Rebels Have Wings - Rony Meisler

Unlike the trajectory of Reserva, narrated by Rony Meisler in the book "Rebels Have Wings", most companies stand exclusively to obtain profits. They destroy cultures, poison the planet and, even so, continue to be admired.

Given this scenario, the Reserva was born to do differently and break all the rules of the game. The company focuses on doing work with love to make a difference in people's lives.

Responsible for reinventing Brazilian fashion and the traditional management model, Reserva does not focus on the product, but on its actions, social projects, innovations, and a deep relationship with the "clients", or rather, friends.

Are you ready to learn about the strategies used by this great Brazilian company? Come with us!

About the book "Rebels Have Wings"

"Rebels Have Wings", from the original in Portuguese "Rebeldes Têm Asas", was written by Rony Meisler and published in 2017. The purpose of the book is to show that everyone can be an entrepreneur, besides telling how the brand Reserva was created.

The content is divided into the author's life journey (creator of Reserva), the company's history, and its business culture, accompanied by creative illustrations.

Also, did you know that for each book sold, the brand will donate 5 dishes of food for those who are hungry in Brazil? That's right!

About the author Rony Meisler

Rony Meisler has a degree in Production Engineering and worked at the consulting firm Accenture, but he decided to give up everything to start his entrepreneurial journey at Reserva.

Besides it, Rony spends part of his time giving lectures on innovation, he is president of the Conscious Capitalism movement in Brazil and a member of IDV (Institute of Retail Development) and ABIT (Brazilian Association of the Textile Industry).

To whom is this book indicated?

The book "Rebels Have Wings" is ideal for those who want inspiration to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a business.

Also, if you are already an entrepreneur, here you will find out more about how to develop new business models, turn crisis into opportunities, and have startup thinking, even with little money, regardless of your sector.

Main ideas of the book "Rebels Have Wings"

• Spreadsheet and ears accept everything, drop them and take action;
• Entrepreneurship is working hard to make your dreams come true and never give up;
• The brand Reserva started with multi-brands and, after increasing in sales volumes, went to retail;
• If the advice is good, the example drags on;
• Being a person who understands nothing about a particular market can be a great competitive advantage;
• It is necessary to break the rules to achieve innovation;
• The environmental purpose must be greater than the financial purpose;
• The management model is based on "why we do it" rather than "what we do";
• Projects with positive social impact are profitable;
• People are brought together through purposes;
• Horizontal environment and constant feedback.

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Overview: The Entrepreneur

In the first part of the book "Rebels Have Wings", the author Rony Meisler tells a lot about his relationship with his family and his marriage to his best friend.

He shares that one of his main inspirers is his grandfather, Benjamin, who was an excellent salesman and was very happy with his grandson's achievements.

All his education as a child and adolescent was in Jewish schools. Influenced by his father, Rony studied Engineering at PUC-Rio. He says it was a difficult stage because he didn't like the area and his choice of profession was wrong.

On the other hand, since he was a little boy, Rony Meisler awoke to entrepreneurship. He realized that he loved to sell, and more, he liked to know about people and their interests.

Soon, at age 19, he opened his first business, "nomoney. com. br", a swap site. He says that it did not grow, but it was an indispensable step, as he learned a lot with it.

Shortly after he finished college, he started an internship at Accenture, a multinational consulting firm. Rony Meisler points out that this stage was very important for him to know what he did not want from life, such as, for example, to pursue a career as a consultant.

Overview: The Brand Reserva

The beginning

Recently graduated and 24 years old, the author Rony Meisler carried with him a restlessness, feeling that something would come. And it did.

On D-day (as he baptized), Rony Meisler and his friend Nandão saw 5 young men wearing the same shorts. With that, they had the insight to design and produce beach shorts, after all, it was a product that would have potential consumers.

So, they designed a simple model and went after suppliers to create the first product. That done, the supplier they had chosen delivered 300 shorts (the minimum order), all the same. Their sales took place in the car, on the beach, at the gym, and among friends.

