An unconventional business book for the rebels and misfits—the Rare Breeds—who don’t fit the traditional mold, offering an approach that’s anything but business as usual.
There is an unofficial rule for success: you need to change who you are to achieve greatness. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if you could leverage your so-called vices and shortcomings and make them your super powers?
These seven vices are what acclaimed leadership and brand experts Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger identify as keys to becoming a Rare Breed—those standout leaders and achievers—in any career.
Rare Breed is an unorthodox business book for the rebels, outsiders, and provocateurs — anyone with the ambition to lead, create, inspire and provoke change on your own terms by owning all of who you are, not just the pretty parts. But be careful, each virtue has a seductive and dualistic nature that can lead to success or sabotage.
Unique stories. Unconventional advice. Practical tools. Bonnell and Hansberger lay it all out to help fellow Rare Breeds understand, unlock, and direct the potential that’s been slumbering in them to rise above the ordinary, own who they are, and push things forward.
Sunny is an award-winning CEO and Co-founder of Motto, a branding and digital agency that works with ambitious companies to build stand-out brands. She is now the co-author of Rare Breed: Success for the Defiant, Dangerous and Different, a highly anticipated business book on presale now (get it!) and available everywhere 9/3 from HarperOne. The book teaches high achievers and leaders how to tap into what makes them different to become the standout in any category.
Named one of GDUSA's Top 25 People to Watch, Sunny has received a slew of other accolades due to her fierce and innovative philosophies on branding and leadership. Together with co-founder Ashleigh Hansberger, she started Motto in her early 20s and has now grown the agency to be a national force in helping businesses own who they are in order to succeed. She is a big-picture thinker who's infectious energy and passion for what she does inspires people from all walks of life to harness their true potential.
A gifted storyteller and thinker, Sunny has been featured in Inc., Forbes, Entrepreneur, AMEX, The WSJ, CNBC, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, CBS, Never Settle Show, BoldTV and many more notable publications. Sunny is also a member and contributor for the YEC, an elite organization comprised of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.
Fascinated with human instinct, music, fedoras and great poets like Bukowski, Brautigan, Sexton and Murakami, she loves anyone that can make her laugh.
Connect with her: @sunnybonnell @thisisrarebreed @wearemotto
“Rebellion is evolution, the overthrow of the good for the better.”
Willie Nelson (a poster child for Rare Breeds by the way) sings sweetly about ‘his heroes always being cowboys’. Like Willie, I too have been described on more than one occasion of being of ‘rare’ quality. Unlike him, my heroes have not always been cowboys. Mine have been the different and the defiant. The outlaws and activists, the rogues and the rebels. Those who challenge the status quo, push the envelope and tear things down to build them up anew. My mother would tell me to pick better role models. I refused.
I would hope that Sonny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger, authors of Rare Breed - A guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different, would agree with me. Even though I might not always agree with them.
“Vision, dangerous thinking, and defiance of the status quo comes with a price.”
Rare Breed calls itself ‘an unorthodox business book’. And it is. It explores the 7 Virtues of Rare Breeds: Rebellious, Audacious, Obsessed, Hot Blooded, Weird, Hypnotic and Emotional, while shining a light on both the assets and weaknesses of possessing any of these virtues. Each of these traits gets a set of ‘mantras’ to use, some questions to think about, some stories, and by this point the book is feeling more like homework instead of a rebellious ditching of class to go practice your power chords.
“Audacity is advocating for a future that doesn’t exist yet.”
Where Rare Breed succeeds is with the author's treatment of the business world. Why it is so blasé, and how by being authentic with whom you are and what you represent can be a tremendous advantage. They are honest in their assessment of how being an outsider will cause you to take a few lumps along the way, but Sonny and Ashleigh would know as well as anyone because they walk the walk. They have managed what only the brave minority can, and that is to be your weird, quirky self and make it work in a world of ‘same same’. What this book cannot give you though, if you are hoping to make it as a Rare Breed in the business world today, is a skin as thick as theirs or the mountain of talent, vision and drive required to be an outsider and succeed.
Do I love Rare Breed as a book? A little bit, maybe. It has some marvellous stories, many examples, a raging inferno of catchy phrasing to pump you up, but in the end felt a little more Green Day than Black Flag. Sorta quirky rather than radical. Safety pins in the jeans, not in the nose kinda thing.
