Like a lot of us old Austin boys, Mike Reynolds likes being downtown.
So it’s only appropriate that we met for lunch at a restaurant on Congress Avenue recently to share some memories.
We agreed that we both missed riding the bus downtown to see a movie at the State or the
Paramount. For a kid in the fifties or early sixties, that was a big deal.
“Then there are the sacrifices of not being able to ride your bike to school
anymore (or hop the freight train home from detention hall at O. Henry). Those were the halcyon days of youth,” Mike said.
Mike reminisced about how when he was 25 and part of the ownership of Reynolds-Penland, he’d
recognize and greet just about everyone who came through the door of their flagship store at 8th and Congress.
“We knew all the bankers, lawyers, and the other merchants on the street—it was our little corner of the universe. I miss being on that sales floor and sometimes I wish I was back there from 9 to 5:30.” But Mike likes the Austin of today, too.
“The energy that exists here is invigorating to me. It may just be the things that I try to stay involved in, but I think Austin has always been a city with a young heart (and lungs).”
“No matter what your age, if you want to be involved, there are tremendous opportunities. I think that some of the small retail that has sprung up is really innovative.”
He added that there are real estate deals as big or as small as you want deal with and arts are flourishing. “You just have to step up -- there’s a saddle for every seat.”
Stepping up is something Mike has done—in spades.
He freely admits that he has been blessed, as he says, “way beyond reason.” Just a note, for those of you who don’t know, Mike’s mother was Alice Kleberg Reynolds. And if you live in Texas and don’t know what the Kleberg name means, please, do some Googling and get back to me.
I couldn’t miss the chance to say something about Mike’s parents. Mike says that his dad Dick was his inspiration for so many aspects of life.
“He taught me how to hunt and fish and he opened the Reynolds-Penland men’s store here in town. (Mike grandfather started the chain in Dallas.) He’s 89 now and he thinks he’s 50. He and I are still really close.”
Mike’s mother ran Laguna Gloria and then after the divorce in 1972, she moved to San Antonio where she ran the Witte Museum and then the San Antonio Museum of Art.
“She always wanted to be an actress,” Mike says. “One time, she actually played the part of Dolly Levi in ‘Hello Dolly.’ Her
appreciation for the arts is something she passed on to all of us.”
Inspired by his mom, at times Mike got to play a part or two along with some of his friends in the Follies at the Paramount.
Mike has done a lot for himself, forging his own career in the business world.
He is now an owner of Keepers, one of Austin’s
finest and most style-forward menswear shops and General Partner in Kenichi, a high-end, top-reviewed sushi restaurant in the heart of downtown.
(By the way, Mike says that Kenichi’s Akaushi HeartBrand Beef steaks beat anyone else’s in town. I told him that Linda and I would have to be the judge of that!)
No doubt, he’s seen a lot of success in the business world; including helping to drive Reynolds-Penland into being a nine-store, $11,000,000 statewide empire before the 1989 bust hit.
“Working to restructure and rebuild RP back to a viable and profitable business was really one of my proudest achievements. “ Mike says.
He also is a shareholder in The King Ranch.
In that regard, he says, “I have worked some with The Running W Saddle Shop in the past on sales training and some merchandising.”
But like many people who have been fortunate in life, he has been a serial entrepreneur in the non-profit world.
One of his major achievements in this arena happened when he ran into his friend Duane Cooper at a car wash about four years ago.
While they were chatting, Duane told Mike about a group his wife Meredith had started called Wonders & Worries.
“It was a very young organization which counsels kids whose parents have a severely life threatening disease. Their services are free and as far as I know, it’s still the only group of this kind in the country.”
That struck a nerve with Mike, because when he and his two sisters were grown, their mother called them together and told them that she had multiple myeloma—a deadly blood cancer.
They were educated, worldly kids who had never heard of this disease.
“We began to research possible cures and medicines that would save her. It was a
relatively unknown cancer at the time. All the doctors could tell us was that it was just a matter of time until the disease would prove fatal.”
“The fear, frustration and helplessness I felt as my Mom slowly died . . . frankly, I’m not sure I ever got over it.”
So Mike went on the board of Wonders & Worries to help it grow. And in true Mike Reynolds fashion, he had a big idea that caught on in a hurry.
Mike hates golf tournaments, so he came up with a unique fundraising format (he says the details are a proprietary secret) – a sporting clay shoot called The Beretta “No Worries Classic.”
“I got friends at Beretta USA to lend their name and product. Our family foundation, which my sisters and I formed when mom passed away, underwrites the expenses so all the money goes to Wonders & Worries. We projected the first year’s tourney (four years ago) to raise about $30,000, though I said we'd do $70,000.”
That made it the largest charity sporting clay shoot in the country.
“Last year we netted over $400,000! It was raised by 20 teams of men, women and kids, shooting to raise money for a bunch of people they don’t know.
“And if you heard the stories from these kids who benefit from our help and have seen photos of the families, it gets you fired up!”
Mike says that in the last four years, they've raised over $1,000,000. It is still the largest charity sporting clay event in the country.
“Now I want to do a national shoot, soliciting teams from all over, and raise a million dollars in one tournament – and who knows where it can go from there?”
Obviously, Mike loves experiences that let him be outside and challenge his abilities.
On that score, last year, he accepted an invitation from a friend to compete in the JEEP Maximum Warrior contest, a web “reality series.”
He laughs and says, “It was an opportunity to get to spend a week with ten active duty Special Forces troops and ten ‘normal Joes’ in what I thought was to be a laid back shooting deal! Not!”
The first thing they saw as they rolled into the site was a SEAL Obstacle Course. “This is a fun story and I'm proud to say that my Special Forces partner and I won the combat pistol segment—but I’m embarrassed that we came in last in the obstacle course. At 57, it is always exciting to get to ‘do something for the first time’ again.”
“In my defense, I was fourteen years older than anyone else in the competition!” That brings us to his latest idea, inspired by his experiences that day.
“I have a dream to donate a closed obstacle course to the city. I have a perfect Town Lake trail location in mind. Now, I need to find some help with the City to make it happen!”
Access would be obtained by buying time cards which would count as charitable donations. There would be weekly competitions and all funds raised would go to charities that support veterans.
“Maybe we could roll the recipient every two years or whatever. I'd like to do the first one here and then all over the country,” Mike says.
I could go on with a lot more about Mike, but I couldn’t finish this story without mentioning his wife DK and his son, Kley.
DK and Mike first ran into each other when she was working in an office that Mike’s roommate, oil and gas attorney John Cardwell, shared.
“We were both over thirty when we got acquainted – and we dated for seven years before we tied the knot.”
Mike says that one of his regrets is that he didn’t get married sooner. But one advantage of being an older parent is that he got to spend more time with his son Kley—who attended Culver Military Academy, just like his pop. Kley is now a Delt at University of Texas.
No doubt, he says that his absolute biggest joy in life is his family.
“Nobody could have had as much fun as I have.”
