A few years ago I discovered a specialized occupation know as “the handler”. Here is an interview with one of the most exclusive handlers – Roman Chiporukha.
I had the opportunity to work with the “best of the best” of this highly specialized…and demanding occupation when I met Roman. I met him few years back on a high profile deal that required NDA’s all around! I saw how he handled the most difficult of situations with grace and style and with such a personable approach. My client surrounded himself with a smart effective team that took care of the details…and there were many! The perfect team is an ideal blend between a most-connected concierge, luxury travel advisor and top-level personal assistant. The most exclusive ones can can arrange anything, solve any problem, procure any item, anywhere in the world, usually on moment’s notice. What a perfect way for a client to focus on their business and not on the day to day details that can distract them.
This is not a normal career path. How did you get into this?
I studied literature & art in NYU and my first job out of college was working at the Front Desk of the Waldorf Towers, the more exclusive part of the Waldorf Astoria, where you had many permanent residents like the US Ambassador to the UN, Rick & Kathy Hilton, etc. I then worked as a chief of staff for a wealthy Russian family, living between LA, Moscow and NYC. When the family decided to move back to Russia full time, they made me an incredible offer to come with them, but I decided to stay in the US and started looking for other chief of staff positions. While being interviewed to be Margaret Loeb‘s (Dan Loeb’s wife) chief of staff, I learned of a company called Fischer Travel. I cold called them a week later and suggested that we should work together. 2 years later I left Fischer to start my own company. The rest, as they say, is history.
You must get some interesting requests. What’s the most extreme request you’ve received from a client?Depends on how you define extreme. One client called and said that wants to give a front of a gondola as a gift. This is called the ferro di prua. And that this ferro cannot be newly made but needs to have at least 50 years of provenance and he wanted to story of the ferro with photos of the owners attached to the gift. It took a couple of months but we sourced it from Venice, Italy.
