powell directed Dragan-Dima to that specific restaurant near Midway.

"He didn't ask me, 'Where's a White Castle?' He told me," Sebastian said.

It was just one of the occasions Dragan-Dima and LimoAngel hosted Powell - much like he'd driven then-Sen. Joe Biden, actor Michael Douglas, comedians Jay Leno and Larry David, Vice President Al Gore and other celebrities.

When Powell died Dragan-Dima took it personally because he felt he'd lost a friend. He considers many of his clients friends.

"One of his quotes was, he used to work only with people who worked hard and played hard," Dragan-Dima said.

The 52-year-old Deerfield man, a husband and father of two, didn't detail his off-hours pursuits. Maybe because to him, his work seems like play.

Within three years of emigrating from Bucharest, Romania, in April 2001, Dragan-Dima went from being without a vehicle and working in Chicago as a construction project manager to heading the Angel Group in 2004, doing business as LimoAngel and a real estate managing broker in Deerfield. With a new Lincoln Town Car.

Built by word-of-mouth, LimoAngel now offers vehicles ranging from sedans to 56-passenger buses.

Between Dragan-Dima himself, his drivers and a cast of worldwide affiliates he's cultivated - some are former drivers, some are friendly competitors, but they all help each other - LimoAngel can serve customers around the globe with a few clicks on the cellphone application, Limo Anywhere.

"I can find a car for anyone anywhere, basically anywhere on the planet," Dragan-Dima said. "Technology really enables me, as a small company, to have a large footprint."

Years before coming to the states, Dragan-Dima was finishing his studies as an electrical engineer when he applied to be a manager for what was to become the first McDonald's in Romania. He said he was one of 14 selected out of about 4,000 candidates.

After training first in Hungary and then England, plus a trip to McDonald's "Hamburger University," then in Oak Brook, Dragan-Dima returned to Bucharest to open the restaurant.

On its first day the store conducted more than 17,000 transactions; the drive-through handled more than 1,000 cars, he said.

"There was so much traffic that in three days they had to repaint everything," Sebastian said.

Leaving McDonald's, he then worked as a sales manager for a department store, Mondo, like a Romanian Best Buy, and also for AIG's life insurance division. Dragan-Dima likens his professional background to a Romanian proverb: "A flute sounds better the more holes it has."

The more experiences, the more a person can offer.

It was then that Dragan-Dima took up his Uncle Edward and Aunt Michelle's invitation to come to Chicago for that construction project manager position.

"I'm 100 percent convinced that America is the land of opportunity," Sebastian said. "You can make it here with hard work and determination, but there's also a caveat to that - if you don't do anything you won't get anywhere."

Dragan-Dima literally got lots of places working long days for a larger limousine company. Lacking a vehicle, a friend told him that was a good way to get a set of wheels.

He received on-the-job training on the details of catering to customers, learned the area. After a year, he and his new Lincoln branched off to start LimoAngel.

"I realized there's a niche for people who like personalized service. They like the same car, the same person, the same experience. They don't want to feel like a number," Dragan-Dima said.

As part of LimoAngel's growth, in 2006 he joined a chapter of Business Network International (BNI), a networking and referral organization Dragan-Dima called "word-of-mouth on steroids."

His company weathered the 2008 recession, and Dragan-Dima now sees business travel creeping back after the COVID-19 pandemic - "a big reset," he called it.

"I really like to do things organically, nothing that is not natural. The only thing that was not natural was this pandemic," Dragan-Dima said.

To keep him on point throughout his journey, Dragan-Dima needs only to look at his company name.

"Angel" refers to his mother, Angela, who died of cancer in 1990. She continues to motivate her son.

"Every time I see LimoAngel, that comes to my mind," Dragan-Dima said. "To be the best as possible every time, with every experience. Keep to high standards, because that's what my mother instilled in me and I want to respect that."