Here is what I love. These two are two grinders who owe their success to not compromising their vision. The world needs colour and texture, and these two have it. I love the authors and like the book. And I like that they wrote a book that is a bit all over the place, but is uniquely itself. That is a rare thing.
Overall Score: 3.8 / 5.0
In a Sentence: Rare Breed is a guide to success for the defiant, dangerous and different - so long as your uber-talented, thick skinned, and supremely passionate about what you do.
I'm so grateful to the authors for writing this book. It is the only time in my life when I have felt seen and empowered to be my rare breed self. Our society, for some reason, seems to stifle rare breed qualities - we are told to be polite, be positive, and colour in the lines. In fact, many of my teachers, bosses, and friends have tried to train me out of what makes me different. Not only do the authors give us permission to tap into these qualities, the stories and hard-hitting advice in this book demonstrates how valuable they can be. I say this should be required reading, regardless of whether or not you consider yourself a rare breed. Everyone should learn how to look for and harness the things that make people different, defiant, and dangerous.
*About Rare Breed was written by a pair of women in their mid-20s that dropped out of college to start a branding agency firm aiming to reinvent old-school advertising.
To them, the concept of a Rare Breed is the traits that make you different, what others consider to be weaknesses, are your greatest strengths. The core values to become a Rare breed are Rebellious, Audacious, Obsessed, Hot-blooded, weird, hypnotic, and emotional. Although the author's remark that conventional wisdom regards these are dangerous and counter-intuitive, to me, these are virtues in 2020 that will help you excel and differentiate yourself from the rest.
You are rare breeds. Not everyone will love you. Some may hate you. But the ones who get you will never forget you.-Dad
**Writing Style This is my favourite writing style. Each of the chapters are about different virtues, but within each chapter is a subchapter with its own lesson, story, and mantra. These subchapters start with a real-life familiar story, then an explanation/reflection, ending with questions or rules that can help you to reflect on how to put these lessons into action.
This book could potentially help somebody who is really down in the dumps and looking for an injection of inspiration, but even then, I think the point could have been made in a 10-page article as opposed to a 294-page book.
I liked the general idea (be obsessed with your work, be unequivocally yourself, and disregard people who do not believe in your vision), but it’s really beaten into you ad nauseum.
The essence is really captured by the following quote from a Steve Jobs documentary (which appears at the beginning of the book): “When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world - try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things…Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
I fell in love with this book about halfway through. It's one of those books that you have to give a chance in order to appreciate its wisdom and insights. The best part about this book is that it gives you a sense of how you can find your own individuality and amplify its uniqueness to your advantage.
Ashleigh and Sunny wrote as one voice. The mix of personal experiences and stories from a wide variety of people from long ago and from today make for a valuable read. Every chapter, or what they call virtues, focuses and makes you think how you can adapt what they taught us in our own lives. The book makes you question yourself. It helps you to realize what makes a rare breed successful.
This is the type of book that I would revisit, and I believe I will after about a year for two. I believe that anyone can learn from the insights in this book. It may just open your mind to a whole new level of opportunities you can create as a rare breed.
Garbage. Tell me if this isn't a rehashed version of another self-help book selling lies, hope and reeks of survivorship bias. Any entrepreneur worth his/her salt wouldn't pick this book up because there is no definitive guide to success just consistent work and luck. It is my mistake that I chose this book because the title "A Guide to Success" gave it away and still read it. Filled with anecdotes of people who challenged the status quo and no meaningful information. The author tells you the things you are supposed to do and also when that particular quality becomes too harmful for your own good, like this isn't true for everything you do in life. No matter how hard anyone tries, 1% are 1% because they are the 1% and this will forever be maintained. A guide to success will never be algorithmic or given to anyone in just 240 pages. Things take time and the only way to be successful is simply to put in the efforts.
I really liked the overall concept of this one. The notion that we need to embrace our weirdnesses and quirks and leverage them into businesses, product ideas, and inspirations is one that resonated deeply with me. And the examples of that notion in action really helped drive it home (and were fun, too).
My only real knock on this one is that it’s sort of one-dimensional; it’s much of the same style stories for the entire length of the book. I don’t think that detracts too much from its quality since it’s a fairly quick read (and those stories are mostly fun and exciting), but I do think it’s worth noting.
Having that said, I would still definitely recommend this one, especially to entrepreneurs, creatives, and obsessives. There are some nice takeaways and moments of solidarity.
Misrepresents itself as being anti-status quo but seems to align itself with internalized capitalist ideals like championing perfectionism. I ended up getting a refund after 8 minutes in.
