C Suites

He’s up at 5am each day, at the gym by 6:00 and his desk by 8:15. It’s Brisbane this week, Perth next week and Hong Kong the week after. Decisions every minute. Appointments all day.

People complain that meetings get in the way of work. But for David, director of a major resort, the work is really the meetings. Networking, communicating, negotiating. Stuff he’s brilliant at.

The weekday grind of this exec requires a diehard work ethos – although it’s matched by the rewards. Which seem to magnify each year. He’s about to buy his third investment property, valued just a tad under his share portfolio.

"Give me realness. I don’t have time for superficial."

Don’t go looking for whole fleets of luxury wheels or rooms of designer bling . David and his physiotherapist wife Michelle value quality, not excess. One top-of-the-line SUV for the family; one flat-screen TV in the whole house. They value timeless clothing, exquisite food, collectable art and meaningful times .

David and his executive mates quietly agree they’d trade their frequent-flyer points for ways to be with loved ones more.

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