According to the book "Rebels Have Wings", the name of the brand was also decided among friends. "Reserva" refers to the Reserva beach, in Rio de Janeiro, a place where Rony and his friends liked to be.

The author says that things were going well and that they managed to launch the first collection of the brand, which was considered a success and offered important teachings for them, mainly that customers were looking for good experiences in an unusual place.

That was when one of the main lessons emerged: Reserva should be a means of communicating with consumers, not just a clothing brand.

With that, it went through the mind of Rony and Nandão to open a store, but they discarded it because:

• They had no money;
• They worked with outsourced production;
• The product was not good (they didn't understand anything about fashion).

Growth and learning

The strategy used in this first stage was to sell clothing wholesale, preferably to multi-brands in opinion-forming cities (it would be easier to spread the brand later). Also, they had showrooms to present the products.

There were many meetings with suppliers and sellers to assemble the collection. As Rony Meisler tells in the book "Rebels Have Wings", in these meetings, they sold their dreams, with all the love in the world, because their products were worse than other brands.

Rony worked hard and teamed up with creative people to try to participate in Fashion Rio, the national fashion circuit. Eventually, they succeeded and captured the audience, making the external curiosity about the brand grow.

With all the repercussions, it was time to increase sales, and this made them open the first street store.

But the brand needed a greater identity, like a mascot, so they hired Marcia Cabral to design one, while Nandão and Rony built the brand.

With that, the woodpecker appeared, Rony said it was love at first sight and this would become the new facade of Reserva.

To continue prospecting, it was necessary to have salespeople on the team. And there is one of the differentials of the brand. Rony and Nandão wanted salespeople to be different, they had to be friends with customers and committed to the cause.

Therefore, in the brand's first store, customers were more interested in the experience that Reserva provided than in the products.

To surprise people, they innovated. Good quality music, cold beer, and a mirror in the sales hall were items and experiences incorporated into the daily routine to build the Reserva Experience.

According to Rony Meisler, building your dream team is fundamental for your business to be successful. He shares in "Rebels Have Wings" that the formation of the team, by hiring good people for the critical functions of the business, made the growth process totally efficient. In 2008 there were 8 stores, in 2017, the company had 65 stores.

One of Brazil's most famous TV host, Luciano Huck, was one of the first advertisers of the brand, spontaneously. And it worked so well that Luciano eventually became a partner of the brand and bought 10% of the capital.

Another two crucial points for the Reserva to achieve success was:

1. The adhesion of a textile printer, making the production happen on demand, the only stock they had were plain basic shirts, so the process was: customer request, print, deliver;
2. The creation of T-shirt stores integrated with content channels, mainly YouTube, thus creating more than 30 stores where everything was printed and produced on demand.

Thus, the Reserve expanded its niches, and the following were created:

• Reserva +: a carioca point, a kind of bar with shows;
• Reserva T. T. Burger: Burger place;
• Reserva Mini: clothes for infants up to 12 years old;
• Eva: women's fashion brand;
• Penetras: it has accessories and shoes of other brands that are resold in their stores.

Overview: The Reserva Philosophy

Rony Meisler explains in the book "Rebels Have Wings" that Reserva was created without thinking about what other brands were doing, their objective is to do only what they like, which is exactly why they are considered different, because:

• Stores are like your best friend's house, where you feel comfortable, drink beer, and have good talks;
• The protagonists are the salespeople, not the designers;
• They are traders who have the hobby of surprising consumers;
• They focus not only on clothing but on topics relevant to society;
• Concern for the surrounding community and not just for sellers;
• They are genuine.

The purpose of the brand is to "care for, thrill and surprise people every day". And they intend to do this by offering the best experience, building and maintaining true, individual, and respectful relationships.