In “Rare Breed: A Guide To Success For The Defiant, Dangerous and Different, a book by the award-winning founders of the brand and digital powerhouse Motto, authors Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger deliver a high octane message to the rebellious thinkers, relentless perfectionists, strange weirdos, and spellbinding orators of the planet…….
“Squeeze every ounce of talent from yourself and everybody around you until one day, your potential is realized, and you change the world.”
Upon stumbling upon this book, I immediately thought to myself “Bonnell and Hansberger are my kind of peeps.” They appeal to my “contrarian nature as a Black, Libertarian, Taoist non conformist with nomadic proclivities.
Outside of the likes of heroes like Black intellectual Dr. Cornel West, the late foodie extraordinaire Anthony Bourdain, and singer Samantha Gongol of Marian Hill, I find most celebrities and everyday people I cross paths with boring as fuck. So reading this book was mellifluous to my mind, arguably the most personally impactful book I’ve read this year.
The biggest takeaway I walked away from it with? That I am boring as fuck too!
If I want to become more of a clanging cymbal in the world in terms of my Great Books, Great Minds mission of Fueling Human Connection, One Book At A Time, I need to up my own badass game. Pure and symbol
The introduction to Bonnell’s and Hansberger’s book Rare Breed comes out a blazing comes out a blazing, offering this prescriptive for following an unconventional path
“If You Want to Succeed, You Have to Own Who You Are”
Recounting their own series of trapeze acts in business and life, the authors shared this in the book:
“We were learning the hard way that vision, dangerous thinking, and defiance of the status quo come with a price. It made the first several years of building Motto a monstrous roller coaster. On one hand, we had nothing to lose. It was fun, real, raw, we loved every minute of it, and we helped cool companies do amazing things. But on the other, our guts hurt from the punches. We bounced checks, slept at the office, experienced soul-crushing defeats, and Sunny got so thin from stress and anxiety that her family staged an intervention. Most of all, we were lonely.”
And then there was this…..
“After admitting life had kicked out every ounce of heart left for the business, we had a conversation with Sunny’s dad, one of our greatest mentors. He warned us: “You two are a rare breed. Not everyone will love you. Some may hate you. But the ones who get you will never forget you. Now, dust yourselves off and get back in that saddle.”
Introduction aside, in the ensuing chapters, Bonnell and Hansberger launch into a meteor shower of wisdom, what they affectionately refer to as virtues. Like an espresso jolt at Peet’s Coffee, they take readers on a dizzying adventure through the book’s sections —
Rebellious, Audacious, Obsessed, Hot Blooded, Weird, Hypnotic, Emotional.
The pages offer a rude wake up call to flaneurs and those who are half-stepping it through life. The authors note in the book:
“First, remember that the Virtues alone don’t make you a Rare Breed. You need to use them to inspire others and build a better future. By awakening your potential, you’ll make hope viral for all the gifted outliers who will follow in your footsteps.”
“Second, being a Rare Breed is an act of soaring, unrelenting belief. There’s more to being exceptional than wanting to be. When it comes to launching your moonshot, you’ve got to believe that you have what it takes.”
As Bonnell and Hansberger vividly hammer in with this short refrain
Being defiant, dangerous, and different is a gift.
Light and easy to read, quite mainstream-ish at times, but nonetheless very enjoyable. If you will find struggle to keep going through the book (just like I had) - stick with it. You will gain a new perspective on old things - vices - and after finishing it you will start calling them virtues. There are lots of good stories and quotes as well.
Features plenty of stories from unconventional business practices that prove to be a winning move. This candid advice book gives succinct advice and moves on to the next topic. It challenges the norm and tells you why in a straightforward manner.
Thanks to the publisher for access to review copy.
R E V I E W . A Guide To Success For The Defiant, Dangerous and Different Rare Breed . If I could only read one book this year it would be definitely this. Also I would love to suggest if just you want to go for one book for coming months. . This book is specifically for personal growth in businesses or for personal success.
