Although he grew up in the city of San Antonio, Texas, Butch Klein spent weekends and summers on his family’s working ranch in South Texas and was able to see first hand the importance of conservation and the difficulties of maintaining profitability when the ideas of sustainability are replaced by mass farming. As an avid outdoorsman and fisherman, he has been involved in numerous conservation organizations, especially the World Wildlife Fund and the Coastal Conservation Association. He attended SMU and subsequently USC, where he studied communications with an emphasis in business. Butch was a nationally ranked member of the Trojan Speech and Debate Squad, and as fate would have it, that was where he met fellow Trojan and future business partner, Jae Larsen.
After college, Butch worked as a financial planner and retirement specialist and still consults for several large entertainment firms on everything from growth and expansion and interpersonal business relationships to reducing carbon footprints. While in Los Angeles, Butch was able to pursue his other passion, acting. Over the past decade he has parlayed this love into a notable career as a stage, commercial, television and screen actor. While working on a show, in a second stroke of fate, he met fellow actress and future business partner, Eva Longoria.
It was during his involvement as a founding partner of KlinQ Investments, with partner Jae Larsen, implementing green-building practices to breathe new life into older homes while providing safe and healthy environments for their new families, that he thought what a unique and incredible opportunity it would be to bring his two amazing friends to a table, sit down and determine how they could really make a difference.
His compassion, appreciation and respect for the environment and all the joy it has provided him has inspired this desire to make a difference. Butch currently works with numerous environmental causes; some of his favorites include the WWF, Earth Share of Texas, the Surfrider Foundation of California, and Friends of Texas Wildlife. He is also a supporter of GLAZA (the Los Angeles zoo) and Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. Butch is committed to conservation and sustainable living. Through The GreenVille Project, he has found a way to give back to a planet that has provided him a lifetime full of wonder.