Affordability, Quality, Reliablity and Feedback.
Once upon a time somewhere in Southeast Asia, an 18-year-old man loved the two TV shows. He was born in the year of 1964, the end of the baby boomers generation. He was my boss and the two TV shows were called "Falcon Crest" and "Dynasty". He cherished these two TV hit series because they were mostly about family prominence, being rich, and mighty powerful. Because such TV shows were just two of his most favorite TV shows, my boss carefully followed them each week. He laughingly smiled boasting that he made sure that he was in front of the TV set at home or his huge corner end air-conditioned office 15 minutes before the shows started. He only missed one (1) episode when he had no choice as it was grandma's birthday that he had to be there regardless. Having work for a lot of dignified successful small business entrepreneurs, I can state that the shows and my boss have common traits like being power hungry, optimism ambition, success, aggressiveness, impulsive (or even sometimes very stubborn) and also compassion for family and community.  |
ALEX ESGUERRA: CEO AND PRESIDENT |
Today, we work for this man, Alex Esguerra, ADLE’s CEO and President. He is a “people person” whom never closed his doors to his employees nor had exiled himself inside his office. Yet in spite of this being so humane, I need to warn you of his perfectionist behavior, and the belief that we need to do it right and everything possible to exceed the customer's satisfaction in order to eliminate unwanted issues, claims and complaints the first time. He is a person who strongly believes in 100% customer satisfaction, feedback rating and prompt delivery of goods and services. He proclaims that this was how he was able to build a business empire before, and this is how we will build it again. To our loyal customers, friends and allies, may I present the man behind the ADLE story, Former APEC Youth Representative, Alex De Leon Esguerra.
The ADLE Story
In 1987, at the age of 19, then ADLE CEO, Alex De Leon Esguerra incorporated his own export business then know as ADLE International Inc., which later came to be widely known as the ADLE Group of Companies.
With a small seed capital of US$70.00 and then later on some real-estate properties as collateral, the empire of Alex Esguerra grew to US$30M in by 1997.
With the start of the stock market fall and dot-com plunge in 2000, there were a lot of millionaire entrepreneurs in Bangkok, Manila and India beginning in the year 1998. What followed was people who were broke, bankrupt and solicited in the streets by the same site of their very own corporate offices once they called their workplace.
Alex was not spared in this devastating plaque. This also meant closing international offices in the United States, Hong Kong and Germany for the ADLE Group of Companies.
One night in the summer of 1998, he found himself attempting to take his own life because of his company downfall. He fell asleep on a small restaurant chair in one of the parks in Vancouver, B.C. He woke up in the middle of the night to find that he could not take the pain and suffering anymore. He could only take so much that he decided it would be best to end everything together. Fortunately, he did not go through with the process.
Once a highly celebrated radio and TV host, motivational speaker, Youth Leader, APEC Young Entrepreneur, APEC Youth Representative, and delegate of the 19 member country presidents of prime Ministers of the APEC Economies in 1997, Alex became a helpless bankrupt individual struggling for daily survival, something he has never been all his life.
He recalled that in a snap of fingers everything was all gone and even those so called political allies he help back then where no-where to his aid.
Being broke and emotionally depressed, he and his parents lived the hardest lives of their lifetime. He jokingly told us that he believed that he was one of the most glamorous young entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia. Thus, he was the very essence that he has today prevailed, risen and with a promise of a magnificent comeback.
Learning from his past mistakes, dealing with a chronic illness and still depressed from the lost of a parent, our CEO proclaimed that he had returned to live his life. Once again, he had promised to advocate young entrepreneurs and be the voice for the small business community in North America.
Nothing could stop his comeback. Not even, his physical disabilities brought on by his medical condition. Hence, in 1999 a sole proprietorship was filed by a young broke struggling lad which made Alex Esguerra almost homeless.
In 2005, ADLE Affordable Auctions and Gifts was registered as a trade name for ADLE International original founded in 1999. Slowly but surely, the ADLE brand had grown to become a fierce competitor to such auction sites like Amazon, Yahoo and eBay. At the ADLE office, we could only be amazed and sometimes became tearful that here was a person with such great strength.