Limo Angel Celebrating Two Decades in Business

Travel, though many times a welcome escape from our everyday lives, can sometimes be stressful. As many of us experienced recently, the stress can be alleviated or compounded by the reliability of the means by which one is traveling.

A couple weeks ago, any travelers, including myself, experienced delays, overcrowded airports, stressed-out fellow travelers and exhausted travel professionals.
Maybe unlike other travelers, I had some of that stress alleviated on the way to the airport by means of a company called Limo Angel.
The company, owned by Sebastian Dragan-Dima, is celebrating its 20th year in business. Over the years, technology, a pandemic and the ways people prefer to travel have all changed to varying degrees. What has not changed is how Limo Angel treats its customers.
“For me, it is more important to have the same LImo Angel experience if I travel, whereever I go,” Dragan-Dima said.
When he opened his business in 2004, travel was different, it was busier and was not reliant on apps.
Limo Angels had to adjust to the times. But Dragan-Dima happily adjusted to the technology.
“Limo Anywhere offers this app for the drivers and drivers are able to communicate with me and the client,” he said. “Everything is in real time. It’s very good because I basically can run my operations from my phone.”
And that means better and faster communications with the client.
For my part, I was traveling into Chicago via a train and traveling with Limo Angel between the train station and Midway Airport. So while I could set an approximate pick up time, it was not going to be exact. My driver, Sushant was proactive, texting me and asking to let him know when my train pulled in and updating me on his location regularly until arrival.
In Chicago traffic, two miles can take 27 minutes, so this was wonderful.
When he arrived, I was greeted with elite service - he parked, identified himself, placed my suitcase in the back, moved the front seat forward and opened my door for me.
Sushi (as he asked me to call him because he said neither I, nor his other clients will forget his name), knew I was writing about Limo Angel. I get the feeling, though, that this is exactly the treatment everyone received. In fact, Sushi prides himself on it.
“The main thing about this business is communication,” he said.
His regular clients know that he will be in constant communication, they can rely on him to be on time or early and he will learn their preferences.
This is part of the Limo Angel experience.
“I think just attention to details,” Dragan-Dima said of the company. “Locally, punctuality, the way the chauffeurs are dressed. Body language and everything is very professional. For me that is very important. We strive to do that with every trip with every client every time.”
This also means getting to know each client and meeting their needs.
“Sometimes clients, for business, they request the car to wait in a specific spot; they want to be a little bit inconspicuous.
“We want to make sure our clients experience things the way they want them to happen.”
Sushi has not been partnered with Limo Angel for the entire 20 years they have been in business, but how the two met is a story about diversity and culture and choosing to make a way for oneself in a country that is not their own.
Dragan-Dima was born in Romania. He lived there until 2001, when he immigrated to the United States. He came here on a working visa to work with his aunt and uncle in a construction company, then entered the real estate market. He remains active as a managing broker, but back then, needed a means of making a living between closings. He worked for a large company for a while and fell in love with this kind of business.
“People were kind of requesting me,” he said. “There is a niche.”
In 2004, Dragan-Dimas did a lot of his own driving, owned the cars in his fleet and hired drivers to be direct employees. As he expanded and the landscape changed, he added affiliates and had drivers all over the world driving and representing his brand. This is how Sushi began driving.
Sushi is from Mumbai, India. He moved to the United States when he was working with the airlines. He was qualified to handle dangerous cargo. But when the pandemic happened, he was laid off.
He began driving and in 2022, met Dragan-Dima and drove a client for him.
“He gave me one of the clients to pick up from O’Hare (Airport) and he got good feedback,” he said.
Then, when Dragan-Dima took a vacation, he asked Sushi to drive for him in the more than a month break.
Eventually, Dragan-Dima asked Sushi to drive for him full-time.
“We understand each other so well,” Sushi said. “I see him as a mentor because of the way he has taught me about this business.”
Limo Angel currently has five vehicles and four drivers in its affiliate fleet locally, as well as affiliate drivers that hold up the Limo Angel standard all around the world.
Limo Angel updates its fleet regularly and most recently added a 2023 luxury van.
“We kind of refurbished it a little bit,” Dragan-Dima said.
The van has leather seats for 14 passengers and hardwood floors throughout.
“It’s more upscale,” he said.
As for the real estate part of his life, up until now, Dragan-Dima has served mostly for family and friends.
“I am the real estate managing broker,” he said. “It’s just me.”
He plans to expand his practice by getting additional certification in Florida, where his daughter lives.
“Florida has a reciprocity agreement with Illinois,” he said. “They will give you the same level of license that you have here.
“Next year, I have to renew my license here.”
He will also study for the Florida test and get his license there.
For more information on real estate, visit sebastianddrealty.com sebastianddrealty.comand for more information on or to book travel with Limo Angel, visit limoangel.com.