Commercial

The first step of Reserva was to stimulate its sales team. It was necessary to awaken the love and pride for what the salespeople did and create a relationship of mutual affection between them and the customers.

The commercial values presented in the book "Rebels Have Wings" are:

• Proactivity instead of reactivity;
• Relationships instead of business transactions;
• Freedom to customize the services offered;
• Touching the heart instead of selling to people;
• Entrepreneurs instead of salespeople;
• People who do, instead of people who give advice;
• Selling with them instead of just for them.

Marketing and Communication

At this stage of the book "Rebels Have Wings", Rony Meisler says that the rules of Reserva were not written, they followed a model that replicated everything that he agreed with and changed what he didn't agree.

With that, they became known as "Rebels", for breaking all the rules that other brands obeyed. Therefore, the philosophy adopted by them is based on:

• Dialogue instead of fashion image;
• Magazines instead of catalogs;
• Storydoing instead of storytelling;
• Focus on consumers rather than focus on critics;
• Find ways to talk to customers where they least expect it;
• Create a new way to connect with what we live;
• Be bold and transparent.

Logistics

Reserva offers a list of customized products delivered to your own home, thanks to the recognition of habits, subjects, and customers' purchase history.

Also, for Rony Meisler, using the internet as a single channel, according to the creation of consumer habits, will become a unique model in the future.

There is even an option to buy online and withdraw from the store, so you can try and exchange your order at the physical store itself.

Some deliveries to strategic locations are made within 3 hours using bicycles. That's right, the project is called "Reserva Ciclo Courier".

Management

The author Rony Meisler tells that many of the ideas, not only of management but of the brand in general, were copied and adapted from great business books.

And one of the main insights that the creators had was that the group can deliver much more value in addition to its products. Not only for customers but also for suppliers, employees, and the community.

One of them is the "Reserva 1P5P", which consists of delivering 5 dishes of food to those who are hungry, for each sale of 1 product of the brand.

Rony also says that the company uses a model based on meritocracy to become a partner. Members reach this position through evaluations of the group's board and also become partners, helping to build the Reserva dream.

Finally, the brand offers its employees an entire nutritional and physical activity assessment, with a total focus on their health.

Another interesting piece of information in the book "Rebels Have Wings" is the publicity of Reserva. There are very few investments in this area, as the funds for this sector are destined for employee benefits. The project is called "boot in the window" and its main objective is to fulfill the wishes of the employees.

What do other authors say about it?

In the book "Exponential Organizations", the authors Salim Ismail, Michael S. Malone, and Yuri Van Geest state that we are moving to an information-based paradigm. This environment provides disruptive opportunities, changing the trajectory of your business to develop with exponential growth and increase the price/performance ratio.

Leander Kahney, author of the book "Inside Steve's Brain", says that one of the causes of Apple's success is the user experience. This shows us that the main teaching and best benefit is what your customer understands as added value to the product.

Finally, the author Chris Anderson affirms in his book "The Long Tail" that the explosion of the Internet has created a new kind of market where there are always consumers for products, as there are infinite niches in which you can act. For Chris, customers are the new preference makers.

Okay, but how can I apply this to my life?

The brand Reserva changed from a simple idea to one of the most innovative companies in the world.

But Rony Meisler tells us that, at first, it was nothing like that, as he was discouraged, listening to phrases like: "You are crazy! Men don't buy clothes!".

And do you know what he did? He took all that energy and negativity and turned it into inspiration, love, and courage to put his dream into action.

We hope you have a "Rony" inside you, with a strong desire to achieve your goals. So, even without the necessary resources, go ahead, because when the dream is worth it, nothing can stop it.

The final tip is: What do you love to do most when you are not working? The answer is exactly what you should be doing when you are working too!

Did you like this summary of the book "Rebels Have Wings"?

We hope you are inspired by the experience of Rony Meisler. Tell us what you think in the comments, your feedback is very important!

Also, if you want to know more, you can buy the book by clicking on the image below: