Robby Klein
Christopher J. Simovich’s life sounds like something straight out of a movie.
Growing up in a Japanese neighborhood in Los Angeles as a shy introvert, he could never have dreamed that his career would take him around the world to work with high-profile clients. His firm provides international protective services for diplomatic missions, Fortune 100 companies, and high-net-worth individuals.
He’s worked in 146 countries. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, Simovich had conducted protection details and counter-surveillance programs in Asia, Europe, Africa, and parts of the United States, but then things changed. His firm started getting calls to help in the extraction and repatriation of Americans and British citizens to their home countries before international borders went into full lockdown in the face of COVID-19. It was a wild several weeks of logistics and planning getting people home from Africa, the Bahamas, and even the jungles of Guyana.
Now as Simovich’s company continues to keep their clients safe from physical attack, they’re also using PPE to make travel safer from COVID. Simovich’s accomplishments and continued protection services are impressive; but he says they all pale to raising his son, Vladimir. And the tough guy has a soft spot for more than just his child—he’s a devoted Dolly Parton fan.
“She epitomizes the American success story: She grew up dirt poor, was ridiculed at school for being in poverty, and had to fight her way to success. She took a ton of crap as a singer/songwriter on her way up in a very tough business, but instead of becoming bitter about her situation she turned that crap into fertilizer. Once she was successful, she made sure that she was doing her best to help others get a leg up,” he says.
“I have autographed photos from kings and queens, world leaders, and celebrities, but my prized possession is a signed letter I received from Ms. Dolly when we contributed aid to her My People Fund after the terrible fires that destroyed over a thousand homes in Sevier County. I have a lot of heroes, but she’s my number one.”