David Reed seems to have found a work-life balance he’s happy with.
ASK the average 63 year old what they are doing at 5am and the answer usually has something to do with pulling the covers a little bit higher. Not evergreen broker-turned-miner David Reed.
Instead, Mr Reed is usually hauling himself out of bed for an hour-long workout in his home gym before heading to the West Perth office of Reed Resources, the junior miner he founded and floated in 2002.
It is a ritual he says helps him keep up with his responsibilities as executive chairman of Reed, as well as pursue a long list of extra-curricular commitments.
Outside of his full-time role as chairman, Mr Reed is well known as the affable racehorse-owning face of the once iconic Kalgoorlie broking firm Eyres-Reed, which was sold in 1996, its centenary year, to Canadian bank CIBC. He is also a fixture at the annual Diggers and Dealers forum in Kalgoorlie, where he will be MC at the gala dinner this year.
But the long-serving Rotarian also somehow manages to squeeze in a second life as chairman of Passages, a Northbridge-based charity targeting at-risk youth.
Mr Reed established Passages with the help of Rotary and the St Vincent de Paul Society a decade ago, and it is with clear pride that he rattles off its key statistics since then.
"In the 10 years since we've been open, we've seen 12,000 kids and had 14,000 referrals to other agencies, they've been to our house 36,000 times and have used our services 60,000 times," he says. "So yeah, I get a bit of satisfaction out of that."
The charity runs its own drop-in centre in Northbridge and employs five full-time staff to work with troubled youth, and is primarily funded by private sector donations.
Mr Reed is quick to acknowledge the strong practical support Passages receives from the local business community. For example, lawyers from Allens Arthur Robinson visit twice a week to provide free legal advice, while clients also receive assistance with seemingly simple but often impossible tasks such as filling out forms (Centrelink staff also visit weekly). Passages also helps find accommodation for at-risk youth, both in its own accommodation units and with third parties.
Mr Reed says a weekly barbeque every Friday, provided by the Torre family, has also been crucial to Passages' success during the past decade.
"That's been a good way to engage with them, because they get hungry and come in and you get to talk to them and build up a relationship and find out what they need," he says.
"So it's really just about giving them a hand, and helping give them back some self esteem, where they don't think everyone wants to tip them over."
Downplaying his own contribution, Mr Reed simply points to his father's belief in putting something back into the community.
"I don't mind that, I think everybody's got a responsibility to be a good corporate citizen," he says.
"I think you've got to look at disadvantage, because most of us live a pretty reasonable life."
Mr Reed attributes his own work ethic to his early days at Eyres-Reed, working 12-hour days, seven days a week, alongside his father during the heady days of the nickel boom.
"So what I do now doesn't seem like anything compared to that," he says. "It's like a walk in the park."
It was that can-do attitude which led to the float of Reed Resources in 2002, based on the tiny Sand Queen gold project north of Kalgoorlie. Reed is now eyeing expansion of the 12,000-ounces-a-year mine, as well as significant returns in the medium term from the development or sale of its advanced Mt Finnerty iron ore and Barrambie vanadium assets.
With such a full plate in front of him, Mr Reed shrugs when asked if he has any thoughts of retirement.
"I love coming to work. I'm 63 and I don't know what else I'd do."
What do you consider to be the biggest social issue facing Australia today?
"With youth, it's drugs for sure. My worry is that there are nowhere near enough of these places (like Passages) around now. So what's it going to be like in 20 years? Especially now they are getting into ice and stuff like that and we just don't know what that's going to do.
As a veteran of more than one boom-bust cycle, how do you rate the current downturn?
"I've never seen anything like it, and I don't think we've seen the end of it. I still fear for the US economy; 70 per cent of their economy is based on consumer spending, so how can that be going up when there are thousands and thousands of blokes losing their jobs?
Does retirement have any appeal, given the amount of work you are doing now?
"I love coming to work. I'm 63 and I don't know what else I'd do. I feel like I'm retired now, compared to working as a broker - to me this is easy work, looking at deals. I'm working, but I'm not under any pressure, so it doesn't feel like I'm working."
Do you miss life as a stockbroker?
"I do miss broking in the sense of the camaraderie we had. Even in the bad times we'd have a bit of humour. But I think with the compliance issues and everything else today ... they (brokers) don't seem to be the happy crowd they used to be.''