Never have ever came accross where title has justified this much with the content of the book. If you haven't identified your skill yet and looking for momentum to get into life to push forward yourself in successful direction without any doubt go for this book. It breaks norms and talks about ingenious gradient to conform in any field of work. . This book is for them who want to be persistent for their work and confronting the coming obstacles by inheriting these seven virtues together. . This book has served seven virtues that speaks lot about the psychology of the personality and how to use those traits in most effective way. . Though, it won't talk about giving you instant motivation rather it helps to carve out the best ability which lies inside the Rare Breed or to make one Rare Breed ( Defining unique potential). . Every chapter ends with briefing Mantras that concluded in the end of chapters. Easy baits. . Why one should read this. Be a hot iron which tends to get red and mould in any shape only when heated for longer and that also stays long heat despite like steal. When you get to know more about your skills then it leads to give longer motivation. . Bringing all those 7 virtues Rebellious Audacious Obsessed Hot blooded Weird Hypnotic Emotional . Rebellious is about how you can use your rebellious nature in fruitful direction to build and strengthen your ability and get success through this way. There are great examples of some very prominent personalities and same goes for other six virtues in their regards. . My very own favourite virtues are Rebellious, Audacious, Obsessed and Emotional. . It helps in improving skills from your first interview in any field of service to building your first statup. The given tools (virtues) will prove a great help for every coming enterpreneurs with overall transformation like public speaking to how to handle emotions on right track. . If you want to do something out of your shell ( comfort or cozy zone) read this book to put a step to open an horizon in your success path.
The best thing about this book is, its every aspect has scientifically as psychologically measured to ensure that one possess such skill so he/she can do so in their field of interest. It also helps you to reduce stress and gives a broad arena for making life a better way. Above all, it burns down so many orthodox and conventional format which often becomes obstacles in someone's way. . All mentioned virtues are great to dig out deeply because these are greatly enriched in providing information and wisdom. . With all my generosity I would love to highly recommend this book to know more about Rare Breed personality and to develop one.
🍷I am different, I am rebellious, audacious, obsessed, hot - blooded, weird, hypnotic, emotional, I am a rare breed. This was such an intense read, I loved how straight forward it was, how strong, dangerous and it's totally a "Don't give a damn to them" kind of a read. Rare breed is a guide for everyone who thinks they are different and they feel left out, it's for everyone who feels they are out of the box, they are not amongst the crowd, they don't belong there, they don't want to follow the herd, I literally felt rare breed was for me and for everyone who believes they are here to build their own path and not follow someone's path! The main theme of the book is how to ace in anything, most specifically business, work and how to grab success when you aren't one of the herd! It is such a badasss read and I am so happy I read it. . . I just am wondering where it was until I discovered, each part has sub parts, and basically I like how practical it is, it also guides how to workout the concept and rule, it's not just strong, it's very original and both the authors had put their heart in creating it, the effort is visible! If you think you are a rare breed, go ahead pick it up, you will thank me later for recommending it. It's totally worth it. . Rating: 4.5🌟
The book shares Seven “vices”- seven traits that conventional wisdom regards as dangerous and counterintuitive to your success- that they called Virtues. These are:- 1️⃣ Rebellious 2️⃣ Audacious 3️⃣ Obsessed 4️⃣ Hot-Blooded 5️⃣ Weird 6️⃣ Hypnotic 7️⃣ Emotional
Each of these traits are described and what it means and how you can use them to build your carrier, business or brand.
The authors share their defeats and lessons they have learnt along the way are very inspiring. Stories of many people (Rare Breeds) are also mentioned and what you can learn and apply from it into your own life. These stories and mantras can be your guide to find your unique flare.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn some invaluable and unique lessons from the stories of these great personalities.
I remember a quote after seeing the title of the book.
This is a book that is full of inspiring real life experiences. Two rare breeds Sunny and Bonnell taught us to rebel. This book guides you that what you believe is your strength, not what others believe about your strength Always remember that not everyone will love you, some may hate you because when you are looking for a different career no one sees a rebel coming which is a big advantage, in that case, no one will be your competitor except you.
This is one of my favorite book. It helps me learn to accept and love myself for being "Worthy and Valuable." Once I got to know from this book how people treat me, I rebelled from ordinary things to do the extraordinary things.
I suggest to all my fellow readers, young leaders and students to grab this book because you too will learn the secrets of Rare Breed leaders. It isn't the blueprint towards success as we all have our own path but it'll give you strength to keep pushing yourself.
Do you want to feel inspired and start your aspiring journey to success?
This book, as a form of an anecdotal manual, will give you a motivational foundation. It's filled with a lot of examples on how to break the mold from sports, politics, technologies, etc.
In some sections, you will find your self inspired to do things like Barak Obama, Steve Jobs, and even Maria Curie.
For the people struggling to find their respected passion, this book provides a mindset on how to find something you love. As one of the sentences states - To do well, do what you love.
When you read this book, you will get: * why 10,000 hours of practice isn’t enough; * how red shoes make you stand out; and * why you should never punt.
My 2 cents: ☁️ I am a plain vanilla kinda guy, but this book has completely changed my perspective. It has a very fresh outlook, that we gotta challenge the conventional wisdom and challenge them for the greater good of the society. A global approach with contemporary examples makes it very relevant and exciting to read.
Highlights: 🥁 Find your 4:00 AM, Try 960 Times, Say Yes and Play the Orchestra were eye opening concepts, simply loved them. Also the stories of Chiune Sugihara and Emilie Du Châtelet.
Quote: 💛 Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
Bottom Line: ☁️ Highly recommended for folks who want to feel alive and level up their game in life.
Great read. Most of the message hits home. Some of it falls flat. I'd say that's par for the course for any book of this nature. My favorite part of the read was the conversational tone in which it is written. It doesn't feel like a self-help, here's step 1-3 on how to have a better, more fulfilling life kind of message. It feels more like having a friendly chat to work through some of the pros and cons of being an outlier to the norm.
If you feel that you are more rebellious, audacious, obsessed, hot-blooded, weird, hypnotic, or emotional than the norm, this book probably has a message for you.
If you are someone that has a hard time dealing with people with these personality traits, this book probably has a message for you.
Knowing Ashleigh and Sunny through their own words in Rare Breed is like witnessing their success. The book is an open invitation for us, the readers, to embrace the things that make us different, “weirds” and uniques to stand out in our life, work, and career. The tone the authors use catches your attention from the beginning through the end, and by the last chapter, it welcomes you to success. This book shows us being different is not only ok, but a must. That’s what Rare Breed wants you to know. The seven traits identified within the book teach leaders, companies and individuals how to stand out in a sea of sameness. It’s a must read for this generation.
An important book to help leaders understand rare breeds and rare breeds understand themselves Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2022 Finally people are waking up to the power of neurodiversity. In organisational change we must remember 75% of change efforts fail. CEOs are overloaded, middle managers are worn out and rare breeds are rejected like bad kidney transplants.
At the core of a lot of this chaos is a misunderstanding.
Neither side understands the other.
The rare breed condemns the status quo and the status quo misunderstands the rare breed.
This book helps bring order to the chaos.
It helps leaders understand rare breeds and rare breeds understand themselves.
Entertaining book overall, although a little bit too long in my opinion and not that original after all. I think that the same can be said in much less words and also, some more specific recommendations could have been included. I recognise I had high expectations for this book, so maybe that's why I am feeling a little bit disappointed.
Nevertheless, it is an entertaining read where you can learn about different ways of doing things.
The author urges people to treat each of our quirks as helpful virtues rather than harmful vices. Things like fringe interests, strong personalities, and bold antics have their own place in the world. Learn to apply your unique characteristics strategically could help you stand out, forge you’re with path, and connect with others in ways that following rules just does not deliver.
Many of the personal qualities we’re taught to be harmful vices are actually helpful virtues. Weird interests, strong personalities, and bold antics all have their place. Learning to apply your unique characteristics in the right way can help you stand out, forge your own path, and connect with others in ways that following the rules just can’t deliver.
For those out there who are deemed peculiar and be told that they are not good enough because of their eccentricities, this book is a pretty decent reminder that you need to embrace those qualities, harness them, and use them for your own personal development and to elevate the people around you. It was an enjoyable read.
It is an absolute jewel for dreamers and go-getters! Every since I was a little kid, I was constantly told I am obsessed with basketball, and at the young age of 24, I am a college basketball coach. This work has helped me understand myself and my “vices” better as virtues. This book will also leave you in laugher because they wrote it in such a way that is so entertaining and yet zero F*CK's given. As an avid reader of nonfiction (success, coaching, financial, and philosophy), this book is a RARE BREED! 🔥❤️
Three stars because I like any resource that encourages people to use their weirdness for good, and for the anecdotes, interviews, and quotes used throughout - the actions and achievements of successful people are more motivating than the rest of the book in my opinion, but the examples are used pretty well.
Fun read of calling you out on your BS, society out on their BS, and making sure the path ahead is free of everyone’s BS ideas of ‘how it is supposed to be done.’ It really worked for how I learn with small sections and words of wisdom from movers and shakers.