Building the Indigenous economy

Brian is an experienced investment professional who also has extensive experience working with Indigenous organisations and providing strategic investment advice to Native Title Trusts. As Managing Partner, Brian is responsible for First Australians Capital’s corporate and operational activities and leads the organisation’s investment and funds management activities.

Brian has over 10 years of investment, portfolio and strategic advisory experience, including as Director at JBWere and with Wilsons Advisory and Stockbroking. Prior to that, Brian spent 5 years working in the Federal Department of Human Services and Department of Health. Read on for our fascinating interview with Brian!

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position.

Although my career path has been rather non-linear, I have spent over 10 years in investment, portfolio and strategic advisory as Director at JBWere and with Wilsons Advisory and Stockbroking. Prior to that, I spent 5 years working in the Federal Department of Human Services and Department of Health and I also have 15 years experience working in the Australian Army Reserves. I have always had an open mind, whether it’s for my career or life in general and I am often keen to explore opportunities where there’s values alignment. I am driven through intuition and projecting a future vision that I would like to be a part of.

What does this role mean to you?

Joining First Australians Capital as the Managing Partner as a Torres Strait Islander is an honour I don’t take lightly because it gives me the opportunity to play a role in building the Indigenous economy although if it is only a brick in the road that I will never see completed in lifting our peoples. I know my small part contributes to driving broader systemic change for the Indigenous peoples.

Take us through a typical day of work for you.

My ideal day starts at 5am and into the gym by 5:30. I try to get my exercise done while the kids are still asleep – doesn’t always work! I focus my mornings on my family, having breakfast with the kids and doing the school drop off.  We are a hybrid organisation, so my time in the office is split evenly with time working from home. We have team members across the country, so my day can be filled with virtual calls, emails and some deep work (organisational strategy). Luckily, because of our organisation flexibility, I can take some time in the afternoon to grab my kids and spend time with them. I usually log back on to work in the evenings after the kids are in bed.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?

Self-doubt, which often masks itself as, ‘is this the right time?‘. To that I’ve always taken solace in the old saying, ‘If not me, then who? If not now, then when?’. Doing hard things in different contexts are key to building confidence and resilience. Having spent over 12 years as an Infantry soldier, an old Sergeant once said to me during a pack march, “Lean into the hill and let the hill do the hard work”.

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career? 

Find mentorship early and develop lifelong friendships and relationships with those who have done, seen and experienced more than you. I believe there’s a great wealth of knowledge and wisdom in that alone.

How do you stay motivated to work in this field?

What motivates me is knowing that I get to create a future where my three children don’t have the same struggles I had, and we get to change the narrative for Indigenous Australians.

How do you unwind after work?

Exercise! Rigorously followed by Saturday morning watching Grand Designs on ABC.

What was the last thing you: Watched, Read, & Listened to?

The last show I watched was PainKillers on Netflix which is about the origins of the opioid epidemic in the United States. It’s a very eye-opening and confronting series that I highly recommend. I recently finished reading Fratz Fanon – Wretched of the Earth and I’m an avid listener of The Financial Review podcast – Chanticleer.